{"product_id":"tailoring-identities-craft-technology-and-style-in-benin-west-africa-hardcover","title":"Tailoring Identities: Craft, Technology, and Style in Benin, West Africa - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eElizabeth Ann Fretwell\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the wrapped and draped fabrics of precolonial Fon dress to the widespread custom clothing industry of the late twentieth century, Benin's tailors have built both rich traditions of artisanal skill and a storied history of innovation. Their work and expertise clothe everyday life, and in doing so contribute to shifting notions of status, identity, and power in the cities and towns of southern Benin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTailoring Identities\u003c\/i\u003e reveals the rich history behind the gendered and occupational identities of Benin's craftspeople and how their mastery over the material world positioned them as experts in style and sartorial meaning. Drawing on archival records from Benin, the United States, France, and Senegal and connecting them with oral histories, local material archives, and insights from her own apprenticeship with a Beninois master seamstress, Elizabeth Ann Fretwell demonstrates how West African tailors became important technological and cultural agents. By combining and repurposing tools, techniques, and material inputs from African and non-African sources and refining their craft through long-standing regional practices of innovation and collaboration, tailors consistently created groundbreaking fashions while giving form to political and social change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShifting conversations about African fashion from its aesthetics, authenticity, and consumption toward the making of garments and the development of craft knowledge, \u003ci\u003e Tailoring Identities\u003c\/i\u003e opens new artisanal pathways into the interdisciplinary study of fashion and clothing, technology, and urban social history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eElizabeth Ann Fretwell is Assistant Professor of African History at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. She received her PhD from University of Chicago and has previously published in \u003ci\u003eRadical History Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHistory and Technology\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eJournal of Urban History\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 294\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.81 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 03, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47479086219517,"sku":"9780253075345","price":178.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/3414\/0157\/files\/lOAnN7WbsI9780253075345.webp?v=1777535631","url":"https:\/\/booktolia.com\/products\/tailoring-identities-craft-technology-and-style-in-benin-west-africa-hardcover","provider":"booktolia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}