Consumptive Chic
eBook - PDF

Consumptive Chic

A History of Beauty, Fashion, and Disease

  1. 208 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Consumptive Chic

A History of Beauty, Fashion, and Disease

About this book

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there was a tubercular 'moment' in which perceptions of the consumptive disease became inextricably tied to contemporary concepts of beauty, playing out in the clothing fashions of the day. With the ravages of the illness widely regarded as conferring beauty on the sufferer, it became commonplace to regard tuberculosis as a positive affliction, one to be emulated in both beauty practices and dress. While medical writers of the time believed that the fashionable way of life of many women actually rendered them susceptible to the disease, Carolyn A. Day investigates the deliberate and widespread flouting of admonitions against these fashion practices in the pursuit of beauty. Through an exploration of contemporary social trends and medical advice revealed in medical writing, literature and personal papers, Consumptive Chic uncovers the intimate relationship between fashionable women's clothing, and medical understandings of the illness. Illustrated with over 40 full color fashion plates, caricatures, medical images, and photographs of original garments, this is a compelling story of the intimate relationship between the body, beauty, and disease - and the rise of 'tubercular chic'.

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Yes, you can access Consumptive Chic by Carolyn A. Day in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Design & Fashion Design. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Bloomsbury Academic
Year
2017
Print ISBN
9781350141186
eBook ISBN
9781350009394
Edition
1
Topic
Design
Subtopic
Fashion Design
Consumptive 
Chic
8
uncertainty 
of 
contemporary 
diagnosis. 
Consumption’s 
slow, 
creeping 
nature 
meant 
that 
it 
oſten 
remained 
unnoticed 
until 
the 
latter 
stages, 
and 
its 
nomenclature 
further 
complicates 
the 
assessment 
of 
mortality. 
e 
terms 
phthisis 
and 
pulmonary 
consumption 
were 
used, 
almost 
indiscriminately, 
to 
indicate 
a 
number 
of 
unrelated 
maladies. 
7
e 
designation 
of 
consumption 
was 
particularly 
problematic, 
as 
it 
was 
oſten 
applied 
to 
any 
illness 
accompanied 
by 
weight 
loss. 
In 
spite 
of 
these 
diffi
culties, 
it 
is 
clear 
that 
the 
nineteenth 
century 
can 
reliably 
be 
termed 
the 
“age 
of 
consumption,” 
whether 
one 
cites 
the 
disease’s 
actual 
or 
imagined 
impact. 
It 
can 
also 
be 
styled 
the 
age 
of 
medical 
statistics. 
8
Until 
the 
nineteenth 
century, 
there 
were 
no 
regular 
or 
accurate 
records 
of 
quantitative 
Figure 
1.1 
Gideon 
Harvey 
by 
A. 
Hertochs, 
n.d. 
Wellcome 
Library, 
London. 
Copyrighted 
work 
available 
under 
Creative 
Commons 
Attribution 
only 
licence 
CC 
BY 
4.0 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 

Table of contents

  1. Cover page
  2. Halftitle page
  3. Title page
  4. Copyright page
  5. CONTENTS
  6. LIST OF FIGURES
  7. LIST OF PLATES
  8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  9. INTRODUCTION
  10. CHAPTER 1 THE APPROACH TO ILLNESS
  11. CHAPTER 2 THE CURIOUS CASE OF CONSUMPTION: A FAMILY AFFAIR
  12. CHAPTER 3 EXCITING CONSUMPTION: THE CAUSES AND CULTURE OF AN ILLNESS
  13. CHAPTER 4 MORALITY, MORTALITY, AND ROMANTICIZING DEATH
  14. CHAPTER 5 THE ANGEL OF DEATH IN THE HOUSEHOLD
  15. CHAPTER 6 TRAGEDY AND TUBERCULOSIS: THE SIDDONS STORY
  16. CHAPTER 7 DYING TO BE BEAUTIFUL: THE CONSUMPTIVE CHIC
  17. CHAPTER 8 THE AGONY OF CONCEIT: CLOTHING AND CONSUMPTION
  18. EPILOGUE: THE END OF CONSUMPTIVE CHIC
  19. CONCLUDING THE FASHION
  20. NOTES
  21. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
  22. INDEX