Annie Holt identifies the roots of contemporary Euro-American practices of costume design, in which costumes are an integrated part of the dramaturgy rather than a reflection of an individual performer's taste or status. She argues that in the period 1820-1920, as part of the larger project of modernism across the artistic and cultural field, the functions of "clothing" and "costume" diverged. Onstage apparel took on a more specific semiotic task, acting as a fresh channel for the flow of information between the performer, the literary text, and the spectator.
Modernizing Costume Design traces how five kinds of artists - directors, performers, writers, couturiers, and painters - made key contributions to this new model of costume design. Holt shows that by 1920, costume design shifted in status from craft to art.