The Language Of Clothes.

LURIE, Alison.

Item Number: 60047

New York: Random House, 1981.

First edition of Lurie’s classic work about the clothes we wear and what they say about us. Quarto, original cloth. Illustrated by Doris Palca. Signed by the author on the half-title page with the added words, “For thousands of years, human beings have communicated with one another in the language of dress. Alison Lurie.” Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Ray Cruz. A unique example.

Even before we speak to someone in a meeting, at a party, or on the street, our clothes often express important information (or misinformation) about our occupation, origin, personality, opinions, and tastes. And we pay close attention to how others dress as well; though we may not be able to put what we observe into words, we unconsciously register the information, so that when we meet and converse we have already spoken to one another in a universal tongue. Alison Lurie, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, is our savvy guide and interpreter on this tour through the history of fashion. She provides fascinating insights into how changing sex roles, political upheavals, and class structure have influenced costume. Whether she is describing the enormous amount of clothing worn by early Victorian women or illuminating the significance of the long robes worn by aging men throughout history to connote eminence, her analysis is playful, clever, and always on target.