The article discusses some of the trends in ladies’ fashion from the Middle Ages to the late 1700s, including fans, hairstyles, umbrellas, and gowns.

Sewell discusses Paris becoming the recognized authority of fashion in Europe in conjunction with the splendor of Louis XIV’s court at Versailles. He also traces the emergence of French markets in consumer goods, including textiles, clothing, and accessories.

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Blanchard discusses the Aesthetic Movement in fashion during the Gilded Age of the 1870s and 1880s. This social and artistic trend emphasized beauty for its own sake rather than attaching any deeper meaning.

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Hemphill and Suk discuss fashion as a window into all social sciences and the humanities, including the arts, the sciences, politics, ethics, academia, entertainment, commerce, and the law.

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Simonson discusses the preoccupation clothing has become for people in the Western world since the end of the eighteenth century. He specifically connects the fashion industry to economic and social growth in countries choosing republican forms of government.

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Aspers and Godart discuss fashion as a social phenomenon that has increased in importance with the emergence of mass markets. They also argue that there are no subject restrictions on innovative fashion theories and identify venues for further research.

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