Intimate Apparel
Donmar Warehouse, London
The American writer Alison Lurie (1926-2020) was best-known for campus novels (such as Foreign Affairs) providing a female/feminist counterpoint to those of David Lodge and Malcolm Bradbury. In 1981, though, Lurie published The Language of Clothes, analysing the social and political subtext of dress, including why Victorian women wore so many layers and male authority figures – in churches, courts and colleges – have favoured long flowing robes.
Get Instant Access
Register for free to read this article in full
Subscribe for unlimited access
From just £37.50 quarterly
Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login

MOST READ ARTICLES
1
Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia meets with other worldwide Catholic Church leaders to discuss liturgy
2
Let there be light
3
World Humanitarian Day: aid workers face a ‘crisis of protection’
4
Ruling allows French private hospitals limited exemption from assisted suicide
5
A tract for our times
6
The wisdom of the saints
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK