ON HUMAN FINERY

by Quentin Bell ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1949

In grave and formal prose, this is a mock-serious consideration of fashion which draws on Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class to base the mutations of finery on his tenets of Conspicuous Consumption and Conspicuous Waste, and- making more freely with Vblen- Conspicuous Leisure and Conspicuous Outrage. In contrast with the Orient where the mode in dress is timeless and changeless, Bell inquires here into the factors of trends, influences (those of the revolutions of 1642 and 1749), the survival of archaic forms particularly in the Army and the Church, the break with Veblen's sumptuosity in the 20's with the emaniopation of women and the abandonment of stays, and in closing, two cardinal points of disagreement with Veblen....

Pub Date: April 1, 1949

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: A. A. Wyn

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1949

Categories: NONFICTION