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53 reviews for:
How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century
Lydia Edwards
3.88 AVERAGE
53 reviews for:
How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century
Lydia Edwards
3.88 AVERAGE
First and foremost, the eBook version of this book is utter chaos. Photos appear pages after they're referenced, captions are misaligned, the single-page formatting is not a good fit for the content, and the image notations are barely visible. I'm not factoring these frustrations into my rating - just a note that prospective readers may want to invest in a paper copy.
Anywho: The front end of this one was a bit technical and dry - (which, as a sewist interested in garment construction, was right up my nerd-alley) - with more historical context being given in the later chapters - but not much more. I kept setting the book aside to research items and people mentioned in brief, and would say this one works better as a coffee table photography book than comprehensive text.
Anywho: The front end of this one was a bit technical and dry - (which, as a sewist interested in garment construction, was right up my nerd-alley) - with more historical context being given in the later chapters - but not much more. I kept setting the book aside to research items and people mentioned in brief, and would say this one works better as a coffee table photography book than comprehensive text.
I am going to be so annoying during historical films now. Not that I wasn't already. If you are interested in things like historical sleeve styles, you'll like this.
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
It is interesting to see how fashion interacts with its own past as styles recur and incorporate what has come before. In the early chapters the dresses are designed to make a comment on the status or class of the women who wore them, as the impracticality of some styles shows that the women wearing them were wealthy enough to not have to work. In later chapters the designs of dresses create a broader more societal comment, and the dresses are chosen for their argument, not necessarily because they were popular or worn a lot. Still, an engaging read which has changed the way I look at the clothes we wear, and what they mean or communicate.
This book reads like a textbook, but that's okay. This Is great for someone just starting out or for historical costumers.
The book provides a basic overview of the history of the dress. It's not a thorough research book, but it assists readers who would want to get to know the brief differences of the dresses from each era. It's an ideal book to help me develop a rough and big picture of costume for my research paper about theatrical costume design.