How to read a dress A guide to changing fashion from the 16th to the 20th century

This original, accessible take on fashion history is packed with color images, and each example garment annotated with terminology, key elements of the shape and construction, and other details of note. The images are pulled from museum collections around the world, and cover 1550 to 1970. The focus is on women's dresses in the Western world, and the time is divided into ten stylistic era chapters. In addition to the annotated examples, each chapter begins with a brief essay on the style hallmarks of the period. Most of the examples are images of extant garments, but the first two chapters (1550-1600 and 1610-99) mix in drawings and paintings, since so few gowns survive. The book also includes a glossary and endnotes. One point of weakness is the placement of supplemental images and the lack of figure numbers. The essay text often refers to "this image," when the image in question is actually on another page (e.g., pp. 22, 34-35, 82, 138). Even so, the book will be a valuable reference for many types of fashion history researchers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. --Clara E. Berg, Museum of History and Industry

The goal of this reference is to teach readers how to recognize the details of women's dress as it evolved from the 1550s through the 1960s. The book itself is as stunning visually as the garments depicted inside. Each chapter accounts for a number of years and includes up to a dozen color images of dresses, outlining the features of each. Necklines, Leg of Mutton sleeves (which look exactly how you are imagining), box-pleats, mantuas, and stomachers are all covered in fascinating detail. Chapter and dress introductions give context to the styles, revealing that the wheel farthingale famously worn by Queen Elizabeth I was one of the shortest-lived fashions of the century and that skirts were shortened and narrowed regularly for the first time because of WWI material rationing. Touching stories, like that of the WWII bride who died before she could wear her darling handmade honeymoon dress, add a personal element to the book. Although the intended audience is fashion students, anyone interested in history or women's fashion will enjoy this volume.--Compton-Dzak, Emily Copyright 2017 Booklist