Seeing Through Clothes [Paperback]

Anne Hollander (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520082311 | ISBN-13: 978-0520082311 | Publication Date: March 22, 1993

In this generously illustrated book, Anne Hollander examines the representation of the body and clothing in Western art, from Greek sculpture and vase painting through medieval and renaissance portraits, to contemporary films and fashion photography. First published ahead of its time, this book has become a classic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Anne Hollander's Seeing Through Clothes pushes erudition to the point of originality. The thoroughness with which she examines Western art and clothes has precipitated a new subject: how painting, sculpture and photography mediate between bodily ideals and what we wear. Other writers have touched on these relationships, but only Hollander has accumulated enough in the way of evidence and commentary to elevate the clothes-art-body interchange to the status of an independent subject." -- Carter Ratcliff, Art in America

"Anne Hollander's book is about a distinctive human enterprise, observed with passionate understanding and more than passing knowledge. It is a work of great wisdom." -- Richard Howard,The Nation

"[Hollander's] extraordinary book radically alters the way we see." -- Walter Clemons, Newsweek

About the Author

Anne Hollander, the author of Moving Pictures (1986), is an art historian with a special interest in costume history and design.

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (March 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520082311
• ISBN-13: 978-0520082311
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The history of dress is made interesting by Anne Hollander., April 23, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Westchester, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeing Through Clothes (Paperback)

This book is an enjoyable read on the history of clothing. I found this book in the midst of researching my thesis on the history of Italian Renaissance clothing. Hollander makes some intersesting observations of the effect Hollywood has on the general publics visual perceptions of various historical periods. Although she has a lot to say not everything is very well researched. If your intent is scholarly research, take everything with a grain of salt. If your intent is entertainment this is an excellent history of clothing. I very much enjoyed reading this book. If you are looking into the history of dress I also suggest a book by Elizabeth Birbari, Dress in Renaissance Italy. The Birbari is very hard to find, but well worth it once it is found.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Analysis of Changing Ideals of Beauty, December 29, 1998

By 

Catherine Raymond (Malvern, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seeing Through Clothes (Paperback)

Hollander brings an art historian's eye to this survey of the history of Western European costume. Her interest lies less in historical detail than in the ways in which the governing esthetic of what makes a man handsome, or a woman beautiful, has changed over time and in how those changes have been reflected in costume and art. Occasionally, Hollander badgers the reader with a personal theory that is not adequately supported by the information she provides in the text, but most of the book is informative and thought-provoking. If you already have a general knowledge of historic costume, you will find much to interest you in Hollander's book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful... but, April 11, 2009

By 

Art Anatomy Student - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeing Through Clothes (Paperback)

Hollander definitely speaks from a fashion historian's point of view. As many of her examples come from the annals of painting, I was continually annoyed and disappointed at her limited engagement with her examples. All too often it seemed as if she only saw painting as illustrations to prove her thesis. I'm not really sure if she knows a thing about painting after reading this book. Example... to include Titian's Danae as an example of what she describes as 'cylindrical' form is so off the mark, and so visually pedestrian, and so very trivializing; I mean honestly, that body type also appeared in Hellenistic as well as early Roman sculpture. And it wasn't because Greeks and Romans were 'under the influence' of constricting bodices. Many examples like this leaves me to believe that she knows nothing intimate about painting -- rather, she uses examples from painting and art to construct her own rather forced arguments about enculturation through the agency of the garment. Fair enough, they are interesting arguments. This is for the most part an entertaining and thoughtful text, and well researched... but sometimes her agenda felt a bit stifling. Unfortunately, it's rife with enough subjective and questionable commentary so as to lead me to caution the reader that not all in this book is transparent enough.