Japanese Fashion: A Cultural History
Slade sets himself very ambitious targets in Japanese Fashion: A Cultural History, an analytical survey of a whole clothing culture, which he successfully meets. Dr. Slade is an imaginative historian who has the ability to synthesize a wide range of sources, ranging from the offical record to the ephemeral and teh vernacular. Peter McNeil, Fashion Theory: Volume 14, Issue 4 This book is much more than just about fashion - it includes discussions of comparatives, political thought, mass-consumerism, the cloth industry and industrialization, roles of department stores, fashion magazines, wood-block prints, -art, education, schooling, sport,importance of The Rokumeikan (new large westernized building for the elite), and what Slade calls samuraization of all classes. Long, dense read, but really intriguing. Ann Wright