Textiles and FashionMaterials, Design and Technology
A volume in Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
2015, Pages 563–603
Chapter 23 – Material Culture: Social Change, Culture, Fashion and Textiles in Europe
Abstract
History
has shown us how shifts in society – political change, war, scientific
developments and travel, leading to the discovery of new, foreign
cultures – affect our own cultural practices including those related to
fashion and textile design. Changes in social thinking – for example,
reactions to the status quo and long-held beliefs – can affect how we
express ourselves through the arts: music, film, dance, theatre and
dress. This chapter seeks to explain the various meanings of the term
‘culture’ by discussing the issues surrounding different types of
cultures, exploring the complex interrelationships that exist between
culture and society and in turn how these relationships influence
fashion. A list of learning objectives, set out at the beginning of the
chapter, describes what the student can expect to understand about the
relationships between society, culture and fashion having completed the
chapter. Various definitions of the term ‘culture’ will then be given,
and issues surrounding the relationship between culture and society will
be raised and discussed: how society shapes art, and how, in turn, art
can shape society, and how the design and production of fashion and
textiles relate to broader cultural influences.
Keywords
- Culture;
- Fashion;
- Society;
- Textiles
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
