Dressed A philosophy of clothes

Taking a multidisciplinary approach (history, psychology, art, literature, film, epistemology), Bari (London College of Fashion; Forum for Philosophy, LSE, UK) attempts to understand and reveal people's inner attitudes toward apparel--how they use clothes to "declare [their] place in the world" and "tell [their] life story." She argues that clothes shelter humans' inner secrets, reflect magical thinking, and help distract people from body transformations over their lifetimes. The book includes five chapters: "Dresses," "Suits, Coats, and Jackets," "Shoes," "Furs, Feathers, and Skins," and "Pockets, Purses, and Suitcases." Dresses--be they evocative, serious, parodic, or playful--reflect a woman's soul. Suits, like jackets, are symbols of civilization, suggesting regulations, authority, and social order. But suits may also provide dignified deception by covering instincts and human emotions. Numerous references from novels, dramas, and films suggest metaphors of mystery. Shoes are fetish sex symbols: they can modify height, represent social station (Cinderella's slipper), and enhance sports performances. Furs, feathers, and skins represent the common denominators of humans and animals. Creatures provide food, materials, entertainment sources, and objects for scientific study. Finally, bags serve as metaphors for who one is by what they hold. Bari avoids hats, but Drake Stutesman's Hat (2019) provides an intriguing treatment. Including notes, this stimulating read holds readers' attention throughout. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Beverly B. Chico, Regis University

Bari (Keats and Philosophy), a professor at the London College of Fashion, skillfully deconstructs the language of clothes in this philosophical examination of the items people wear. She observes that the "making and wearing of clothes is an art form" for some, including for Sylvia Plath, whose writing shows a keen awareness of "how a certain ensemble might be sympathetic to the certain person you imagined yourself to be." Bari's analysis is at times Freudian ("And who dares deny that the pliant foot mimics the penis when it enters that dark, contracted space of the shoe"?) and at others literary, as when she muses about the significance of the worn coat in Nikolai Gogol's short story "The Overcoat," or of the white cropped mess jacket in P.G. Wodehouse's novel Right Ho, Jeeves. Clothes in Hitchcock classics are also lovingly scrutinized (Cary Grant's classic example of mid-20th-century executive-wear, a gray flannel suit, in North by Northwest, or the elegant outfits of Tippi Hedren's socialite heroine in The Birds), as are the clothing shown in classic works of art (the elegant black gown in John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame X) or on fashion catwalks, such as those of famed minimalist Yohji Yamamoto. Devoted fashion students will eagerly eat up every word of Bari's well-researched and passionate work. (Mar.)