Specifications

A History of Fashion and Costume is a new eight-volume set that examines the development of costume and fashion over time, from the earliest cave dwellers to the present, along with the social history that gave rise to it. In each volume, beautiful, full-color illustrations and engaging text combine with a foreword written by a fashion editor, a helpful glossary, a timeline, and an index to produce a compelling look at the effects of fashion and costume on society.

Reviews and Awards

"...a well researched overview of clothing from the ancient world to the 20th century...Comprehensive descriptions...The accompanying illustrations serve to clarify the text...Another interesting feature is the inclusion of quotations about fashions from writers of the time...an excellent resource...Highly Recommended."
Library Media Connection

Summary

A History of Fashion and Costume is an eight-title set that examines the development of costume and fashion over time, from the earliest cave dwellers to the present, along with the social history that gave rise to it. Introducing readers to the rich world of fashion and dress, this set vividly depicts the changing styles, processes, and trends—from the first people to wear clothes in the last Ice Age to the courtly fashion of medieval Europe to the globalization of Western style—that led to the clothing of today.

Describing both the practical uses of clothing and the highly impractical clothes that have been used throughout history to convey social status, these volumes provide an interdisciplinary look at the effects of fashion and costume on society. Each accessible title describes the fashions of the time, styles and designs, and the changing use of materials. Beautiful full-color illustrations and engaging text examine clothing as well as the jewelry, hairstyles, hats, and footwear that accompanied the fashions and made them unique. Special features in each volume include a foreword written by a fashion editor as well as a helpful glossary, timeline, and index.

Individual titles cover:

• Hair and makeup worn in ancient Egypt
• Silk-making in ancient China
• The rise of technology and trade
• Dressing for war
• The royal wardrobe
• The symbolic use of fashion accessories
• The rising popularity of facial hair
• Beaver hats and whalebone corsets
• New York Society
• Spanish and Portuguese colonial costume
• Military uniforms of the French, British, and Revolutionary armies
• Costumes for seafaring and traveling
• Undergarments both in the United States and abroad
• France and the Napoleonic style
• The royal courts of Spain and Portugal
• Reshaping the body
• High performance materials and current styles.