Theatre and Fashion: Oscar Wilde to the Suffragettes

Description

This is the first book to explore the complex relationship among theater, fashion, and society in the late Victorian and early modern eras. Examining such diverse topics as the emergence of the society playhouse, fashion journalism, the role of the couturier-costumier, department store marketing, and the establishment of "dress codes" by militant suffragettes, Kaplan and Stowell provide a new context for assessing plays by established writers such as Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw, Arthur Pinero, and Harley Granville Barker, as well as lesser know figures such as Edith Lyttelton, Emily Symonds, and Cicely Hamilton.

'What Kaplan and Stowell do in this excellent book is to examine theatre, fashionable dress and social life ... at a time when many would consider they exerted their greatest cultural influence.' The Sunday Times 'A fascinating and original slice of theatre history.' BBC Radio 2 'Theatre and Fashion is first-rate historical scholarship, lucid, stylish, and accessible. Its combination of winning subject and fresh approach should attract a wide, appreciative audience.' Nineteenth Century Theatre 'A fascinating book.' Literary Review 'Theatre and Fashion is first-rate historical scholarship, lucid, stylish, and accessible. Its combination of winning subject and fresh approach should attract a wide, appreciative audience.' Nineteenth Century Theatre