History and Documentation of Fashion
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with the necessary tools to develop a critical thought about the changes that have occurred in the Contemporary Fashion System, along with the processes and major social, economic, political, cultural, and identity transformations between the end of the eighteenth century and the early twenty-first century. In particular, understanding of the discipline will be supported by the comparisons between: fashion and production, market, consumption, communication, and globalisation; fashion and politics; fashion and show business, entertainment, cinema, and music; fashion and the construction of gender and identities, including biopolitical practices of disciplining the body, from the diffusion of the bust to the popularisation of cosmetic surgery. Further details will be provided on the Ariel platform.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will be familiar with the evolution of the Contemporary Fashion System in relation to the main social, economic, political, and cultural transformations of the period investigated. Therefore, students will be able to understand the complex dynamics related to these issues and to shape personal judgements on course topics, using a specific and correct lexicon, appropriate to the discipline. Students will also be able to read and critically reflect on the fashion historiographical works, and use the main research and source analysis tools. These specialised skills will be acquired through a continuous and direct lecturer led discussion, insofar as, during the lessons, the debate on the proposed sources will be not only a moment for collective critical reflection, but also a tool for methodological learning.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
The course will be articulated into six parts: (I) "A general introduction to the course"; (2) "Inventing leisure: from 'court fashion' to 'bourgeois fashion' (1760-1910)"; (III) "An impetuous massification: fashion between the World Wars (1910-1945)"; (IV) "Mass Society and Consumer Society: fashion between 'wealth' and 'industry' (1945-1990)"; (V) "The globalised and socialised world: 'fast-fashion' and 'instant-fashion' (1990-2020)"; (VI) Seminars ("Focus" and "Guest Area"). Further details will be provided on the Ariel platform.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no specific requirements. However, a good knowledge of the main events and of the main cultural trends, both national and international, related to the chronological context analysed, between the Belle Époque and the end of the twentieth century, is preferable.
Teaching methods
The course consists of 60 hours divided into 30 lectures, supported by slides and supplementary teaching materials (including explanatory content and iconographic documentation). During the lessons, students will be warmly encouraged to exchange views with the lecturer and the other students. For this reason, attendance, although not compulsory, is strongly recommended; students who have attended at least 85% of the lectures (25 out of 30) will be considered attending students. Seminar meetings with expert scholars in the field may be held on specific topics.
Teaching Resources
Handbook section (mandatory):
ALL STUDENTS, ATTENDING and NON-ATTENDING
Students (attending and non-attending) shall choose one of the following texts:
- Daniel James Cole, Nancy Deihl, Storia della moda dal 1850 a oggi, Einaudi, Turin, 2016 (or the original edition: Daniel James Cole, Nancy Deihl, The History of Modern Fashion from 1850, Laurence King Publishing, Credo Reference, London and Boston, 2020 [2015])
- Sofia Gnoli, Moda. Dalla nascita della haute couture a oggi, Carocci, Rome, 2020 (last edition)
Single subjects' section (mandatory):
ALL STUDENTS, ATTENDING and NON-ATTENDING
- A text to be discussed with an audio-PowerPoint. The book will be assigned by the lecturer during office hours; students shall contact the professor at least one month before the exam. Further details will be provided on the Ariel platform.
Here are some possible topics and bibliographical references:
- Adlington Lucy J., Great War Fashion: Tales from the History Wardrobe, The History Press, Cheltenham, 2022
- Bertocco Mattia, Diesel. Jeans, Comunicazione e Cultura, FrancoAngeli, Milan, 2022
- Calanca Daniela, Moda e immaginari sociali in età contemporanea, Bruno Mondadori, Milan, 2016
- Castellani Alessandra, Storia sociale dei tatuaggi, Donzelli, Rome, 2014
- Castellani Alessandra, Vestire degenere. Moda e culture giovanili, Donzelli, Rome, 2010
- Codeluppi Vanni, Ferraresi Muro (eds), La moda e la città, Carocci, Rome, 2007
-- Calefato Patrizia, La moda e il corpo. Teorie, concetti, prospettive critiche, Carocci, Rome, 2021
- Craik Jennifer, Uniforms Exposed: From Conformity to Transgression, Berg, Oxford and New York, 2005
- D'Aloia Adriano, Pedroni Marco (eds), I media e la moda. Dal cinema ai social network, Carocci, Rome, 2022
- Edwards Tim, Men in the Mirror: Men's Fashion, Masculinity and Consumer Society, Bloomsbury Academic, London, England, 2016
- English Bonnie, Japanese Fashion Designers: The Work and Influence of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, Berg, Oxford and London, 2011
- Fink Eugen, Moda. Un gioco seduttivo, Einaudi, Turin, 2024
- Geczy Adam, Karaminas Vicki, Fashion and Masculinities in Popular Culture, Routledge, London, 2019
- Geczy Adam, Karaminas Vicki, Queer Style, Bloomsbury Education, New York, 2013
- Geczy Adam, Mountfort Paul, Peirson-Smith Anne, Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom, Intellect Books Ltd, Bristol, 2019
- Gnoli Sofia, Eleganza fascista. La moda dagli anni Venti alla fine della guerra, Carocci, Rome, 2020
- Kawamura Yuniya, The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion, Berg, London, England, 2020
- Lee Blaszczyk Regina, Producing Fashion: Commerce, Culture, and Consumers, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2011
- McRobbie Angela, In the Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music, Routledge, 2013
- Merlo Elisabetta, Moda italiana. Storia di un'industria dall'Ottocento a oggi, Marsilio, Venice, 2014
- Mora Emanuela, Fare moda. Esperienze di produzione e consumo, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2009
- Mora Emanuela, Geografie della moda, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2010
- Napoli Umberto, La bellezza non avrà mai fine. Riflessioni di un chirurgo plastico, ilmiolibro, 2021
- Paulicelli Eugenia, Moda e Cinema in Italia. Dal muto ai giorni nostri, Mondadori, Milan, 2020
- Riello Giorgio, Lemire Beverly, Dressing Global Bodies: the Political Power of Dress in World History, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Abingdon, Oxon, 2020
- Scarpellini Emanuela, La stoffa dell'Italia. Storia della moda dal 1945 a oggi, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2017
- Segre Reinach Simona, Un mondo di mode. Il vestire globalizzato, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2011
- Segre Reinach Simona, Ling Wessie (eds), Fashion in Multiple Chinas: Chinese Styles in the Transglobal Landscape, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, London, 2020
ONLY ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Lecture notes.
ONLY NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
- A course pack uploaded by the lecturer on the Ariel platform, consisting of a collection of in-depth essays on the main topics discussed during the academic year.
Suggested books and materials (optional):
Possible optional readings will be indicated during the course and will be uploaded on the Ariel platform along with the links to the main documents and videos shown during the lessons. Suggested books for specialised vocabulary and concepts:
- Sofia Gnoli, L'alfabeto della moda, Carocci, Rome, 2019
- Valerie Steele (a cura di), Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, 3 vols, Charles Scribner's Sons, Farmington Hills, 2005
- Guido Vergani, Biba Merlo (a cura di), Dizionario della moda, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, Milano, 2009
ALL STUDENTS, ATTENDING and NON-ATTENDING
Students (attending and non-attending) shall choose one of the following texts:
- Daniel James Cole, Nancy Deihl, Storia della moda dal 1850 a oggi, Einaudi, Turin, 2016 (or the original edition: Daniel James Cole, Nancy Deihl, The History of Modern Fashion from 1850, Laurence King Publishing, Credo Reference, London and Boston, 2020 [2015])
- Sofia Gnoli, Moda. Dalla nascita della haute couture a oggi, Carocci, Rome, 2020 (last edition)
Single subjects' section (mandatory):
ALL STUDENTS, ATTENDING and NON-ATTENDING
- A text to be discussed with an audio-PowerPoint. The book will be assigned by the lecturer during office hours; students shall contact the professor at least one month before the exam. Further details will be provided on the Ariel platform.
Here are some possible topics and bibliographical references:
- Adlington Lucy J., Great War Fashion: Tales from the History Wardrobe, The History Press, Cheltenham, 2022
- Bertocco Mattia, Diesel. Jeans, Comunicazione e Cultura, FrancoAngeli, Milan, 2022
- Calanca Daniela, Moda e immaginari sociali in età contemporanea, Bruno Mondadori, Milan, 2016
- Castellani Alessandra, Storia sociale dei tatuaggi, Donzelli, Rome, 2014
- Castellani Alessandra, Vestire degenere. Moda e culture giovanili, Donzelli, Rome, 2010
- Codeluppi Vanni, Ferraresi Muro (eds), La moda e la città, Carocci, Rome, 2007
-- Calefato Patrizia, La moda e il corpo. Teorie, concetti, prospettive critiche, Carocci, Rome, 2021
- Craik Jennifer, Uniforms Exposed: From Conformity to Transgression, Berg, Oxford and New York, 2005
- D'Aloia Adriano, Pedroni Marco (eds), I media e la moda. Dal cinema ai social network, Carocci, Rome, 2022
- Edwards Tim, Men in the Mirror: Men's Fashion, Masculinity and Consumer Society, Bloomsbury Academic, London, England, 2016
- English Bonnie, Japanese Fashion Designers: The Work and Influence of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo, Berg, Oxford and London, 2011
- Fink Eugen, Moda. Un gioco seduttivo, Einaudi, Turin, 2024
- Geczy Adam, Karaminas Vicki, Fashion and Masculinities in Popular Culture, Routledge, London, 2019
- Geczy Adam, Karaminas Vicki, Queer Style, Bloomsbury Education, New York, 2013
- Geczy Adam, Mountfort Paul, Peirson-Smith Anne, Planet Cosplay: Costume Play, Identity and Global Fandom, Intellect Books Ltd, Bristol, 2019
- Gnoli Sofia, Eleganza fascista. La moda dagli anni Venti alla fine della guerra, Carocci, Rome, 2020
- Kawamura Yuniya, The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion, Berg, London, England, 2020
- Lee Blaszczyk Regina, Producing Fashion: Commerce, Culture, and Consumers, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2011
- McRobbie Angela, In the Culture Society: Art, Fashion and Popular Music, Routledge, 2013
- Merlo Elisabetta, Moda italiana. Storia di un'industria dall'Ottocento a oggi, Marsilio, Venice, 2014
- Mora Emanuela, Fare moda. Esperienze di produzione e consumo, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2009
- Mora Emanuela, Geografie della moda, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2010
- Napoli Umberto, La bellezza non avrà mai fine. Riflessioni di un chirurgo plastico, ilmiolibro, 2021
- Paulicelli Eugenia, Moda e Cinema in Italia. Dal muto ai giorni nostri, Mondadori, Milan, 2020
- Riello Giorgio, Lemire Beverly, Dressing Global Bodies: the Political Power of Dress in World History, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, Abingdon, Oxon, 2020
- Scarpellini Emanuela, La stoffa dell'Italia. Storia della moda dal 1945 a oggi, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2017
- Segre Reinach Simona, Un mondo di mode. Il vestire globalizzato, Laterza, Rome-Bari, 2011
- Segre Reinach Simona, Ling Wessie (eds), Fashion in Multiple Chinas: Chinese Styles in the Transglobal Landscape, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, London, 2020
ONLY ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Lecture notes.
ONLY NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS
- A course pack uploaded by the lecturer on the Ariel platform, consisting of a collection of in-depth essays on the main topics discussed during the academic year.
Suggested books and materials (optional):
Possible optional readings will be indicated during the course and will be uploaded on the Ariel platform along with the links to the main documents and videos shown during the lessons. Suggested books for specialised vocabulary and concepts:
- Sofia Gnoli, L'alfabeto della moda, Carocci, Rome, 2019
- Valerie Steele (a cura di), Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, 3 vols, Charles Scribner's Sons, Farmington Hills, 2005
- Guido Vergani, Biba Merlo (a cura di), Dizionario della moda, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, Milano, 2009
Assessment methods and Criteria
Method and Type of Examination = The final exam will consist of an oral interview on the materials (as indicated above) + a short presentation with an audio-PowerPoint on a book assigned by the lecturer during office hours; for this part, students shall make an appointment at least one month before the exam. Further details for the PowerPoint preparation will be provided on the Ariel platform.
Assessment criteria = The assessment (out of 30), will take into account the student's ability to demonstrate and elaborate the knowledge acquired; to read the sources proposed and investigated during the lessons; to reflect critically on the topics of the course; to present the course themes in a clear and effective manner, using specialised lexicon.
NB = The course is aimed at students who have attended the MA in "Editoria, Culture della Comunicazione e della Moda"; international or Erasmus incoming students are invited to promptly contact the lecturer. The format of the exam for students with disabilities should be arranged in advance with the lecturer and the relevant office.
Assessment criteria = The assessment (out of 30), will take into account the student's ability to demonstrate and elaborate the knowledge acquired; to read the sources proposed and investigated during the lessons; to reflect critically on the topics of the course; to present the course themes in a clear and effective manner, using specialised lexicon.
NB = The course is aimed at students who have attended the MA in "Editoria, Culture della Comunicazione e della Moda"; international or Erasmus incoming students are invited to promptly contact the lecturer. The format of the exam for students with disabilities should be arranged in advance with the lecturer and the relevant office.
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception:
Wednesday, 9.30am-12.30pm. Students are invited to contact the professor via email to make an appointment.
Vecchio settore A, third floor, room 11 (see the link below)