1840s
1884
A01=Anna Buruma
Aesthetic dress
Aesthetic Movement
Aestheticism
Art Nouveau
Author_Anna Buruma
Category=AF
Category=AGA
Category=AKT
Central Asia
Edward William Godwin
English Art Nouveau Movement
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Fashion
Greek style evening dress
Liberty
Middle East
Roman style evening dress
Product details
- ISBN 9780300274301
- Dimensions: 216 x 270mm
- Publication Date: 22 Apr 2025
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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An exploration of how the name of Liberty became synonymous with Aestheticism and the English Art Nouveau Movement, and its role in shaping contemporary late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Artistic Dress
Liberty’s dress department opened in 1884, headed by Edward William Godwin, an architect with a multi-faceted career and an important figure in the Aesthetic Movement. From the mid-nineteenth century, women fought against restrictive clothing such as tight-laced corsets and heavy petticoats, which were harmful to their health, and chose instead to dress in looser fitting dresses, coloured with natural dyes and ornamented with embroidery and needlework. Liberty was at the forefront of Aestheticism with their recognisable soft, drapeable silks, transparent textiles, and fabrics imported from parts of Asia and the Middle East. Their customers were an eclectic mix of women who wanted to dress artistically and stand out from the crowd. Liberty was the chosen resort of the artistic shopper.
With archival materials and previously unpublished pattern books, Anna Buruma navigates Liberty’s role in artistic dress. Examining how their idiosyncratic fashions of Greek and Roman style evening dress and medieval tea gowns translated into late nineteenth and early twentieth century fashionable dress. Liberty sustained their popularity through good taste and willingness to expand into new markets. From their flourishing commitment to Aestheticism to becoming a trail-blazer for the Art Nouveau movement which would emerge from it, Artistic Dress at Liberty & Co: The Early Years is the go-to source for the early history of Liberty’s dress department.
Liberty’s dress department opened in 1884, headed by Edward William Godwin, an architect with a multi-faceted career and an important figure in the Aesthetic Movement. From the mid-nineteenth century, women fought against restrictive clothing such as tight-laced corsets and heavy petticoats, which were harmful to their health, and chose instead to dress in looser fitting dresses, coloured with natural dyes and ornamented with embroidery and needlework. Liberty was at the forefront of Aestheticism with their recognisable soft, drapeable silks, transparent textiles, and fabrics imported from parts of Asia and the Middle East. Their customers were an eclectic mix of women who wanted to dress artistically and stand out from the crowd. Liberty was the chosen resort of the artistic shopper.
With archival materials and previously unpublished pattern books, Anna Buruma navigates Liberty’s role in artistic dress. Examining how their idiosyncratic fashions of Greek and Roman style evening dress and medieval tea gowns translated into late nineteenth and early twentieth century fashionable dress. Liberty sustained their popularity through good taste and willingness to expand into new markets. From their flourishing commitment to Aestheticism to becoming a trail-blazer for the Art Nouveau movement which would emerge from it, Artistic Dress at Liberty & Co: The Early Years is the go-to source for the early history of Liberty’s dress department.
Anna Buruma trained as a theatre designer and had a successful career as a costume designer in television and film before completing an MA, specializing in the History of Dress, at the Courtauld Institute of Art. Buruma managed and catalogued the textile archive at Liberty from 1996 to 2022. From 2005 she has also been a part-time museum curator at Central Saint Martins.
