FFS 402

This foundation course covers modern fashion from the mid-Eighteenth Century to the present day. Through the use of primary and secondary literature, visual representations and objects, this lecture course provides an in-depth examination of the period and familiarizes students with the central debates, issues, resources and working methods in fashion studies. Selected themes from the period may cover the origins of mass-production and the so-called democratization of fashion; its relation to the modern city and modern notions of identity; developments in retailing and shopping and the emergence of mass circulation fashion magazines; the rise of the textile and fashion designers and the role of the fashion photographer. Throughout the course, the central importance of gender, class, and race in modernity will be explored. Lecture format.