Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Dressing the Resistance is a celebration of how we use clothing, fashion, and costume to ignite activism and spur social change.

Weaving together historical and current protest movements across the globe, Dressing the Resistance explores how everyday people and the societies they live in harness the visual power of dress to fight for radical change. American suffragettes made and wore dresses from old newspapers printed with voting slogans. Male farmers in rural India wore their wives' saris while staging sit-ins on railroad tracks against government neglect. Costume designer and dress historian Camille Benda analyzes cultural movements and the clothes that defined them through over 150 archival images, photographs, and paintings that bring the history of activism to life, from ancient Roman rebellions to the #MeToo movement, from twentieth-century punk subcultures to Black Lives Matter marches.

Includes a Foreword by Ane Crabtree, costume designer, The Handmaid's Tale .

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. 6)
• Preface (p. 8)
• Introduction: Clothing as Canvas (p. 10)
• Part 1 Status, Class, Dress
• 1 Power to the People: Everyday Dress as Protest (p. 18)
• 2 Shock the System: Subculture and Street Style (p. 40)
• 3 Strut Your Stuff: Fashion and Elite Resistance (p. 58)
• Part 2 Unity for Change
• 4 Conform to Survive: Strength in Numbers (p. 82)
• 5 Rainbow Warriors: Color Revolutions (p. 100)
• 6 Military to Militant: Join the Club (p. 122)
• Part 3 Beyond Clothing
• 7 Costume and Rebellion: Acting Up, Acting Out (p. 144)
• 8 Portable Protest: Hide and Seek (p. 160)
• 9 Skin and Symbols: Baring It All (p. 178)
• Conclusion (p. 196)
• Acknowledgments (p. 205)
• Notes (p. 206)
• Bibliography (p. 208)
• Image Credits (p. 211)
• Index (p. 213)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Clothing is a fundamental expression of discontent, both personal and in solidarity with others. From safety pins pierced through ear lobes to knitted pink hats with cat ears, Benda (costume design, California Inst. of the Arts, Sch. of Theater) describes how dress has served as a form of rebellion through history. Her authority derives from extensive work as a costume designer and a scholar of fashion history, with advanced degrees from Yale and the Courtauld Institute. The scope of this amply illustrated global survey is broad and organized thematically, allowing for unexpected connections. An account of David Bowie's flamboyant gender-bending 1973 knitwear is followed by Amelia Bloomer's 1910 introduction of pants for suffragettes. The text's light touch is balanced by an extensive bibliography, organized by subject ("Menswear"; "Subculture"). Benda concludes by reflecting on the future of activism, particularly the use of social media for expression; here she profiles influencers who rebel through their choice of dress and style. VERDICT Accessible and non-scholarly in tone yet comprehensively sourced, this book will serve as a source of enlightenment and inspiration for a wide audience.--Nancy B. Turner, Temple Univ. Lib., Philadelphia

CHOICE Review

In this abundantly illustrated volume, Benda, a costume designer by profession, explores the role of dress in protest and resistance using historical and contemporary case studies from the US and countries in Europe and worldwide. The book's nine chapters are organized into three thematic sections: "Status, Class, Dress"; "United for Change"; and "Beyond Clothing." In the first section, Benda looks at clothing as the canvas for expression and that clothing can be the workaday wardrobe of the person on the street, in-your-face outfits of subcultures and countercultural movements, or fashion statements of the elite. Section 2 considers questions of individuality and conformity in relation to change: how does conforming in dress contribute to subverting social systems? Examples are drawn from a range of political, religious, social, cultural, and popular movements. One chapter considers uniforms of the military and the militant, and another discusses movements that define themselves by color. The final section takes up the idea of costume and performance and the use of clothing accessories and nudity to make public statements. The book largely proceeds through a series of engaging examples; striking photos substantiate the author's points as well as entice readers. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Carol Hendrickson, emerita, Marlboro College (now part of Emerson College)