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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Monografia mea "The Women of 'Little Paris': Fashion in Interwar Bucharest" ( @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social 2024) se găsește la Cărturești (în varianta broșată, evident)! Dacă poate cineva o vede pe vreun raft, să-mi trimită și mie o fotografie, ca să o văd cum îi stă la promenadă!

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Reposted by Dr Sonia D. Andras

Bloomsbury Fashion @bloomsburyfashion.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Now available in paperback! @soniadandras.bsky.social combs through diaries, photographs and archives to reveal the story of gender, dress and modernity in Romania and beyond. Get your copy here: bit.ly/4gTPsk3

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

What better birthday present than the release of the paperback edition of my @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social monograph "The Women of 'Little Paris': Fashion in Interwar Bucharest" (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2024 - and now paperback since 25 June 2025!!!). @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social

Left: Book cover, out now. Right: Product details
Published 25 Jun 2026
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Pages 256
ISBN 9781350294493
Imprint Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Illustrations 95 bw illus
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Series Dress Cultures
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Et même plus, c'est une occasion parfaite pour pratiquer, et pourquoi pas améliorer, mon français! This was also made possible through my MSCA SoE@Unipi fellowship for my project "FIVE BUCharests in a Decade: Fashioning Romanian Urban Cultures, 1939-1949 (FIVEBUC) " from @unipisa.bsky.social .

Bear statue with glued papers, images and posters about German and French cultural cooperation.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Quite the start to my two-week @circleu.bsky.social mobility at @centremarcbloch.bsky.social ! My first day began with a fantastic and informative talk and conversation with Arjun Appadurai (see the link: cmb.hu-berlin.de/events/can-d...

cmb.hu-berlin.de

Can Diversity and the Social Contract Survive Trump’s Politics? – Centre Marc Bloch

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

It will be a valuable opportunity to collaborate with experienced researchers and colleagues on my MSCA SoE@Unipi project, “FIVE BUCharests in a Decade: Fashioning Romanian Urban Cultures, 1939-1949 (FIVEBUC),” at the @unipisa.bsky.social . Image source: www.unipi.it/en/about-us/... .

unipi.it

Circle U. ~ UNIPI

Circle U. About Circle U. FIND OUT MORE Studying or working at the University of Pisa means being part of the large international community of Circle U., the European University Alliance that opens th...

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I am happy to announce that I will begin a two-week short-term research mobility at the @centremarcbloch.bsky.social at @humboldtuni.bsky.social next week. This opportunity is made possible through a @circleu.bsky.social Postdoc Mobility Fellowship.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Although his scope was limited to compiled materials and strategic approaches, Voina maintained an optimistic outlook that future research would address the challenges of unstandardised methodologies.”

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

... original data to avoid redundancy, thereby reducing its originality and making it a modest resource on prostitution and venereal diseases in Romania.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

... in 1926 to analyse the prevalence of venereal diseases in Romania. Upon returning to Romania from a 1926-1927 Rockefeller fellowship in the United States, the data from that investigation had become outdated and the 1930 publication removed most of the ...

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

“In his April 1930 preface to the monograph Prostituția și boalele venerice în România (Prostitution and Venereal Diseases in Romania, Figure 1), Romanian doctor, eugenicist, and legislator Aurel Voina outlined the organisation of a national investigation carried out with medical professionals ...

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I am grateful to Pierre-Yves Saunier for his patience and support, especially in verifying my data and extracting figures from the Rockefeller Fellows database. The blog is part of the Hypotheses.org platform.

hypotheses.org

Home

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

New publication alert! My article "Romanian Rockefeller Fellows: An Interwar Story" was recently published on the Rockefeller Fellows blog (DOI doi.org/10.58079/16833).

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Reposted by Dr Sonia D. Andras

Kate Strasdin @katestrasdin.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

On this day in 1929 Audrey Hepburn was born. Her wardrobe, on and off screen, featured many designs by Hubert de Givenchy, embellished treat worn in the 1956 movie Love in the Afternoon. Sold via #KerryTaylorAuct #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

A strapless cocktail style dress consisting of an embellished bodice with a turquoise silk bow at the wait. It has a white layered puffball style skirt

A photograph of Audrey Hepburn wearing the white strapless dress in the film Love in the Afternoon. She is show leaning against a mirror

Bodice detail of Audrey Hepburn’s costume by Givenchy which focuses on the gold embellished bust section of the dress and the silk turquoise bow centre front of the waist

A black and white photograph of Audrey Hepburn wearing the same couple by Givenchy, this time seated, looking at the camera and wearing long white gloves

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I am so grateful to the brilliant contributors who agreed to share their brilliant and innovative research as part of this project: Sophie Kurkdjian, Nina-Sophia Miralles , Raluca Partenie, Diana Sfetlana Stoica, Veronique Pouillard, Binglun He.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I am so grateful for the support, patience, and amazing guidance from the Bloomsbury Publishing UK team and for the helpful feedback from the peer reviewers! @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

It's so great to see long-term projects taking shape! My upcoming edited book, now titled "The Enduring Influence of Paris Fashion in a Globalised World", will be available from 4 February 2027 with Bloomsbury Visual Arts (Dress Cultures series)!

Screenshot from the link in the future reply to the Bloomsbury page of the book.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Speaking of which, the paperback edition is only two months away! Pre-order now on the Bloomsbury website using code “GLR BD8” for 20% off: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-of-... www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-of-... !

bloomsbury.com

The Women of 'Little Paris'

Filling a gap in Eastern European fashion studies, this book presents middle-class women consuming fashion in the symbolic 'Little Paris' of interwar Bucharest,…

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

I am grateful for the thoughtful review by Alexandra Ghiț of my first monograph, “The Women of ‘Little Paris’: Fashion in Interwar Bucharest” (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, Dress Cultures, 2024), @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social

Excerpt from the book review PDF page on the Journal of Romanian Studies page.

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Reposted by Dr Sonia D. Andras

Kate Strasdin @katestrasdin.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

She looks like a porcelain doll in a smooth blue and white painted dress, perched somewhere on a shelf and sited every so often. She is in fact a heavily embroidered early #1960s ballgown and bolero by Marguery Bolhagen @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

A mannequin photographed wearing a silvery white and blue sleeveless ballgown with short matching jacket. It is covered all over with blue embroidery and embellishments that are heavier at the hem

A photograph of the blue an white embellished ballgown, shown in this image without the short matching jacket

Back view of the early 1960s blue and white embellished gown showing the fit of the jacket an drape of the skirt from behind

A detail of the blue floral embroidery at the hem of the blue and white embellished gown

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This research was supported by the Università di Pisa through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Seal of Excellence @Unipi Fellowship Programme (MSCA SoE@Unipi) for the project FIVE BUCharests in a Decade: Fashioning Romanian Urban Cultures, 1939–1949 (FIVEBUC).

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This article was published open access under a CC BY-ND licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-....

creativecommons.org

Deed - Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International - Creative Commons

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This multidimensional, interdisciplinary conceptual exercise connects gender dynamics through class, ethnicity, and location, contributing to a better understanding of Romanian gendered communication and culture.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

The playlist includes renditions of Por una cabeza, the Romanian translation of Zaraza, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and Casablanca’s As Time Goes By.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Agency (voice) reflects the power of choice, encouraging self-assertion through education. Coercion (silence) signifies a lack of choice, using propaganda to disguise conformity as authenticity.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

... possibilities, and ideas. The tension between agency and coercion on a gendered voice-silence spectrum is exemplified through Marthe Bibesco’s Noblesse de Robe and Aurel Voina’s Îngrijirea tenului [Skincare], blended with music and film for a synesthetic experience.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This paper analyzes how gendered advice literature informed societal perceptions of women’s bodies in interwar Romania, in conjunction with popular music and film. It discusses the changing understandings of beauty within a broader research project on Romanian women’s fashion choices, ...

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Specifically, it was the dialectical shift from a restored parliamentary monarchy to Stalinism, from moderate liberalism to communism. #newsovietwoman #newlook #dior #newwoman

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

In the short span between 1948 and 1949, Romania found itself in a liminal space, navigating between different eras, ideologies, political structures, and empires.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

This paper used an interdisciplinary approach, blending cultural studies (fashion, gender, media) with sociological aesthetics, and will employ semiotics and sociological physiognomy to analyse both written and visual texts.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

... allowing them to break free from the austerity of wartime and their powerlessness in succeeding conflicts and upheavals, promptly curtailed at the dawn of the Romanian People’s Republic.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

In a Romanian context, the ‘new Communist woman’ is a direct descendant of the two main interwar models. The New Look is a dual symbol of colonialism as the worldwide spread of Parisian fashion and decolonisation as a means of expression and emancipation for women, ...

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

While the New Look has often been deemed as deleterious to women's emancipation, it should be treated within a postwar context as an opportunity given to women to forego practicality and wartime austerity in favour of elegant, albeit nostalgic, glamour.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The aim was to highlight how the choice of style in the last two years of the 1940s implied political, social, cultural and ideological positionality and assumed a particular identity as a personal and collective choice.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

My paper contrasted the reception of Christian Dior's New Look in 1948, symbolising women's return to fashion after years of wartime austerity, with the model of the 'new Communist woman' imposed by the USSR, whose main prerogatives were being a worker and mother rather than a chic lady.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

My paper, "New Look versus ‘New Woman’: Dress and Fashion at the Threshold of the People’s Republic of Romania," explored the fluid discourse around dress and fashion as the Romanian Kingdom faced an abrupt end and Romania's Stalinisation shifted from mere rumour to reality.

Opening PPT slide, showing the paper title, 3 relevant images, the author, affiliation and acknowledgement.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

... offered a critical and nuanced understanding of the social, political, ideological, cultural, aesthetic, and commercial negotiations, clashes, and collaborations in and around Romania as seen through fashion and dress.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

with "New Look versus ‘New Woman’: Dress and Fashion at the Threshold of the People’s Republic of Romania". The panel was titled "Fashioning Decentralisation: Dress, Politics and Identity in-between Empires" and ...

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The panellists were Alexandra Chiriac with "Clothes Make the Man: (Self-)Fashioning the Black Dandy in Romania", Kate Caric with "Nation and Appropriation: The Case of the Romanian Blouse" and me ... #basees26 #basees #basees2026 #fashion #romania #dress

Screenshot of the panel in the BASEES 2026 programme, showing time, location, panel title, Chair and panellists with papers.

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Dr Sonia D. Andras @soniadandras.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

I'm so thrilled to have been part of an amazing panel at the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies - BASEES 2026 Conference at the University of Birmingham, chaired by Julia Secklehner. baseesconference.org

baseesconference.org

BASEES Annual Conference 26

10 - 12 April 2026, Birmingham, UK

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