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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
Amazing! If you sew, are interested in fashion or historical, or just like to look at beautiful dresses this for you. It's fascinating to see the evolution of dresses and how fashion takes inspiration from the past. Highly recommended.
Very educational and excellent research catnip for anyone interested in textile use and garment construction. The author acknowledges up-front that she only discusses Western dress (UK and western Europe, US and Canada, and the colonized regions of Australia); that let me focus on the info being presented instead of wondering what was going on in Russia, China, India, South America ... (There is at least one photograph from colonized South Africa.)
My only real issue was in my choice of format - turns out garment analyses are a lot easier to follow if you can see the colors of the fabric. My bad!
My only real issue was in my choice of format - turns out garment analyses are a lot easier to follow if you can see the colors of the fabric. My bad!
informative
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
relaxing
medium-paced
The content is fabulous, but the graphic design of this book leaves a lot to be desired.
While this book does presume some prior knowledge of fashion history and terms, it is a good reference for fashion and historical enthusiasts, hobby or theatrical costumers who want a reference for the feel of certain eras, or people who often attempt to date paintings/photographs and are looking for clues from the subjects. Admittedly, this is a fairly niche subject with a fairly niche audience, but there's a lot of that in academia.
It should be noted, as the author mentions several times, that this book confines itself to women's fashion, and focuses on dresses. There is some mention of separates and suits toward the end, but it doesn't talk about pants and such.
The end contains a short glossary with brief descriptions of some fashion terms, which could also prove useful.
It should be noted, as the author mentions several times, that this book confines itself to women's fashion, and focuses on dresses. There is some mention of separates and suits toward the end, but it doesn't talk about pants and such.
The end contains a short glossary with brief descriptions of some fashion terms, which could also prove useful.
I'm finally admitting to myself that I'm probably just not going to get back to this, so while I'm quitting in 11/2021, I stopped reading it 2/2021.
So many beautiful details! The only thing I wished it had more of, was information about how women actually felt while wearing these clothes! Did they like them? Were they trying to look sexy? How much of this did they just wear around the house?
informative
medium-paced