Fashion for Men

From medieval times to the present, "Fashion for Men" describes the development of male attire, with the aid of nearly a hundred illustrations. Diana de Marly offers a lively discussion of the male ideal and its relationship to the clothes people wore. What was it that was considered so shocking about the ever-receding short skirts of fourteenth-century fashionable man? What was the significance of the rise -- and later the decline -- of the codpiece, so blatantly drawing attention to what later centuries were generally at pains to hide? The history of men's clothing is set in a wide social context, and the author shows above all that views about "masculinity" are subject to change, and that preoccupation with dress is not exclusively a female preserve. "Fashion for Men" will not only be invaluable to students of costume history and fashion design, but will also appeal to the general reader fascinated by the intricacies of costume and its development.