Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell is the author of the book Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century. Her other books include Red, White, and Blue on the Runway.
Q: What inspired you to write Skirts, and what do you see as the significance of the skirt today?
A: Like a lot of women, I love wearing skirts, but I’m also conflicted about them because they’re often perceived as being old-fashioned, regressive, or even anti-feminist. As a historian, I know that’s not true, but the stereotype persists for reasons that are worth unpacking.
I’m also fascinated by the way women’s clothes have historically been used as shorthand for women themselves, and referring to women as “skirts” (or, in the 19th century, “petticoats,” as in “petticoat government”) is a perfect example of that. The history of skirts tells us a lot about the history of women in the 20th century.
Q: The book's introduction begins with a mention of Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dress. Why did you start here, and what do you see as the significance of that particular style?
A: The wrap dress appeared at a time when fashion and feminism were butting heads. It reclaimed the skirt as a modern, practical, and sexually liberating garment.
Part of that was von Furstenberg’s clever marketing, but it also reflected a new fashion reality, and offered women a progressive uniform at a time when pants were still not permitted in many business, academic, and social settings.
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, “Exquisitely detailed and evocatively written, this stylish history casts an underappreciated garment in a rewarding new light.” What do you think of that description?
A: I love it! It’s exactly what I wanted to do with this book: encourage people to examine and appreciate the history of skirts in a new way. I’ve always been drawn to history that’s hiding in plain sight.
Q: What do you see looking forward when it comes to skirts and gender roles?
A: I think we’ll continue to see waves of men experimenting with skirts. It feels like the shock value has finally worn off, so I’m excited to see how skirts fit into evolving gender identities off the runway and the red carpet.
For women, too, I think the historical association of skirts and dresses with formality and femininity will continue to fade. They are not necessarily “dressy” anymore—you don’t have to wear them with heels, nylons, slips, and so on. You don’t have to dry-clean them. They have pockets! Giant pockets!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I always have a few different projects in various stages of incompletion. I’m finishing up a biography of a 20th-century American fashion designer you’ve never heard of, and researching a book on British fashion in 1928.
I want to do another 18th-century book. My Yale University Press book Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette will be re-released in paperback this fall. I just wrote my first article for Smithsonian.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Skirts is the first book I’ve done that’s available in audio! There’s also an e-book version.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
No comments:
Post a Comment