Abstract

For readers of Women in Clothes, a philosophical guide to fashion. We all get dressed. But how often do we pause to think about the place of our clothes in our world? What unconscious thoughts do we express when we dress every day? Can a philosophy of living be wrapped up in a winter coat? Can we see clothes not as objects, but as ideas? Dressed is the thinking person's book about clothes, exploring these questions by ranging freely from suits to suitcases, from Marx's coat to Madame X's gown. Through literature and art, film and philosophy, philosopher Shahidha Bari unveils the surprising and subconscious ways what we wear communicates with us, about us, and for us. Dressed is about the hidden power of clothes in our culture and our daily lives, addressing the deepest questions of who we are, how we frame ourselves, and how we choose to face the world.