Claire Wilcox – författare

An exploration of the role of the handbag in the history of culture, fashion, and material productionThe history of the handbag—its design, how it has been made, used, and worn—reveals something essential about women's lives over the past 500 years. Perhaps the most universal item of fashionable adornment, it can also be elusive, an object of desire, secrecy, and even fear. Handbags explores these rich histories and multiple meanings.This book features specially commissioned photographs of an extraordinary, newly formed collection of fashionable handbags that date from the 16th century to the present day. It has been acquired for exhibition in the first museum devoted to the handbag, in Seoul, South Korea. The project is a commission undertaken by experimental exhibition-maker Judith Clark, whose innovative practices are revealed in Handbags.Essays by leading fashion historians and an acclaimed psychoanalyst investigate the history of gesture, the psychoanalysis of bags, and the museum's state-of-the-art mannequins and archive cabinets. In order to preserve the words that describe the unique qualities of each bag, a terminology of handbags has been compiled.Published in association with the Simone Handbag Museum, Seoul

Revealing the elaborate embroidery, intricate pleats and daring cuts that make up some of the 20th century’s most beautiful garments, this book explores the specific techniques used by couturiers as tastes and textile technologies evolved. Work by designers such as Mariano Fortuny, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret, Hubert de Givenchy, Mary Quant, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood is rediscovered, and exquisite haute-couture pieces, from sequinned Chanel trouser suits and richly embroidered Schiaparelli jackets to striking Balenciaga creations and Dior evening gowns, are examined.Part of the ‘Fashion in Detail’ series, this updated edition features a revised introduction and list of designers followed by chapters dedicated to a particular technique. Each garment is illustrated through detailed photography and line drawings and is accompanied by a commentary by leading experts in textiles and fashion.An extraordinary exploration of the techniques used by couturiers in the construction of these exceptional garments, 20th-Century Fashion in Detail will delight all followers of fashion.

An impeccably researched and beautifully produced concise history of bags through the ages, with examples drawn from the Victoria and Albert Museum's remarkable collection. From the hand-stitched embroidered purses of the 16th century, to the ‘make-do-and-mend’ bags of the war years and the rise of the ‘It’ bag in the 2000s, bags reflect the needs and desires of their users, as well as the changing attitudes to fashion. Focusing on the V&A’s world-famous collection, Bags tells the story of the bag from the earliest leather pouches through to today’s covetable, luxury pieces.

WINNER OF THE 2021 PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE‘A strange and mesmerising piece of work’ Sunday Times ‘An absolute masterpiece’ Laura Cumming‘An uncommon delight’ ObserverClaire Wilcox has been a curator of fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum for most of her working life. In Patch Work, she turns her curator’s eye to the fabric of life itself, tugging at the threads of memory: a cardigan worn by a child, a tin button box, the draping of a curtain, a pair of cycling shorts, a roll of lace, a pin hidden in a seam. Through these intimate and compelling close-ups, we see how the stories and the secrets of clothes measure out the passage of time, our gains and losses, and the way we use them to unravel and write our histories.‘Effervescent, poetic, puzzle-like ... Wilcox picks at the heartstrings’ Financial Times

At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men's fashion, and continuing reflections on gender, contemporary designers are questioning established forms, seeking to liberate wearers from traditional models of masculine dress. This book combines fashion with artistic and broader cultural histories - looking at the designers, tailors and artists who have constructed and performed masculinity from the Renaissance to the present day. It traces connections across and beyond European menswear, celebrating both rich traditions and daring individualists.Divided into three parts, Undressed reveals the role of the body and underwear in fashioning masculinities. Overdressed explores the power dynamics of sartorial bravado, while Redressed deconstructs a modern masculine uniform: the black suit.Featuring a staggering range of cultural touchstones from Hercules to Virgil Abloh, Giovanni Battista Moroni to Jawaharlal Nehru, Yves Saint Laurent to Kehinde Wiley, Marcus Rashford, Marlene Dietrich and even Captain America, Fashioning Masculinities challenges our preconceptions about menswear, revealing the fascinating historical roots beneath the power, artistry and diversity of masculine attire and appearance today.

Fashion is a big bubble, and sometimes I feel like popping it.' Alexander McQueen, 2009This definitive publication on Alexander McQueen (1969 - 2010) invites you into the creative mind and world of one of Britain's most brilliant, daring and provocative designers, and the many themes and references that shaped his visionary fashion collections.Accompanying the V&A's landmark exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, and taking the key themes of the exhibition of tailoring, gothic, primitivism, naturalism and futurism, this comprehensive catalogue features previously unseen material as well as groundbreaking essays and feature spreads by multiple authors and leading fashion commentators. This kaleidoscopic approach explores themes central to the designer's work and his collections, such as the psychology of fashion, natural history, the theatre and spectacle of his shows, and the key creative collaborators during McQueen's lifetime. Alexander McQueen also offers an encyclopaedic survey of McQueen's catwalk collections, illustrated with striking images by leading fashion photographers, and specially commissioned photographs that capture the breath-taking skill of his designs and awesome theatricality of his shows.Accompanies Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (14 March to 19 July 2015), developed and expanded from the 2011 blockbuster show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Spanning four centuries, the V&A's Fashion Collection is the most comprehensive in the world, housing unrivaled collections of dress,accessories, shoes and hats from the 17th century to the present day. This thoroughly revised and redesigned edition perfectly encapsulates the collection and is a must for any fashion enthusiast.