Customer Reviews

Collector's Guide to Vintage Fashions: Identification and Values

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Kristina Harris, a respected author in the field of historic fashion, presents suggestions which are useful for beginning collectors (to get them started on the right foot) and for long-time collectors whose "stuff" is overwhelming them. Topics include shaping and building a collection, care and display of vintage textiles, organizing and keeping records of your collection, identification and price guides. The book also has chapters devoted to topics not frequently addressed in similar books--such as historic fashion plates and labels. The volume is lavishly illustrated, mostly in full color.

This book has some pretty pictures (if you don't mind the models having modern hairstyles, makeup, and poses). However, don't buy it for the content. Much of the fashion history/ID information is inaccurate (such as the assertion that women first wore bonnets in the 1840s), or meaningless (such as the statement that "Black and white fashion plates were used from their inception right up to their demise"). The collecting information seems oriented toward museums--not people who actually wear vintage clothes and deal with real-life cleaning, storage, and mending issues. All in all, this book was a disappointment.

Kristina Harris has done it again. Her new book has a wealth of information for the collector. The pictures are colorful and clear and offer a closeup view of various eras of clothing. The prices are helpful; the text is full of researched material that is extremely interesting. The book invites you in to learn a lot!