Pointy Shoes and Pith Helmets (Dress and Identity Construction in Ambon from 1850 to 1942)

Drawing on extensive research, Hulsbosch explores dress and adornment of the Ambonese people of the Central Maluku Islands, in Indonesia, during the last century of Dutch colonial rule. She demonstrates how visual identity formation is a lived experience and an active, constant innovation that is not only a response to society, but simultaneously drives and shapes society. This long overdue text documents sartorial expression of the colonizer (the Dutch) and the colonized (the Ambonese) and investigates previously ignored history of indigenous and Western women living in a colonial context. This book is a visual feast designed and written to appeal to scholars and the general public alike.