There is an art to female self-adornment. Throughout history, women have been fascinated by — and castigated for — their interest in clothes, accessories, and make-up. Getting Dressed: Confession, Criticism, Cultural History is a philosophical examination of fashion: its origins, its creative potential, and its profound relationship to who we are.

From the shoes that support us to the intimate primers and foundations we blend into our skin, women have a long history of being expected to create themselves through what they wear. But are we really nothing more than slaves to our appearances? Instead of responding to fashion with scorn, why not embrace the tradition? Getting Dressed: Confession, Criticism, and Cultural History is a philosophical examination of fashion as the art of introspection.

Getting Dressed is written by Paula Marantz Cohen, Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel University and host of The Drexel InterView, a talk show broadcast on more than 300 public television stations across the country. She has written four nonfiction books and four bestselling novels, including Jane Austen in Boca and Jane Austen in Scarsdale or Love, Death, and the SATs. Her essays and stories have appeared in The Yale Review, The American Scholar, the Times Literary Supplement, and other publications. Her latest book is What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Jack the Ripper and Henry James.

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