ABSTRACT
The study of fashion is one of many ways of understanding modern Spain's visual construction. Indeed, the identification of certain forms of dress as representative of the Spanish people has fundamentally shaped perceptions of the nation, as much by foreigners as by natives of the country. With this in mind, this chapter seeks to understand the identification and assimilation of traditional dress in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Spain, beginning with an awareness of the gradual disappearance of traditional dress, its role in formation of tradition, and the subsequent transformation of dress into a marker of collective identity through its exploitation as both a museum object and tourist attraction. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, representation through dress crystallized as the modern way of seeing the nation. The political crises of the time, namely, the gradual loss of influence in the American colonies and the clash against Napoleon, set in motion the mechanisms necessary to create a sense of patriotism in Spain.
