Through their metaphorical and material qualities, textiles can be seductive, exciting, intimate, and, at times, shocking and disquieting. This book is the first critical examination of the erotically charged relationship between the surface of the skin and the touch of cloth, exploring the ways in which textiles can seduce, conceal, and reveal through their interactions with the body.From the beautiful cloth which is quietly suggestive, to bold expressions of deviant sexuality, cloth is a message carrier for both desiring and being desired. The drape, fold, touch, and feel, the sound and look of cloth in motion, allow for the exploration of identity as a sensual, gendered, or political experience. The book features contributions on the sensory rustle and drape of silk taffeta and the secret pleasures of embroidery, on fetishistic punk street-style and homoerotic intimacy in men’s shirts on screen, and a new perspective on the role of cloth and skin in the classic film Blade Runner. In doing so, it interrogates experiences of cloth within social, historical, psychological, and cultural contexts.Divided into four sections on representation, design, otherness, and performance, The Erotic Cloth showcases a variety of debates that are at the heart of contemporary textile research, drawing on the fields of art, design, film, performance, culture, and politics. Playful, provocative, and beautifully illustrated with over 50 color images, it will appeal to students and scholars of textiles, fashion, gender, art, and anthropology.

The Erotic Cloth: Seduction and Fetishism in Textiles PDF

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