"In her brilliantly argued book, Regina A. Root writes Argentine history through material culture. Tracing the highly symbolic and coded role of fashion beyond the domestic world, she convincingly argues for its centrality as a path for understanding collective identity. In a fascinating study that ranges from flaunted `peinetones' to uniforms in their highly coded colors, encasing male and female citizens as agents or objects of control, Root locates the many and varied elements of clothing in the center of national history. Beautifully written and robustly anchored in the archive, the book's many discoveries will attract students and faculty alike." Diana Sorensen, Harvard University<BR><BR>Following Argentina's revolution in 1810, the dress of young patriots inspired a nation and distanced its politics from the relics of Spanish colonialism. Fashion writing often escaped the notice of authorities, allowing authors to masquerade political ideas under the guise of frivolity and entertainment. In Couture and Consensus, Regina A. Root maps this pivotal and overlooked facet of Argentine cultural history, showing how politics emerged from dress to disrupt authoritarian practices and stimulate creativity in a newly independent nation.<BR><BR>Drawing from genres as diverse as fiction, poetry, songs, and fashion magazines, Root offers a sartorial history that produces an original understanding of how Argentina forged its identity during the regime of Juan Manuel de Rosas (1829-1852), a critical historical time. Couture and Consensus closely analyzes military uniforms, women's dress, and the novels of the era to reveal fashion's role in advancing an agenda and disseminating political goals, notions Root connects to the contemporary moment.