2023/11/13 by Laura Summa · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Fashion and Cultural Textiles #Art, Politics, and Modernism #Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art
paper · doi:10.1093/aesthj/ayac069
openalex publication_date 2023/11/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Gwenda-lin Grewal’s Fashion Sense should be read more than once, for it moves conceptually, on multiple levels, and stylistically on many others. If you read it for its insights into Ancient Greek philosophy, you will find yourself returning to it for its sharp criticism of contemporary society—mores and looks. On a third time, you may want to reread it just for its prose. Grewal can write and seems to enjoy writing quite a bit. Sarcasm, intellectual acumen, style, and a bit of standoffishness are some of the book’s features. I am sure more can be discovered, perhaps at a fourth reading. As a philosopher who is not untouched by fashion, maintains a love for etymology and the playfulness of the Greek language, and is acquainted with the philosophical ambivalence, if not outright disdain, towards fashion, I must confess a certain solidarity and, at times, pure delight at how fashion is treated in the book. It is never only an object, and is instead analyzed through a lens that takes into consideration fashion history, what is à la mode, the daring and commonplace pinnacles and pitfalls of fashion, and also, importantly, fashion’s role not just in society but also in shaping what society is, who we are, and the philosophies we build.