How does a country dress itself” From Montreal's 'Retail Mile,' to Ontario's millinery trade, to how war and television can effect the garment industry or whether tailoring can make a cultural impact, Alexandra Palmer gathers together some of the top curators, designers, fashion writers, historians, and artists in the country to create a truly dynamic and thought-provoking collection of essays.

Controversial and unconventional, Fashion: A Canadian Perspective challenges readers to consider aspects of Canadian identity in terms of what its citizenship has chosen to wear for the last three centuries, and the internal and external influences of those socio-cultural decisions. Covering a broad range of topics — such as the iconic Hudson Bay Blanket Coats, garment factories of the late 1800s, specific Canadian fashion couturiers whose influences reach international stages, and the contemporary role of fashion journalists and their effect on trends — this collection breaks new ground in producing multiple perspectives on fashion and fashion dress.

In a country that has given birth to such global fashion corporations as Club Monaco, Roots, and MAC, Fashion: A Canadian Perspective develops the first intriguing and readable historiography that links past to future, couture vision to trade trends, and heritage costuming to FashionTelevision.

Alexandra Palmer is the Fashion and costume curator at the Royal Ontario Museum and an adjunct professor in the Graduate Program in Art History at York University.

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