These thoughtful essays on the historical meanings of dress, and what it might tell us about choices, compulsions, and self-representations, engage readers in the compelling work of interpretation. Narratives about power, these are also stories about visual archives: not only what they tell us, but how elusive they are. These scholars' passion for the archives they've allowed us to view is evident. It's a rich read.

Marilyn Booth, University of Oxford, UK

Examining the 'corporeal' Middle East, this innovative and multi-disciplinary volume explores different forms of representation of image on film and canvas, how both individuals and the state sought to fashion themselves, and the ways in which sartorial choice could be used to challenge established norms.

Kate Fleet, University of Cambridge, UK

This volume sheds new light on the Middle East. The underlying theme throughout the essays is in order to claim modernity people had to be prepared to absorb into their daily lives all that they perceived as that which constituted the western modernity. The book makes fascinating reading uncovering a life which few westerners could envisage.

The Journal of Dress History