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Dressing dangerously: dysfunctional fashion in film

Dressing dangerously: dysfunctional fashion in film
Dressing dangerously: dysfunctional fashion in film
When Marlene Dietrich makes her entrance in Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, the Dior dress she wears immediately draws the viewer’s attention—not because of its designer label, but owing to the dramatic blood stains ruining its stylish surface. Fashion in film goes far beyond glamorous costumes on glamorous stars, as Jonathan Faiers proves in Dressing Dangerously, a pioneering study of the “cinematic negative wardrobe” revealed in mainstream movies. The book emphasizes how problematic, even shocking depictions of dress, until now largely overlooked, play pivotal roles in shaping film narrative.

Integrating fashion theory, film analysis, and literature, the insightful text investigates the ways cinema influences fashion and, conversely, how fashion speaks to film. The book also reveals how clothing, imbued with its own symbolic meaning, can be read much like a text; when used to provocative effect, for example, in films such as Villain, Leave Her to Heaven, and Casino, the stars’ costumes as well as their actions elicit a complex set of emotional responses. Dressing Dangerously brings together a wealth of illustrations, from glossy publicity photos featuring immaculately dressed stars to film stills that capture "dangerously" fashionable moments.
9780300184389
Yale University Press
Faiers, Jonathan
6d0c4db1-8d10-48c4-875e-4e60b94f300d
Faiers, Jonathan
6d0c4db1-8d10-48c4-875e-4e60b94f300d

Faiers, Jonathan (2013) Dressing dangerously: dysfunctional fashion in film , New Haven, US. Yale University Press, 320pp.

Record type: Book

Abstract

When Marlene Dietrich makes her entrance in Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, the Dior dress she wears immediately draws the viewer’s attention—not because of its designer label, but owing to the dramatic blood stains ruining its stylish surface. Fashion in film goes far beyond glamorous costumes on glamorous stars, as Jonathan Faiers proves in Dressing Dangerously, a pioneering study of the “cinematic negative wardrobe” revealed in mainstream movies. The book emphasizes how problematic, even shocking depictions of dress, until now largely overlooked, play pivotal roles in shaping film narrative.

Integrating fashion theory, film analysis, and literature, the insightful text investigates the ways cinema influences fashion and, conversely, how fashion speaks to film. The book also reveals how clothing, imbued with its own symbolic meaning, can be read much like a text; when used to provocative effect, for example, in films such as Villain, Leave Her to Heaven, and Casino, the stars’ costumes as well as their actions elicit a complex set of emotional responses. Dressing Dangerously brings together a wealth of illustrations, from glossy publicity photos featuring immaculately dressed stars to film stills that capture "dangerously" fashionable moments.

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More information

Published date: 5 November 2013
Additional Information: Single authored interdisciplinary study that draws on film and fashion theory to explore the concept of dysfunctional dress both in cinematic narrative and as actually experienced by the viewer.
Organisations: Winchester School of Art

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 338362
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/338362
ISBN: 9780300184389
PURE UUID: 364a44ae-0ade-4211-a6a9-0a230ddaf401

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 May 2012 11:08
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 00:20

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