Wow! eBook
Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity 2nd Edition
Author(s): Elizabeth Wilson (Author)
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts (UK)
- Publication Date: 11 Jun. 2026
- Edition: 2nd
- Language: English
- Print length: 314 pages
- ISBN-10: 1350399736
- ISBN-13: 9781350399730
Book Description
When Adorned in Dreams was first published in 1985, Angela Carter described the book as ‘the best I have read on the subject, bar none.’
From haute couture to haberdashery, and ‘deviant’ dress to Dior, Elizabeth Wilson traces the social and cultural history of fashion and its complex relationship to modernity. From the ‘dress reform’ movement to certain strands of feminism, Wilson delights in the power of fashion to mark out identity – or subvert it.
Explore topics including fashion and city life, feminism and fashion, and oppositional dress in this authoritative scholarly text on fashion’s pivotal role in modern society.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity 2nd Edition is one of the best books ever published on the significance of fashion in society . . . as relevant today as when it was first published ― Valerie Steele, editor of Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture
When it was first published in 1985,
Adorned in Dreams pioneered new territory in the study of fashion . . . no text since has come close to challenging or overtaking its original claims ― Christopher Breward, National Museums ScotlandSharply focused, consistently intelligent, and broadly informative ―
Los Angeles TimesAbout the Author
Elizabeth Wilson is a pioneer in the development of fashion studies, and has been a university professor, feminist campaigner and activist. Her writing career began in the ‘underground’ magazines of the early 1970s, (Frendz, Red Rag, Spare Rib, Come Together) before she became an academic. She’s written for the Guardian and her non-fiction books include Adorned in Dreams (1985, 2003), The Sphinx in the City (1992) (shortlisted for the Manchester Odd Fellows Prize), Bohemians (2000) and Love Game (2014) (long listed for the William Hill sportswriting prize), as well as six crime novels, including War Damage (2009) and The Girl in Berlin (2012) (long listed for the Golden Dagger Award).
