Dressed in Time

Through object-based case studies of garments from the ancient past through to the 21st century, Margaret Maynard reveals the countless ways the temporal is woven into our attire. From the physical effects of age on garments to their changing cultural significance, time and fashion are inextricably linked. Every garment has its own pace and narrative, and every dress practice is rich with temporal associations: 'wearing' time in the form wristwatches, marking key moments in time from marriage to death, 'defying' time with beauty products, preserving and re-imagining time through vintage, and concepts of 'timeless' and 'classic' styles.
This ground-breaking book presents a complete rethinking of the study of global fashion history, revealing the complex nature of changing fashion when viewed through the lens of time and challenging Eurocentric approaches such as the periodization of style and the arbitrary division of 'western' and 'non-western' fashion. Fashion in Time is essential reading for students and scholars of fashion and dress history, material culture studies, cultural anthropology, archaeology and related fields.

Margaret Maynard is Honorary Associate Professor at The University of Queensland, Australia.

List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. About Time
Focus 1 a Wearing Time on the Body
Focus 1 b Dress, Value and Time
2. Deep Time: The Origins of Dress
Focus 2 a Ancient Footwear. What is its Significance?
Focus 2 b Mystery! An Egyptian Garment
3. Context: What Does it Mean?
Focus 3 a The Puzzle of Dates
Focus 3 b What are "1920s" Fashions?
4. Cultural Exchange: Past and Present
Focus 4 a Who Should Own the Past?
Focus 4 b The Kimono Controversy
5. Rituals: The Significance of Time
Focus 5 a Relics: Remains of a Past or Not?
Focus 5 b First Nation Cloaks: Identity Reclaimed
6. The Wardrobe Story
Focus 6 a A Wife: What is She Worth?
Focus 6 b Time to Change
7. Dress: Time and Cultural Memory
Focus 7 a Time: Displaying Sartorial Memories
Focus 7 b Fashion: No Present Without a Past
8. Unfixed: Time and Dress
Focus 8 a Can Fashion be Timeless?
Focus 8 b Replicas: Engaging with Time
Select Bibliography
Index