Fashion Writing and Criticism provides students with the tools to critique fashion with skill and style. Explaining the history and theory of criticism, this innovative text demonstrates how the tradition of criticism has developed and how this knowledge can be applied to fashion, enabling students to acquire the methods and proper vocabulary to be active critics themselves.
Integrating history and theory, this innovative book explains the development of fashion writing, the theoretical basis on which it sits, and how it might be improved and applied. Through concise snapshot case studies, top international scholars McNeil and Miller analyse fashion excerpts in relation to philosophical ideas and situate them within historical contexts. Case studies include classic examples of fashion writing, such as Diana Vreeland at Harper's Bazaar and Richard Martin on Karl Lagerfeld, as well as contemporary examples such as Suzy Menkes and the blogger Tavi.
Accessibly written, Fashion Writing and Criticism enables readers to understand, assess and make value judgments about the fascinating and changeable field of fashion. It is an invaluable text for students and researchers alike, studying fashion, journalism, history and media studies.
Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
Part 1 What is Criticism?
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Aristotle and the origins of criticism
Chapter 3 Talking in private: the Academies and the Salons
Chapter 4 Understanding Taste: The Critic as Qualified Observer
Chapter 5 Charles Baudelaire: the Beginning of Fashion Criticism; The Art Critic of the Salons
Chapter 6 Oscar Wilde and the apostles of aestheticism
Part 2 Reporting Fashion: Overview
Snapshots
Fashion and morality: Leo Tolstoy's What is Art?
Paul Poiret: 'sultan of fashion' - from tradition to innovation
Diana Vreeland: 'Why Don't you?' - the invention of the fashion editor
Christian Dior: the 'New Look' and reporting by Carmel Snow
Yves Saint Laurent - a 1970s analysis of 'The couturier and his brand'
What is fashion irony? Mild sarcasm or feigning ignorance?
Reporting on the Japanese revolution in Paris
Richard Martin as essayist: Karl Lagerfeld reworks Chanel
Being critical about 'deconstruction': theoretical approach or 'le destroy'?
What is a reviewer? - and how can we recognise one?
What gives Suzy Menkes the status of professional critic?
ACNE Paper: the beauty of print, the splendour of the page
How to be a 'critical' blogger: Moving beyond the PR Release
Conclusion: where do we go from here?
Bibliography
Index
