Concept of fashion

Art on the edge of fashion Published to accompany an exhibition held at the Arizona State University Art Museum from February 1 to April 27, 1997, 'Art on the Edge of Fashion' explored how contemporary art uses the visual language of clothing and fashion. The exhibition featured eight North American artists and covered sculpture, photographs, installations, performance and video art. The website includes some images of the works exhibited and a discussion between the curators on the ideas behind the show.
ASU Art MuseumAvant Gauche
This website is dedicated to the Gothic Lolita phenomenon also known as Elegant Gothic Lolita, EGL, Gosu Loli or Loli Goth. Gothic Lolita is "a fashion from Japan where sometime in the mid nineties fashion explosion young ladies took to dressing like Victorian Porcelain Dolls." The website includes: an image gallery; a bibliography; sewing patterns; a blog (Journal); and a discussion forum.
Avant Gauche - Elegant gothic lolita
Black British style
Published to accompany an exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) from October 7, 2004 to January 16, 2005, this website explores black British fashion and style "across all aspects of black life and culture over the past 50 years" (the 'exhibition' section). The website consists of the following areas: 'Arthur's story', which uses a collection of photographs to discuss black identity and style in Britain; 'one man's style'; 'create a tag'; and a competition. The 'exhibition' section includes an overview; details about the themes; exhibition highlights; a bibliography; and links to related websites. Teachers' notes are available in PDF format (for which an Adobe Acrobat Reader is required).
V&A
Brown dress
This is the personal website of Alex Martin, an artist and dancer, who wore the same brown dress for a whole year, from July 2005 to July 2006, as an arts project. "i made one small, personal attempt to confront consumerism by refusing to change my dress for 365 days. In this performance, i challenged myself to reject the economic system that pushes over-consumption, and the bill of goods that has been sold, especially to women, about what makes a person good, attractive and interesting". The project is now over, but one can read her journal covering the whole year and view photographs. There is also a pattern for the dress. The website provides a section about the media coverage of the project and comments.
http://www.littlebrowndress.com/
Dance of light and color : embroidered and brocaded garments of India
This is the online companion to the exhibition "Dance of light and color : embroidered and brocaded garments of India" hosted by the Kent State University Museum, in Kent, Ohio, from November 1998 to September 1999. Topics covered include: tunics, bridalwear, saris and coats. One can click on images of garments to view a larger image and access further details.
Kent State University Museum: A Dance of Light and Color
Emotional wardrobe
This website contains information about 'The Emotional Wardrobe' research project funded by the AHRC/EPSRC and hosted by Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. "The Emotional Wardrobe builds on the characteristics of fashion and clothing, and imagines a world where fashion converges with ICT." The site contains the aims and objectives of the project as well as information on the participants, themes and events.
The Emotional Wardrobe
Fashion in colors
This is an online companion to the exhibition 'Fashion in Colors' which took place at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum from 9 December 2005 to 26 March 2006. The exhibition "explores color as a design element through 300 years of Western clothing, examining the changing perceptions and meanings of color through various eras". Designers covered include Balenciaga and Chanel. One can view images of the garments and information on the designers. There is also an image gallery and one can follow a virtual tour, using QuickTime.
Fashion in Colors | Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Fashionable history : scholarly study on the history of fashion
This website was compiled by Kendra Van Cleave, a librarian in the J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State University. The site "is designed to serve as an online portal for researchers interested in fashion history". There are four sections: journals (with links to journals relating to fashion history), archives, libraries and museums, bibliographies and research resources and academic programmes.
http://online.sfsu.edu/~kendrav/fashion/
Jolique : exploring dress and culture
Jolique, a website created by Elizabeth Swift, examines the concepts of dress and beauty in a cultural and historical context. Although the website does not appear to have been updated since 2004, there is an archive of articles going back to 2000, and covering topics such as: body art; cosmetics; a history of dyes and colourants; footwear; gender boundaries; costume history; spiritual aspects to dress; jewellery; perfume; underclothes; dress codes; accessories; and political; religious and social influences on dress and body adornment, including differences in social status communicated by forms of dress.
Jolique - exploring dress and culture
Men in skirts
'Men in skirts' was an exhibition held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in early 2002 to look at the ways in which contemporary designers have re-invented the skirt for men. As "potent symbols of femininity", skirts are viewed almost exclusively as women's clothing and this exhibition, by looking at the skirt for men as both an expression of anarchy and as a fashion statement, seeks to challenge male appearance and male behaviour. The exhibition website is arranged into a number of sections: punk, futuristic, Westwood, fetish, historical, grunge, Gaultier, kilts and exotic. Each section contains images and text to illustrate its theme. With sections dedicated to the designs of Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier, the site also contains work by a variety of contemporary designers, including Anna Sui, Ozwald Boateng and Paul Smith.
Victoria & Albert Museum
Shopping Routes
This AHRC/ESRC funded project aimed to study the impact of fashion on an area of London's West End, which includes Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Carnaby Street. Divided into four themes: Networks of Consumption; Landscapes of Consumption; Representations of Consumption; Identities of Consumption; the project will assess the 'changes that have taken place in this vibrant district during an important moment in its history' analysing the links between architecture, commerce, fashion, tourism and marketing, as well as the creation of subversive and personal images and identities. The website describes the project together with an associated conference, held in 2005.
Shopping Routes
Slatenight
Slatenight - Second Life Arts and Total Entertainment is a monthly online magazine covering culture and lifestyle in the virtual world, Second Life. Its blog format includes postings from a wide variety of contributors, from around the (real) world. Articles, although frequently quite short, vary from the academically-influenced to broader interest topics, and celebrate the diverse range of activities occurring within Second Life. The journal also includes some Second Life inspired fiction and poetry.
cPanel®
Southern California Lindy Society
This site has been created by the Lindy Society of Southern California and is predominantly concerned with the dance styles, such as Lindy Hopping, of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. However, certain sections of the site under the Lindy Hop tag cover the fashion and accessories of that period. The section on Women's Fashion history is divided into sections on the 20's, 30's and 40's, and describes fashion trends and developments over the periods, major designers and social factors. There are also bibliographies and other listed resources, and tips on textile care for vintage clothing articles. The Men's Fashion history section takes the same form, and the Clothing and Related Information section provides a list of resources and contacts.
Southern California Lindy Society
TorontoStreetFashion.com
Toronto Street Fashion is a website about Canadian fashion, style and culture, based around the city of Toronto. It provides Toronto fashion news; local designer updates; fashion event listings and coverage; street fashion photographs; and competitions, as well links to related websites and a look at international street style in Paris, Tokyo, New York and London.
Toronto Fashion Street Fashion Designer Profiles Events
What is fashion?
This website, created by the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), explores the concept of fashion and the trends which drive it. The initial page acts as a general introduction, looking at ideas such as who dictates fashion (from musicians and other cultural icons to political figures and royalty), conformism and high fashion as a popularity contest. Historical anecdotes and facts are used alongside contemporary comments. A series of further sections examine specific topics, such as hip-hop style, fast food fashion, school uniforms, hair colouring, branding and high-tech fabrics such as GORE-TEX.
on2: History of Fashion


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