Title: Mallarmé on fashion
Description: In 1874, Stephane Mallarme, the great French poet, undertook a highly idiosyncratic project--the publication of a fashion magazine called La Derniere Mode (The Latest Fashion)--that he almost single-handedly compiled. Using a variety of feminine and masculine pseudonyms to theorize about fashion and to advise on popular vacation destinations, home furnishings, and entertainment, Mallarmé created a spectacularly original work. The distinguishing feature of Mallarme's magazine is that it explores the nature of fashion from the inside. While it is a genuine fashion magazine, it also satirizes the entire genre. Various theories have been entertained about the work: it has been viewed as a prose poem, a hoax, and a cynical money-making venture. Furbank and Cain, however, argue that such guesses are hopelessly off the mark. Complete with the original artwork and a contextualizing introduction and commentary, this is the definitive translation of one of French literature's greatest enigmas.
Subjects: Fashion, Costume, Cultural studies, Fashion design, Other prose: from c 1900 -, Regional, Ethnic, Genre, Specific Subject, European - French, Art, Literature - Classics / Criticism, French, Beauty & Grooming - Fashion, Literary Criticism & Collections / French, Costume, france, French literature, history and criticism, Fashion & society