Customer Reviews

Ackermann's Costume Plates: Women's Fashions in England, 1818-1828

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As the title of this book suggests, the subject matter isprimarily reproductions of many ladies fashion plates from the higheststyle journal of the English Regency. Sadly, too few of the plates are reproduced in color, however, the editorial choices made by Stella Blum (at one time curator of the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Collection) about which plates to reproduce, and which ones to print in color are intelligent, and her brief essay of introduction is highly informative. This book is a must for people wanting to see what Regency Fashion looked like, or for people who wish to identify Fashion Plates. People who need a more through text on the subject should also buy "Jane Austen : In Style" by Susan Watkins, Hugh Palmer. People who want guidance on how to make these clothes should also seek out "Federalist & Regency Costume : 1790-1819" ed. by R.L Shep. END

For those of us who love to indulge in poring over antique fashion plates, this book is an excellent acquisition. I recommend it not for someone particularly new to costume history, but for those who need good reproductions of this particular period as a resource. Well worth the extremely reasonable price. Be aware that these plates were the "ideal" in fashion at this time. Look at our own fashion magazines and think about how close everyday clothes are to those images and you'll understand my caution.

Rudolph Ackermann was one of the premier fashion illustrators of the early 19th century, and many of his finest works from 1818 to 1828 (many in color) are preserved in this high-quality paperback from Dover Publications, kings of vintage-fashion books. Everyone wanting to know what women wore in the years between Waterloo and the height of the Romantic Era will want this book, and for that reason I give it 5 stars.

However...we really, really, REALLY need Dover to put out a book or two on fashions of the Napoleonic and Regency era from 1789 to 1815. There are plenty of fashion plates available from the period, for instance in the well-known magazines "La Belle Assemblee" and "Lady's Monthly Museum", and there are any number of Regency-fashion enthusiasts who have put together exhaustive websites on the topic. So how about it, Dover? Jane Austen fans everywhere will blow out Amazon's servers ordering such a book if you publish one! :)

In 1809 Ackermann's Repository started publishing beautiful English fashion plates on a regular basis till the magazines demise in 1828. In all over 450 fashion prints were published and 88 are reproduced here, with 16 in colour. The majority of the prints were printed in watercolour method and when seen on the original prints this truly brings the images to life. This is one of the few books you can find that reproduces Ackermann's prints in any number, unfortunately the majority of the prints reproduced are only in black and white and while this enables you to see the dress the true beauty and quality of the prints is lost because the colour highlights are missing except in the 16 images in the middle of the book which are shown in colour.

This is recommended to anyone interested in either Ackermann's fashion plates or the costume of the high regency period. However, do be aware that the book misses out on the full beauty of the original plates. A truly quality publication on these prints is yet to see the the light of day.