Institute of Historical Research Fashion: 84th Anglo-American Conference of Historians Plenary Lecture 1 Ulinka Rublack (Cambridge University) & Maria Hayward (University of Southampton) The First Book of Fashion In a major collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, the IHR is taking Fashion as the theme for its annual conference in summer 2015. Fashion in history is a topic which has come of age in recent years, as scholars have turned to addressing what is chic and what is style over the years and across different cultures. The history of fashion, and the role of fashion in history, is not just confirmed to the study of dress and costume, but encompasses design and innovation, taste and zeitgeist, treats as its subjects both people and objects, and crosses over into related disciplines such as the history of art and architecture, consumption, retailing and technology. Across the world, fashion brings together museums, graduate teaching programmes, learned societies and the fashion profession around a common set of interests and concerns. The IHR conference this year, we hope will be a perfect showcase and a meeting-point for the wide spectrum of specialists in this exciting field. Follow the event on twitter #AACH15