Overview
Since prehistoric times, furs and feathers have been used not only for warmth and protection but also for display and adornment. Offering lively insights into the decorative possibilities of pelts and plumes, WILD: Fashion Untamed examines fur’s ability to announce the wealth and status of the wearer by looking at the clothing of Renaissance aristocrats as well as that of contemporary Hip-Hop performers such as P. Diddy and Missy Elliott.
WILD also examines how pelts and plumes have come to define ideals of femininity by quoting the physical and sexual characteristics of birds and beasts. Examples include an unprecedented array of designs by Azzedine Alaïa, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce and Gabbana, John Galliano for Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and Yohji Yamamoto. The book also features fantastical feathered costumes of Las Vegas showgirls and coquettish “birds of paradise” creations by milliners Stephen Jones and Philip Treacy.
Lavishly illustrated and entertainingly written, WILD reveals how faunal apparel, whether in the form of pelts, plumes, prints, or animal symbolism, has represented and will continue to represent one of man’s more primal instincts.
Synopsis
The text of this book, published to accompany the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2004-2005 exhibition of the same name, is supported with 95 color and many b&w illustrations documenting humanity's obsession with animals in clothing from prehistoric times to the present. Bolton, Associate Curator of the MET's Costume Institute, chooses a gorgeous collection of images from a range of sources and eras such as classical and popular art (sculpture, drawings, and paintings), fashion (illustration and photography), and the media (movies, television, and magazines) to show how fashion's appropriation of skins, furs, prints, and animal imagery mirrors human society's changing values about femininity, sexuality, aesthetics, and gender- and human-animal relations. A discussion on modern animal-rights activism is included. A bibliography is included; there is no index. Distributed by Yale U. Press. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR