The Walkies: Early French Fashion Shows as a Cinema of Attractions

The research links the first fashion shows to the development of early cinema and new forms of popular theatre.The vital synergy between dress and the cinema has been in place since the advent of film.

Broaching topics such as vampires, noir, and Marie Antoinette looks, Fashion in Film uncovers the way in which the alliance of these two powerhouse industries use myriad cultural influences -- shaping narrative, national identity, and all points in between. Contributor essays address international films from early cinema to the present, drawing on the classic and the innovative. This abundantly illustrated collection reveals that fashion in conjunction with film must be understood in a different way from fashion tout simple.

As part of an "important anthology that meanders between the histories of cinema and fashion, and beyond, to deliver fresh perspectives and approaches to a subject that is gathering a momentum. The wide-ranging essays reveal the complexity of fashion in film as an area of study, carefully considering film costume and fashion as separate yet deeply intertwined entities. Fashion is here addressed as an aesthetic form, as a signifier of the social, cultural and political, and, delightfully, also as a particular parallel to - if not the very fabric of - film. Fashion in Film should become an indispensable reader." —Marketa Uhlirova, Director/Curator, Fashion in Film Festival