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lovebeerlearning's review against another edition
2.0
Not what I expected - more a personal and family history than s history of women’s clothing. Less informative than I hoped.
shanaqui's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I had very fond memories of this book, so I'm not quite sure why I found it so tedious this time. Maybe non-fiction just doesn't reread that well, but also I noticed that there's so much namedropping without context. Who is this person, why do I care? Did you mention them five chapters ago and I'm supposed to remember their relevance? Or is this your great-aunt's best friend again?
I love the idea of microhistory, of using something like a box of buttons to tell the story of fashions and women's place in society, and I think the book is actually pretty successful at that. I remember adoring it, and probably even giving it five stars. I'm not 100% sure what happened this time, since I was expecting a comfortable reread of facts I already largely know (which is not a thing that ever bothers me), but it didn't work out that way.
I love the idea of microhistory, of using something like a box of buttons to tell the story of fashions and women's place in society, and I think the book is actually pretty successful at that. I remember adoring it, and probably even giving it five stars. I'm not 100% sure what happened this time, since I was expecting a comfortable reread of facts I already largely know (which is not a thing that ever bothers me), but it didn't work out that way.
purplemuskogee's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
It is a bit niche but I loved this history of women's fashion and lives - from the Edwardian era until the 1970s - told through a button box, each chapter illustrated by one button representative of its time, and stories from the author's family. There's a lot about women rights, women entering the workforce, women's economic power (the thought that 1/3 of a working woman's salary was going to clothes is incredible) and the clothes they wore. I really enjoyed this book and through the novels Knight quotes, I have noted many titles I'd like to read next.
naomijoycerivers's review
Felt like a slog; was exhausted before I even picked it up, feels like effort to read.
blurrybug's review
4.0
When did clothes go from being a necessity to a measure of our self worth.
The button box explores clothes for women through the last 150-200 years with a starting point of the button of said clothing.
Most of us grew up in households where our grandma, our mother or even our father had a jar/box of buttons. Old buttons, extra button from a shirt/trousers or new buttons because they looked pretty or was needed for a project.
This was a interesting read cause it combines personal tale, history from the last 150 years (set in England as the authors is English) and shows how clothes goes from usefulness to status.
The button box explores clothes for women through the last 150-200 years with a starting point of the button of said clothing.
Most of us grew up in households where our grandma, our mother or even our father had a jar/box of buttons. Old buttons, extra button from a shirt/trousers or new buttons because they looked pretty or was needed for a project.
This was a interesting read cause it combines personal tale, history from the last 150 years (set in England as the authors is English) and shows how clothes goes from usefulness to status.
verityw's review
4.0
The Button Box is an examination on the changing lives of women through the 20th century, using the contents of the author's button box, which contains items owned by her mother and her grandmother as well as from her own clothes gone by. From Victorian mourning jewellery through to Biba and the 70s, Lynn Knight uses buttons and buckles to trace the evolution of female life in a century that saw huge changes as women started to have the ability to have a life beyond the domestic and careers became an option - rather than working until marriage - or sitting at home waiting for marriage to come to you depending on your class.
As an avid reader of books written or set pre-1950, I found the sections on the realities of women's wardrobes and clothing in those periods absolutely fascinating. The obsession with the ability to sew in my beloved boarding school stories - and the anger of the teachers when a pupil got a fresh tunic covered in ink - come into sharper focus when you realise exactly how small the children's wardrobes likely were, as well as the struggles that parents must have had to find the money for all the clothes their boarders needed. My grandma used to tell stories of some of her schoolmates not having proper shoes, or having carried a baked potato to school to keep their hands warm en route and then eating it for lunch, but when you're little it doesn't really sink in. During the early stages of the book I found myself thinking - more than once - of my wardrobe full of clothes and my easy ability to buy more and feeling lucky but also guilty.
Knight is also able to talk at length about the importance of home dressmakers and home dress making - which was also fascinating. My mum did some sewing (still does really) but mostly nice extras - like the strawberry patterned kaftan she made for me (with a little help from me!) when i was about 10. My mother in law made me a pinafore apron for Christmas (it's amazing) and is helping me with a Mary Quant design the V&A published more than a year ago before the virus hit, but it's all recreational stuff - it's not out of necessity. And the book is full of little insights - like women in the era before reliable contraception sitting downstairs doing their darning in the hope that by the time they got to bed their husbands would be asleep. And on top of everything else, it would definitely make a useful addition to the research shelf of any author writing books set in the first half of the twentieth century.
As an avid reader of books written or set pre-1950, I found the sections on the realities of women's wardrobes and clothing in those periods absolutely fascinating. The obsession with the ability to sew in my beloved boarding school stories - and the anger of the teachers when a pupil got a fresh tunic covered in ink - come into sharper focus when you realise exactly how small the children's wardrobes likely were, as well as the struggles that parents must have had to find the money for all the clothes their boarders needed. My grandma used to tell stories of some of her schoolmates not having proper shoes, or having carried a baked potato to school to keep their hands warm en route and then eating it for lunch, but when you're little it doesn't really sink in. During the early stages of the book I found myself thinking - more than once - of my wardrobe full of clothes and my easy ability to buy more and feeling lucky but also guilty.
Knight is also able to talk at length about the importance of home dressmakers and home dress making - which was also fascinating. My mum did some sewing (still does really) but mostly nice extras - like the strawberry patterned kaftan she made for me (with a little help from me!) when i was about 10. My mother in law made me a pinafore apron for Christmas (it's amazing) and is helping me with a Mary Quant design the V&A published more than a year ago before the virus hit, but it's all recreational stuff - it's not out of necessity. And the book is full of little insights - like women in the era before reliable contraception sitting downstairs doing their darning in the hope that by the time they got to bed their husbands would be asleep. And on top of everything else, it would definitely make a useful addition to the research shelf of any author writing books set in the first half of the twentieth century.
voraciousreader's review
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. I don't have a sewing bone in my body, but the love of clothes and history in this book was a joy to read. It also enabled me to add other books to my already large reading list. If you love fashion and or history, I can't recommend this book enough.
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