Cool shades : the history and meaning of sunglasses / Vanessa Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gill-Brown, Vanessa, 1970- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sunglasses.

Fashion.

Popular culture--History--20th century.

Popular culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (188 p.)

Distribution:

London, England : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury, 2020.

Summary:

"Cool Shades provides the first in-depth exploration of the enduring appeal of sunglasses in visual culture, both historically and today. Ubiquitous in fashion, advertising, film and graphic design, sunglasses are the ultimate signifier of 'cool' in mass culture; a powerful attribute pervading much fashion and pop cultural imagery which has received little scholarly attention until now. Accessible and highly engaging, this book offers an original history of how sunglasses became a fashion accessory in the early twentieth century, and addresses the complex variety of meanings they have the power to articulate, through associations with vision, light, glamour, darkness, fashion, speed and technology in the context of modernity. Cool Shades will be of great interest to students of fashion, design, visual and material culture, cultural studies and sociology, as well as general readers fascinated by this iconic fashion staple"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

FC

Half title

Title

Copyright

Contents

List of captions

Acknowledgments

Quote

1 Introduction - why write a book about sunglasses?

2 Modernity - an onslaught on the eyes

3 Seeing the blurred perception, cool, and mechanized speed (1910-present)

4 Seeing the cyborg eye-shading, cool, and the hi-tech body (1910-present)

5 Seeing in the light glasses, modern glamor, cool, and celebrity (1920-present)

6 Seeing in the dark - sunglasses and outsider cool (1940-present)

7 Heading for the shade - the spread of outsider cool (1950-present)

Seeing in the eclipse - sunglasses, cool and the absence of meaning (late 1950-present)

Sunglasses and cool - conclusions

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references, filmography and index.

Print version record.

ISBN:

0-85785-463-1

OCLC:

895162422