Chapter 23 - Material Culture: Social Change, Culture, Fashion and Textiles in Europe

Abstract

History has shown us how shifts in society – political change, war, scientific developments and travel, leading to the discovery of new, foreign cultures – affect our own cultural practices including those related to fashion and textile design. Changes in social thinking – for example, reactions to the status quo and long-held beliefs – can affect how we express ourselves through the arts: music, film, dance, theatre and dress. This chapter seeks to explain the various meanings of the term ‘culture’ by discussing the issues surrounding different types of cultures, exploring the complex interrelationships that exist between culture and society and in turn how these relationships influence fashion. A list of learning objectives, set out at the beginning of the chapter, describes what the student can expect to understand about the relationships between society, culture and fashion having completed the chapter. Various definitions of the term ‘culture’ will then be given, and issues surrounding the relationship between culture and society will be raised and discussed: how society shapes art, and how, in turn, art can shape society, and how the design and production of fashion and textiles relate to broader cultural influences.