Attired: Perspectives on Historical Costume

This publication explores the integrative narratives of historical costume in the novel universal perspective of literature, leisure, ornamentation, customs/traditions, and theoretical contexts. The adaptation, mutation, and transformation of attire are the result of complex interactions between many factors, such as economic conditions, political conditions, social conditions, psychological conditions, and technology. The meanings encoded in the costume are one of the noticeable hallmarks of any society. This proposed book investigates multidisciplinary topics, for instance, embellishments such as needlework and embroidery; the historical concept of fight, physical encounter, combat, or bout and its connection with related-attire; the contribution of dress to the narrative process of Virgil’s 'Aeneid'; and the theory and philosophy of fashion.

List of Figures

Introduction

Chapter 1 Pattern to Pate: An Examination of Early Modern Embroidered English Head-Coverings and their Sources
Christy Gordon Baty and Erin Harvey Moody
Harvard University

Chapter 2 In It to Win It: The Evolution of Fightwear in Mixed Martial Arts Combat Sports
Jeremiah Snyder
American InterContinental University

Chapter 3 Attire and Narrative in Virgil’s Aeneid
Linda Florence Matheson
University of California at Davis

Chapter 4 Historical Costume: Acknowledging the Distinctiveness Between the Centuries and Epochs
Damayanthie Eluwawalage
Delaware State University
Looking Ahead while Reflecting Back

A Volume Conclusion

List of Contributors

Index

Damayanthie Eluwawalage, PhD, MPHA - Professional Historian, Assistant Professor, Private Pilot, Aerospace Education Officer (Civil Air Patrol, United States Air Force Auxiliary), NASA Research Scientist, and Industrial, Product and Fashion Designer. She earned her doctorate in design/history from Edith Cowan University, Australia. She also holds a BA (Honours First-class) in Design from Curtin University of Technology, Australia. She is an Assistant Professor at Delaware State University and a Professional Historian who specializes in costume history. Her multidisciplinary research interests include interdisciplinary design, industrial/product design, design theory, aviation/space history, space/aviation (she holds a Private Pilot License), costume history, fashion/aesthetic theory, space suit design concepts/applications, lunar dust mitigation technologies, oxygen/gas mask design/technologies, and general aviation.