Technology has been an essential factor in the production of dress and the cultures of fashionthroughout human history. Structured chronologically from pre-history to the present day, thisis the first broad study of the complex relationship between dress and technology.Over the course of human history, dress-making and fashion technology has changed beyondrecognition: from needles and human hands in the ancient world to complex 20th centurytextile production machines, it has now come to include the technologies that influence dressstyles and the fashion industry, such as the media and printing presses.In the last century, new technologies have helped not just to produce but to define fashion: thecreation of automobiles prompted a decline in long skirts for women while the beginnings ofspace travel caused people to radically rethink the function of dress. In many ways, technologyhas itself created avant garde and contemporary fashions.Through an impressive range of international case studies,the book challenges the perceptionthat fashion is unique to western dress and outlines the many ways in which dress andtechnology intersect.Dress, Fashion and Technology is ideal reading for