Why is dress so much more than draping ourselves with the nearest piece of material we can find? And why does being dressed change us into creatures that seem so separate from the rest of nature?
Being Prepared
explores several ways these transformations take place and what their significance might be for our sense of being human. From Superman's costume to the hats of Edwardian women. From the role ornament plays in dress to the furs worn by Stone Age people are just some of the forms of dress explored in Being Prepared.
"Carter's arguments in this stimulating book, illuminated by references to art and dress history, literature and philosophy, can be unsettling: in adorning ourselves, are we clearing away something that is obscuring our ideal condition, or are we transforming a fundamentally chaotic entity into formal perfection? With its mixture of erudition and wit,
is a rare and hugely enjoyable treat." - Clair Hughes, author of
Dressed in Fiction
"
is overflowing with discussions rich in a wide swewep of intellectual and literary sources, including Freud, Simmel, Carlyle and Marcuse (on how we transform ourselves into immaterial states via dress and then how it can all come apart in an unravelling, both physical and conceptual). Carter remains one of the most sophisticated, witty and original writers on fashion, dress and clothing." - Toby Slade, author of
Japanese Fashion: a Cultural History
, University of Tokyo
Michael Carter is an Honorary Associate in the Department of Art History and Film Studies, The University of Sydney. He is the author of
Fashion Classics From Carlyle to Barthes
and, with Andy Stafford, is a co-editor of the Roland Barthes' anthology,
The Language of Fashion
.