Fashioning Socialism: Clothing, Politics and Consumer Culture in East Germany

This is the first history of communist fashion in East Germany. Using clothing as a lens to read society, the author unveils wider tensions between the regime and the population and within the regime itself. In telling the surprising--and often bizarre--story of communist haute couture, fashion shows, seasonal clearance sales, the textile and garment industries, and everyday consumer practices, this book explores the paradoxical causes, forms, and consequences of East Germany's attempt to create a communist consumer culture during the Cold War. In attempting to compete with capitalism on the West's terms, East Germany unwittingly bred disgruntled consumers--consumers who ultimately tore down the Wall.