The Power of Fancy Dress: Dr. Benjamin Wild

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Benjamin Wild who is a U.K. based cultural historian specialising in the study of Fancy Dress Costume. Dr. Wild has authored many pieces of work including books A Life in Fashion The Wardrobe of Cecil Beaton (2016) and Carnival to Catwalk: Global Reflections on Fancy Dress Costume (2020).  Additionally, he is co-host with Lucy Clayton of the Dress Fancy podcast.  Dr. Wild is a Senior Lecturer in Contextual Studies at The Manchester Fashion Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University.  Fancy Dress also known as Costume or Fancy Dress Costume is defined by Dr. Wild as a performative form of dress, imaginative and incongruous, work for a discrete occasion and limited time that disrupts the place of the individual within the social and political relationships of a specific community (2020, p. 1).  In this episode, we explore ideas of history and culture reflected in fancy dress costume both in society and on the runway.