A Visual History of Costume: The Twentieth Century

This series, designed for those who need reliable, easy-to-use reference material on the history of dress, presents the reader with a clear idea of what was worn in a given period and how, without the distortions and loss of detail which line drawings can entail. This book covers the period from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. The central part of the book is a series of illustrations taken from the time of the dress itself including photographs, paintings, sculpture, fashion plates, drawings and advertising material. Each illustration is captioned in a consistent way under the labels "Head", "Body" and "Accessories" and the clothes are clearly described, explained and interpreted. The reader may need to know whether a certain style was fashionable or unfashionable at a certain time, usual or unusual - such information is consistently laid out. Arranged in order of date, these illustrations will meet the needs of students, designers, collectors and anyone interested in the history of dress.