History of Fashion

Catalog description

This advanced course focuses on the elements affecting dress from antiquity through the 20th century. Using an interdisciplinary approach, students explore the complex relationship between dress and textiles as a reflection of material culture and phenomena, such as social structure, technology, aesthetics, geography, politics and religion. The constants and changes in human ecology are analyzed using primary sources including archeological discoveries, artworks, written documents, period photographs and extant objects. Critical thinking skills and scholarship are emphasized as students apply a historical framework to real-world issues in today's global marketplace.