Author spotlight: Ulinka Rublack

In Dürer's Coats: Renaissance Men and Material Cultures of Social Recognition, Ulinka Rublack investigates how outerwear opens a new window into how people and things were connected in the Renaissance and how important clothing was in shaping subjectivities in everyday life. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

What first sparked your interest in Renaissance clothing, and in the social meanings of outerwear in particular?

Ulinka Rublack: The fact that coats were the most expensive item in male wardrobes, often very colorful and increasingly complex in construction, to announce these men quite dramatically to the world.

What is one idea that changed your perspective during your research?

UR: Judith Butler’s philosophy of recognition—it is gained through social relationships and, I would argue, material objects. This explains why people have personified them.

What do you hope readers will take away from Dürer’s Coats?

UR: That we need to think of human life as constituted by the interaction with things as well as people and society.

Which finding from the book surprised you the most?

UR: That Dürer attributed speech to his coats—he repeatedly makes them send greetings to a friend.

What project are you working on now?

UR: I am finishing The Triumph of Fashion: A Global History.

What advice would you give to young scholars writing their first books?

UR: Connect with past human experience and study storytelling.