Patrizia Calefato / The Clothed Body

Translated by Lisa Adams

Dress is everywhere imbued with symbols that reflect different meanings in different contexts. This compelling book convincingly demonstrates how clothing is analogous to a working language and is similarly underpinned by deeper meanings and philosophies.

From tattoos and mini-skirts, to skin decoration, make-up and hair, Calefato unpicks the multiple functions of modern dress. Exploring intriguing commonalities - for example, between tattooed Egyptian mummies of 2000 BC and modern sub-cultural styles - Calefato considers the psychological, cultural, spiritual and symbolic significances at play in what she aptly labels 'body cartography'. What we wear is a vehicle for the (often contentious) expression of politics, gender and identity and therefore clothing is at the root of a complex set of messages, many paradoxical. Clothing may, for example, liberate through the pleasures of masquerade and at the same time 'cage' or control the body.

The Clothed Body show how semiotics can provide a convincing template for understanding dress in a wide range of contexts and will be essential reading for anyone interested in the meaning of what we wear.