This is the first book in English to deal comprehensively with German fashion from World War I through to the end of the Third Reich. It explores the failed attempt by the Nazi state to construct a female image that would mirror official gender policies, inculcate feelings of national pride, promote a German victory on the fashion runways of Europe and support a Nazi-controlled European fashion industry. Not only was fashion one of the countrys largest industries throughout the interwar period, but German women ranked among the most elegantly dressed in all of Europe. While exploding the cultural stereotype of the German woman as either a Brunhilde in uniform or a chubby farmers wife, the author reveals the often heated debates surrounding the issue of female image and clothing, as well as the ambiguous and contradictory relationship between official Nazi propaganda and the reality of womens daily lives during this crucial period in German history. Because Hitler never took a firm public stance on fashion, an investigation of fashion policy reveals ambivalent posturing, competing factions and conflicting laws in what was clearly not a monolithic National Socialist state. Drawing on previously neglected primary sources, Guenther unearths new material to detail the inner workings of a government-supported fashion institute and an organization established to help aryanize the German fashion world. How did the few with power maintain style and elegance? How did the majority experience the increased standardization of clothing characteristic of the Nazi years? How did women deal with the severe clothing restrictions brought about by Nazi policies and the exigencies of war? These questions and many others, including the role of anti-Semitism, aryanization and the hypocrisy of Nazi policies, are all thoroughly examined in this pathbreaking book.
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Winner, Millia Davenport Award 2005, Costume Society of America Winner, Sierra Book Prize 2005, Western Association of Women Historians This well-researched book is a fascinating and very readable account of the role of fashion and clothing in the National Socialists' construction of German womanhood and national identity during the Third Reich. Costume, Edwina Ehrman A mavellous example of how the seemingly peripheral or mundane can shed light on the contradictions and tensions of the worst kind of totalitarian regime. BBC History Magazine Well-written, engrossing and exhaustive study, Guenther furnishes ample evidence of the Nazis' peculiar preoccupation with fashion. By exploring this previously unstudied realm of a much-studied era, "Nazi Chic?" provides an original and absorbing glimps into the absurdity and exactitude of the National Socialist enterprise. Forward, Amanda Fortini Makes powerfully apparent how fashion was often of greater concern to ordinary Germans (and to their leaders) than the trajectory of high politics. The American Historical Review, Dagmar Herzog Nazi Chic? is a remarkable and welcome document, a careful look at familiar terrain from a fresh perspective. London Review of Books, Anne Hollander THis book is an enlightening and important piece of research into a subject which is not frequently given academic treatment. Debattle, Steve Plumb Well-researched, richly detailed, and thought-provoking study shows how fashion illuminates crucial issues in the history of the Third Reich. Central European History It is a book for historians as much as for students of fashion and design, chic without the kitsch. David Cesarani
About the Author
Irene Guenther is Professor of History, Houston Community College.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By gerardpeter
Format:Paperback
Fashion is not thought a suitable subject for the serious historian. This book shows why that should change. It is a detailed analysis of the attempt to create a specific, unique style for women in Nazi Germany. The project failed - the author shows how and why. She reveals the limitations of fascist power and the reach of its ideology. She asks important questions about the place and role of women in this society, and the degree to which they really accepted "Kinder, Kirche, Kuche".
She takes the story back to the 19th century. Resentment of Parisian style had deep roots. German designers were never able to emulate the fashion houses of France. Nothing in Nazi thinking could change that. There is only so much you can do wih a dirndl.
For decades Jewish tailors in Berlin were adept at taking haute couture and making cheap mass produced copies for export. The Nazis contribution to this industry was to destroy it.
The occupation of France facilitated extensive looting by German soldiers. The plunder found its way into the wardrobes of their wives and girlfriends. These early windfalls were to be forgotten as the war continued. Scarcity of raw materials meant it was a struggle to find any clothing at all. The final form of Nazi chic was the Flickenleid, the tattered uniform of the trummerfrau.
Irene Guenther provides a wealth of information and fascinating detail. We read of the trains that took people to be gassed in Auschwitz returning laden with their clothes to German cities. Illustrations are plentiful and illuminate her argument, especially on the finer points of dress and look. The only criticism I have is that the author has a somewhat awkward way of writing - a better editor could have ironed this out. But in sum a great piece of research and analysis, thought-provoking history.
She takes the story back to the 19th century. Resentment of Parisian style had deep roots. German designers were never able to emulate the fashion houses of France. Nothing in Nazi thinking could change that. There is only so much you can do wih a dirndl.
For decades Jewish tailors in Berlin were adept at taking haute couture and making cheap mass produced copies for export. The Nazis contribution to this industry was to destroy it.
The occupation of France facilitated extensive looting by German soldiers. The plunder found its way into the wardrobes of their wives and girlfriends. These early windfalls were to be forgotten as the war continued. Scarcity of raw materials meant it was a struggle to find any clothing at all. The final form of Nazi chic was the Flickenleid, the tattered uniform of the trummerfrau.
Irene Guenther provides a wealth of information and fascinating detail. We read of the trains that took people to be gassed in Auschwitz returning laden with their clothes to German cities. Illustrations are plentiful and illuminate her argument, especially on the finer points of dress and look. The only criticism I have is that the author has a somewhat awkward way of writing - a better editor could have ironed this out. But in sum a great piece of research and analysis, thought-provoking history.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific Book - Highly Recommended
25 May 2006
By history buff
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
For an unusual and insightful look into the Third Reich, I highly recommend this book. The title is a bit of a pun, as the subject material covers the Nazis' unfashionable attempts to maniplate control over female fashions and women's roles through the use of propaganda and manipulation of the fashion industry. The book is well researched, well written, and discloses new findings exposing the purging of Jews from the German fashion industry. The book also details information on the little known German Fashion Institute and the very fashion-conscious Nazi officials' wives and their hypocritical husbands. The book accurately portrays the parody of Nazi political folly, as well as the realism of the devastated German home front through the lives of German women during WWII and the millions of women in the concentration camps throughout Europe. Be forewarned - this is one of those books that once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down until you reach the last page.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An EXCELLENT book tying Nazism and fashion!
16 Dec 2008
By Lily and the Book Lady
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Ok, I must warn you I'm a bit biased - I've had a class with Dr. G. As in class and this book, her knowledge of Weimar and Nazi Germany is amazing. This book has been well-researched with her many trips to Germany and she fluently speaks German - no need to have anyone else translate the documents and interpret for her. She's a great professor, a great author, and a great historian. I recommend this book because it not only covers fashion, but goes into the Nazi system, its hypocrisy, and the devastation on the homefront and in the concentration camps through the lens of fashion. And it is written so EVERYONE can understand and get something out of it! A must-read for anyone interested in Nazi Germany, women's history, and/or fashion!!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nazi Chic is a GREAT Read; extremely well-researched
25 May 2006
By A. Collie
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the period and/or in fashion. Loved the anecdotes! Fascinating from front to back. The pictures made the book even more enjoyable.
Can't wait to see what else Ms. Guenther writes!
Can't wait to see what else Ms. Guenther writes!
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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