20th Century Fashion [Paperback]

Valerie Mendes (Author), Amy de la Haye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1999

From the turn-of-the-century S-bend silhouette to the bumster and bustier of today, this comprehensive survey explores all the significant developments in fashion in a century that has witnessed a growing preoccupation with personal appearance and clothing.

Written by two experts in costume from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, it explores movements and innovations in style for both men and women through the work of the most original and influential designers and couturiers. Organized around crucial shifts in style and major world events, the book places exciting, even revolutionary, developments in fashion within their socioeconomic, political, and cultural contexts. International in scope, it encompasses the century's most important designers and metropolitan fashion centers, including developments in accessories, hairstyles, and make-up. The importance of mass production, advances in man-made fibers, the growth of ready-to-wear, and the major influences of postwar subcultures on contemporary fashion are also discussed. A reference section includes an extensive bibliography and a glossary of designers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This compact chronicle of fashion traces trends in women's and men's fashions from the British perspective, though continental and American fashions are treated too. Fashion changes accelerated more and more rapidly during the last century, from the conservative Belle Epoque styles to the "anything goes" vortex of the 1990s. In between, social and economic forces created dramatic or subtle changes, and these are well described here with the aid of 280 illustrations. Intriguing details like prewar Nazi fashion ideals of womanhood or the origins the Carnaby Street look of the 1960s keep one's interest--if the eyes can take it. The type face of the text is so small that some readers may have trouble reading it for any length of time. That's too bad, because there is much good information contained in the text. Still, this well-priced fashion history by two experienced curators of the Victoria and Albert Museum is recommended for all fashion and costume collections.
-Therese Duzinkiewicz Baker, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

An excellent condensed guide covering major fashion developments created by important designers and couturiers for men and women trendsetters. -- The Bloomsbury Review, Beverly Chico, November/December 2000

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (November 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500203210
• ISBN-13: 978-0500203217
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good review of 20th century fashion in relation to history of the time, January 15, 2006

By 

Susan O'Neill "cromer crab" (Fairfax, Va USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 20th Century Fashion (Paperback)

I bought this book for my daughter who is studying Fashion Design as a freshman in high school. I think I may enmjoy the book more than she, especially the part about the 60s! The section on WWII is very interesting; did you know the reason men lost their turnups on trousers was due to rationing of fabric? I finally found out what utility fabric was and saw a picture of a demob suit! Not loads of pictures but those that there are are good and illustrate the text well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and informative, February 5, 2009

By 

J. K. Roznos "JKR" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 20th Century Fashion (Paperback)

This book provides an exceleent overview of 20th Century Fashion. Rather then breaking fashion down in decades (which really doesn't make sense)this book breaks down 20th Century Fashion by movements within the industry and particularly the economic conditions of the time. True, it doesn't have a lot of pictures, but fashion pictures are relatively easy to obtain. This book provides an excellent historic overview of the century.