How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 21st Century

How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 21st Century
ISBN-10
1350172243
ISBN-13
9781350172241
Series
How to Read a Dress
Category
Design
Pages
747
Language
English
Published
2021-10-07
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing
Author
Lydia Edwards

Description

Fashion is ever-changing, and while some styles mark a dramatic departure from the past, many exhibit subtle differences from year to year that are not always easily identifiable. With overviews of each key period and detailed illustrations for each new style, How to Read a Dress is an appealing and accessible guide to women's fashion across five centuries. Each entry includes annotated color images of historical garments, outlining important features and highlighting how styles have developed over time, whether in shape, fabric choice, trimming, or undergarments. Readers learn how garments were constructed and where their inspiration stemmed from at key points in history – as well as how dresses have varied in type, cut, detailing and popularity according to the occasion and the class, age and social status of the wearer. This new edition includes additional styles to illustrate and explain the journey between one style and another; larger images to allow closer investigation of details of dress; examples of lower and working-class, as well as middle-class, clothing; and a completely new chapter covering the 1980s to 2020. The latter demonstrates how the late 20th century and early 21st century firmly left the dress behind as a requirement, but retained it as a perennially popular choice and illustrates how far the traditional boundaries of 'the dress' have been pushed (even including reference to a newly non-binary appreciation of the garment), and the intellectual shifts in the way women's fashion is both inspired and inspires. With these new additions, How to Read a Dress, revised edition, presents a complete and up-to-date picture of 'the dress' in all its forms, across the centuries, and taking into account different sartorial and social experiences. It is the ideal tool for anyone who has ever wanted to know their cartridge pleats from their Récamier ruffles. Equipping the reader with all the information they need to 'read' a dress, this is the ultimate guide for students, researchers, and anyone interested in historical fashion.

Other editions

Similar books

  • Designing Type: Second Edition
    By Karen Cheng

    Centaur • Monotype Bruce Rogers with punchcutter Robert Wiebking Bembo • Monotype Frank Hinman Pierpont, ... Kai Bernau and Susana Carvalho Bodoni • Monotype Originating designer Giambattista Bodoni; adapted for Monotype by Sol Hess.

  • The Art of Looking Sideways
    By Alan Fletcher

    A primer in visual intelligence and an exploration of the workings of the eye, the hand, the brain and the imagination is comprised of an inexhaustible mine of anecdotes, quotations, images, trivia, oddities, serious science, jokes and ...

  • Hollywood Intuition: It's What Separates Fashion Victims from Fashion Victors!
    By Karen Salmansohn, Jaye Hersh

    This July will see the launch of "Hollywood Intuition"-Hersh'sexciting line of accessories for the fashionista on a budget.Accompanying the splash debut of this exclusive accessoriesline, Hollywood Intuition the book, offers in print for ...

  • Arne Jacobsen: Compact Design Portfolio
    By Christopher Mount, Arne Jacobsen, Marisa Bartolucci

    Arne Jacobsen's furniture, such as his classic Ant Chair and Egg Chair, have become world-famous exemplars of Danish modern design. This book includes some of his most significant work, with an overview from established design writers.

  • Digital Textile Printing
    By Susan Carden

    ... here–here, here Awaken project here Bankes, H. here Banks, J. here Barber, E. here Barrett, E. here batik here, here–here, here Beckow, S. here Beddard, H. here Bell, Thomas here, here Benjamin, W. here–here, here, here–here Biggs, ...

  • Functional Clothing Design: From Sportswear to Spacesuits
    By Susan M. Watkins, Lucy Dunne

    Daniels, G. 1952. “The 'Average Man'?” Contract AF1860030, Report #0302010. Wright-Patterson AFB: Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Lab. de Bono, E. 1985. Lateral Thinking. New York: Viking Penguin. ———. 1999. Six Thinking Hats.

  • Camp: Notes on Fashion
    By Andrew Bolton, Karen Van Godtsenhoven, Amanda Garfinkel

    II/7–II/8 Sontag, “Notes on 'Camp,'” p. 518, Note 8 pp. II/9–II/11 Sontag, “Notes on 'Camp,'” p. 528, Note 49 pp. II/12–II/13 Sontag, “Notes on 'Camp,'” p. 527, Note 45 pp. II/14–II/17 Mark Booth, Camp (London: Cameron Books, 1983), p.

  • Druids, Celts, and Romans: The Founders of Europe
    By James Francis Smith, Sean Judy

    Author James Francis Smith Smith's 350-page narrative-history illustrates the Celts deference of women as leaders and warriors to that exhibited by Rome.

  • Reader's Companion: A Book Lover's Guide to the Most Important Books in Every Field of Knowledge as Chosen by the...
    By Fred Bratman, Scott Lewis

    Politicians, historians, movie stars, religious figures, and authors offer suggestions for the finest books in a wide range of fields and reveal those titles that have most affected their lives,...

  • Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things
    By Ellen Lupton, Julia Lupton

    Use this book to gain control over your environment and tap into the power of design to communicate with friends, family, and the world.