The political and industrial revolutions in Europe and America during the late 18th
and early 19th centuries and their restructuring of society created profound changes in the style, production, consumption and representation of fashion. Our exploration of the resulting practices and attitudes towards clothing and the body addresses in particular new definitions of class, gender and race, including masculine dandy style, the Cult of True Womanhood and celebrity courtesan, struggles for representation in art and media, and the creation of a designer-centered fashion system.
