ABSTRACT
The global, the material and power inform the analyses contained in the collection and weave together a vital intellectual tapestry. Attention to global exchange and material culture illuminates the influences that flowed from region to region, people to people, expressed in myriad ways through cultures of dress. The sophisticated combination of materials in this fan suggests the ways in which design and the choice of materials were deployed to appeal to various buyers. A focus on dress provides the opportunity to explore the nuances of historic experiences, including the active engagement of those enveloped in particular dress systems. Dress was a charged cultural instrument, as evidenced in colonial and decolonization politics, social and political agendas, animated by cross-cultural and commercial flows, industrial and institutional innovations. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
