More Shopping OptionsFrom the tango-inspired dress of Argentina and guerilla chic in downtown Buenos Aires to swimwear on Copacabana Beach and the rainbow that adorns Mayan women, Latin America has long been a source of inspiration for designers throughout the world. This book is a long overdue assessment of Latin America's influence on fashion. The authors examine the significance of textiles and dress to Latin American culture and the reasons behind it--from fashion history to popular culture and the (re)making of traditional garments, such as the poncho, the guayabera and maguey cactus fiber sandals. It also considers its global impact, visible in chains and mass-produced fashions, and the international worship of fashion icons such as Frida Kahlo and Eva Perón.
Regina A. Root is Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, College of William and Mary.
"There is much insight and pleasure to be gained from this novel prism through which to visualize Latin American history."--Foreign Affairs
Part 1: Unravelling History * Visualizing Difference--Mariselle Meléndez* Fashioning Independence--Regina A. Root * The Traveler's Eye--Kimberly Randall * Far Eastern Influences in Latin American Fashions--Araceli Tinajero * Part 2: Altered Traditions * Ixcacles: Maguey Fiber Sandals from Mexico--Pam Scheinman * "Why do Gringos Like Black?"--Blenda Femenías * Dressed to Kill--Elayne Zorn * Representations of Tradition in Latin American Boundary Textile Art--E. Demaray, M. Keim-Shenk, and M. A. Littrell * Part 3: Fashion and the Cultural Imaginary * Ponchos of the River Plate--Ruth Corcuera * Mappin Stores--Rita Andrade * As She Walks to the Sea--Nizia Villaça * "Every girl had a fan which she kept always in motion": Puerto Rican Women's Dress at a Time of Social and Cultural Transition--Dilia López Gydosh and Marsha Dickson * Part 4: Mediation and Consumption * Guayaberismo and the Essence of Cool--Marilyn Miller * Transvestite Pedagogy--James Pancrazio * Frida and Evita--Maria Claudia Andre * Fashioning U.S. Salvadoranness--Claudia Milian Arias * Part 5: In Search of Fashion * Scattered Bodies, Unfashionable Flesh--Fabricio Forastelli
