This book was fascinating and so well-written. It approaches the subject in an intelligent, creative way that I have not seen before. The incorporation of art, film, and literature into the discussion of fashion was thought-provoking. I enjoyed it!

I absolutely loved this exploration of material culture through clothing. I can see how it's not for everyone, perhaps, but I found myself Googling images of the films, artworks, and books the author mentions as I read. It was a kind of intellectual Pinterest board. It also inspired me to reexamine my relationship to my wardrobe and purge a few things that don't connect with me.

I can see this book working for an anthropology class, or as a gift for a fashion /costume design enthusiast.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

Unfortunately I won't be finishing this for the foreseeable future as the style of the prose doesn't work for me and I can't immerse myself in it, but there's definitely a lot to like here and it's such a fascinating topic. While I personally couldn't connect with it and see it through to the end, I'm sure this will be a wonderful read for so many.

I really did enjoy this book overall, but I wasn’t always convinced by Bari’s arguments and felt that she tried to carry her thesis just a bit too far at times. She ranges far and wide in her exploration of clothes, their power, how what we wear defines us and in a series of essays reflects on the philosophy of the way we dress. I’ve never read anything quite like it and mainly found it compelling, especially in her embrace of literature, art, film and philosophy to demonstrate her ideas. Although so wide-ranging, and with frequent changes of topic, it mostly felt coherent, although some of the sudden changes of subject could be disorienting. It’s definitely overwritten at times, but Bari’s passion about her ideas shines through and mostly she carried me along with her. An unusual and original exploration of the way we dress.

A thoughtful and reflective analysis of various aspects of dress and adornment. I'll recommend this to my costume production MFA students as an interesting book on par with the cerebral analysis of fashion by Valerie Steele and Allison Lurie.

An engrossing and beautifully written book about the meaning of clothing in our lives. Bari is clearly an expert on the subject, and cites everything from classic literature to recent films in her exploration. May be too academic to appeal to some readers, but overall a fascinating book.

I have very mixed opinions about this book. On the positive side, there were many excellent analyses of clothing in movies and artworks. On the negative side, it had too many wooly and wandering pseudo-philosophical ramblings about items of clothing, gender ideas, and the meaning of dress. These ramblings rarely came to any conclusions and, if they did, contradicted each other.

Even the conclusion wasn't any conclusion at all just an ending to what was an unsatisfying book.

For those who love fashion grab this book. A wonderful history of clothes design through the years.Well written entertaining as anything about fashion should be.#netgalley#Dressed

This book is a history of fashion. It was fascinating to read the historical moments in fashion. When I requested this book I was very curious about it wondering if I could use this a reference guide in my writing. The answer is definitely! I also picked up sewing so I am interested in the various fabrics and styles!

A mildly interesting book about clothes and how history and culture intertwine to make the relevance of clothes. I'm a big fan of fashion and clothes so I was immediately drawn to this book.

Bari's book pulls from bygone eras, pop culture and literature to give us a better understanding of what clothes do for us, how they influence us or how we influence them.

I find the chapters to be a little too long which made it difficult to get through. I wish they had been broken up in little parts to make for easier consumption.

Overall it was an interesting look on the history and future of clothes.

I received an advanced copy of Dressed: A Philosophy of Clothes through NetGalley, which proved to be a fascinating and delightful book!

Dressed: A Philosophy of Clothes is an examination of the history of clothing through the context of history and psychology. A fantastically interesting work, Dressed uses photography and textual descriptions to give a reader a deep understanding of the significance of different items of clothing. The meaning behind why we dress the way we do goes much deeper than anyone would initially expect, something that is revealed by this nonfiction book!

As a costume designer in training, I was immediately captured by the concept of Dressed! Shahidha Bari has crafted an engaging, well-written book designed to make one think more deeply about what they wear everyday. I believe this book would be easier to read in a physical format, as I found the digital version to be confusing in format at some points, but it still communicated the Information easily

You can get your copy of Dressed on March 17th from Basic Books!

My Recommendation-
If you love nonfiction, especially books that make you examine yourself using history, Dressed will be a great fit for you! As someone who rarely reads nonfiction for enjoyment, Dressed was both engaging and refreshing!