A Philosophy of Fashion Through Film

On the Body, Style, and Identity

Laura T. Di Summa (William Paterson University, USA)

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Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
17 November 2022

Fashion design & theory; Film theory & criticism; Philosophy: aesthetics

The question of whether movies can deliver philosophical content is a leading topic in the cognitive and analytic debate on film. But instead of turning to the well-trodden terrain of narrative and emotional engagement, this is the first time fashion and costume choices are analyzed to demonstrate how movies can be said to be doing philosophy.

Considering how fashion and costumes can deliver the epistemic content of a film and act as a guidance to the interpretation of the philosophical content of a film, Laura T. Di Summa examines fashion and costume choices in classical and contemporary films. She discusses a number of cinematic examples, and the costumes and fashion elements within them, illustrating the importance of issues such as the performative side of fashion, the alteration between novelty and repetition, the pivotal role of the body, and the relation between fashion, style, and individual as well as collective identity.

Featuring close examinations of 1950s melodramas, Hollywood blockbusters and documentaries such as All That Heaven Allows, Mad Max Fury Road, and McQueen, Di Summa uses an innovative new lens to provide fresh philosophical analysis of films. The result is not only an advancement of our understanding of the aesthetic means through which film can do philosophy, but the first insights into a philosophy of fashion.

By: Laura T. Di Summa (William Paterson University USA)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350157002
ISBN 10: 1350157007
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 17 November 2022
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Laura T. Di Summa is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at William Paterson University, USA. She is a co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of the Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures (2019).

Reviews for A Philosophy of Fashion Through Film: On the Body, Style, and Identity

In her exciting new book, Laura Di Summa opens a new subject for the philosophy of film - movie fashion. Through enlightening discussions of costume design, accessories, and prosthetics as both elements of film style and prompts for questions of personal identity, Di Summa weaves an intricate text of her own. * Mario Slugan, Lecturer in Film, Queen Mary, University of London, UK *