Sex and Suits. The Evolution of Modern Dress

An argument for the value of modern fashion as sexual express., with the tailored suit as its strongest example. Dress was equally showy for men & women until the late 18th century, when natural simplicity & understatement became fashionable, but for men's clothes only. After that, obvious sexual display in dress was left to women. Hollander shows how modern women adapted men's tailoring to their richer scheme of display, making suits do for women what they had long done for men: show their sexuality to be central, serious & interesting, rather than irrational, shallow & dangerous. Also shows how men are recapturing the color & ornament they found taboo, without giving up the potent beauty of tailored suits, which women have made universal.