Publishers Weekly
01/06/2020
Bari (Keats and Philosophy), a professor at the London College of Fashion, skillfully deconstructs the language of clothes in this philosophical examination of the items people wear. She observes that the “making and wearing of clothes is an art form” for some, including for Sylvia Plath, whose writing shows a keen awareness of “how a certain ensemble might be sympathetic to the certain person you imagined yourself to be.” Bari’s analysis is at times Freudian (“And who dares deny that the pliant foot mimics the penis when it enters that dark, contracted space of the shoe”?) and at others literary, as when she muses about the significance of the worn coat in Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Overcoat,” or of the white cropped mess jacket in P.G. Wodehouse’s novel Right Ho, Jeeves. Clothes in Hitchcock classics are also lovingly scrutinized (Cary Grant’s classic example of mid-20th-century executive-wear, a gray flannel suit, in North by Northwest, or the elegant outfits of Tippi Hedren’s socialite heroine in The Birds), as are the clothing shown in classic works of art (the elegant black gown in John Singer Sargent’s Portrait of Madame X) or on fashion catwalks, such as those of famed minimalist Yohji Yamamoto. Devoted fashion students will eagerly eat up every word of Bari’s well-researched and passionate work. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"Shahidha Bari's investigation in to how we construct our selves, individually and collectively, is a sensual and intellectual pleasure from start to finish."—Deborah Levy, author of The Cost of Living and The Man Who Saw Everything
"Dressed is the finest philosophy of clothes since Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus in 1834. Bari's writing is limpidly clear, informed by a rich literary knowledge, theoretically and historically informed, sensuous and deeply textured, like a piece of luxurious fabric. It is also funny. But make no mistake: this is a work of philosophy. It just happens to be about clothes."—Simon Critchley, author of Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us and the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social Research
"Dressed is a feast of a book, a supreme example of the new kind of essay — exploratory, reflective, full of Shahidha Bari's personal energy and her wide knowledge."—Marina Warner, author of Forms of Enchantment and The Leto Bundle
"Clever, subtle... Although [Bari's] writing is critically informed — Foucault, Deleuze, Cixous and Irigaray all rock up here to chat about schmutter — her tone is insistently personal, intimate."—Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian
"Irresistible... I put Dressed down having been dazzled by Bari's learning and insights... In the end, Dressed is an argument for taking apparently frivolous things seriously."—Lucy Moore, The Literary Review
"Bari (Keats and Philosophy), a professor at the London College of Fashion, skillfully deconstructs the language of clothes in this philosophical examination of the items people wear...Devoted fashion students will eagerly eat up every word of Bari's well-researched and passionate work."—Publishers Weekly
"Entertaining and wide-ranging... In the prologue and introduction alone, Ms. Bari segues from the cheongsams worn by the lead actress in the Hong Kong film "In the Mood for Love" to van Gogh's paintings of his battered shoes to Madonna's jackets... Throughout Dressed are sharp-eyed observations, suitable for reading aloud, and astute analyses of art high and low.... A turbocharged and delightful romp."—Wall Street Journal
