At its basis, we can’t not speak about fashion. It is the thing in which we inhabit most second to our own skin, and when done right, true criticism can provide reflections of the self within the movement of our own clothes and community. There are the notable greats such as Suzy Menkes, Cathy Horyn, Vanessa Friedman, and Robin Givhan, who was the first person to receive a Pulitzer Prize for fashion writing in for her coverage in 2006. But there are also those who lie on the outskirts of concrete criticism and exist within the realm of cultural prose, such as Oscar Wilde. Here, Francesca sets out to provide a representation of the entire fashion criticism spectrum.
— AlexThis is the first anthology of fashion criticism, a growing field that has been too long overlooked. Fashion Criticism aims to redress the balance, claiming a place for writing on fashion alongside other more well-established areas of criticism.
Exploring the history of fashion criticism in the English language, this essential work takes readers from the writing published in avant-garde modernist magazines at the beginning of the twentieth century to the fashion criticism of Robin Givhan-the first fashion critic to win a Pulitzer Prize-and of Judith Thurman, a National Book Award winner. It covers the shift in newspapers from the so-called "women's pages" to the contemporary style sections, while unearthing the work of cultural critics and writers on fashion including Susan Sontag and Eve Babitz (Vogue), Bebe Moore Campbell (Ebony), Angela Carter (New Statesman) and Hilton Als (New Yorker). Examining the gender dynamics of the field and its historical association with the feminine, Fashion Criticism demonstrates how fashion has gained ground as a subject of critical analysis, capitalizing on the centrality of dress and clothing in an increasingly visual and digital world. The book argues that fashion criticism occupied a central role in negotiating shifting gender roles as well as shifting understandings of race. Bringing together two centuries of previously uncollected articles and writings, from Oscar Wilde's editorials in The Woman's World to the ground-breaking fashion journalism of the 1980s and today's proliferation of fashion bloggers, it will be an essential resource for students of fashion studies, media and journalism.