Disseminating a Dream: Constructing the Fantasy of Parisian Dress via Fashion Plates
Sophia Kusch '25
History, Art History & Museum Studies, with a minor in Anthropology
In my thesis, I examine how important Paris was in the fashion industry by focusing on the role fashion plates (fashion prints included in women's magazines) played between 1871 and 1904. I discovered that Parisian fashion supremacy was in fact not natural, but rather manufactured in part by cultural myth making and the spread and adoption of French fashion plates in publications across Western Europe. However, I contrast the idea of a pure French monopoly on the fashion world by introducing London as the center of menswear at the time.
What drew you to explore this topic?
I chose this topic because I have been fascinated with fashion history for almost five years, and my curriculum at UCU with my specific majors and minor gave me the theoretical basis to be able to make my passion into an academic project.