- Published: 8 October 2024
- ISBN: 9780262049054
- Imprint: MIT Press
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 216
- RRP: $85.00
Beyond Vanity
The History and Power of Hairdressing
- Published: 8 October 2024
- ISBN: 9780262049054
- Imprint: MIT Press
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 216
- RRP: $85.00
"Like The Gilded Age, Elizabeth L. Block’s Dressing Up puts the women of the era—and their dresses—at the center of its narrative....Such an emphasis allows Block not only to insert women and women’s agency more meaningfully into Gilded Age history, but also to explore the economic consequences of the fashion trade. In Block’s narrative, elite women were more than a passive manifestation of Thorstein Veblen’s 'conspicuous consumption.' They were active players in a transatlantic network of commerce, power, and privilege that allowed them a position of influence within U.S. society by turning fashion and the dresses they wore into cultural capital."
– Library Journal
“This handsomely illustrated, anecdotal volume illuminates the symbiotic relationship between late-19th-century Parisian fashion houses and their well-to-do American clients. Block, a senior editor for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s publication department, writes winningly”
—Michael Dirda, Book Critic, The Washington Post
“The book is a must-read for anyone who loves fashion and wants to understand more about its history and how it affected more aspects than just design.”
—Daily Art Magazine