Customer Reviews

Fashion in Costume 1200-2000, Revised

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This book covers the largest time period in fashion history available today. Although the author limited herself to one book, the amount of information that is packed into this book is absolutely wonderful for anyone interested in costuming. Not only is politcal history covered, trival facts and those who influenced fashion are described in concise detail. Most helpful are the sketches on nearly every other page, which show details of full outfits and variations of certain garments. Diagrams of how to tie men's ties and special period collars are extremely useful. Men, women, children, underwear, shoes, accessories - this book covers it all.

Throughout history, clothes have been worn not only for warmth but also, with constant variety and innovation, to convey status, wealth, occupation, personality and social and more values. Joan Nunn's detailed survey of costume in the western world over the past eight centuries not only gives the reader a vivid visual impression of the clothes themselves, but also out lines the historical and social background and the changes in manufacturing techniques the way costume has developed and the manner in which it has been worn. Each of the nine chapters covers a certain period, with an introductory section followed by descriptions of the underwear, outer garments, hats, footwear, hairstyles, accessories, jewelry, fabrics and colours worn by men, women and children. There are over 800 line drawings, specially made by the author from contemporary sources (carvings, paintings, portraits, fashion plates and photographs). This is an invaluable, copiously illustrated reference book for students of costume, social history and the visual arts and for those concerned with designing costumes for the theatre. It is also a fascinating book for general reader interested in fashion and the art of dress.

While the text and drawings are separately very detailed and fairly descriptive, there is very little correlation between the text and drawings. At times it is unclear as to what kind of dress the author is talking about, making it useful that the picture of the dress should be right next to the text. The short descriptions of the costumes included with the drawings are also difficult to read due to the text they're written in. I also found that the sections for clothes from about 1930-2000 did not really cover the full scope of styles and fashions worn in that period of time.

However, despite these small difficulties, this is a great book, with abundant information and fairly detailed drawings. I've only had the book a week, and it has already been immensely helpful to me. :)

An informative and extensive look on historical fashion, this book is quite useful for Artists, historians, and fashion designers! Covers historical eras I seldom hear about!

This book is very interesting if you are interested in Fashion through the years 1200-2000 and seeing how the fashion has changed through the years. Whether you sew for cloth dolls or minidolls like I do or just for yourself or the stage I would highly recommend this book. Even if you don't sew and want to find out for yourself what changes in fashion were made, it is a book you won't want to put down and I highly recommend it.

Possibly the best resource for researchers. Unlike other books which abound with pictures and little or no text, this book contains not only excellent illustrations, but critical descriptions.

While the "little or no text" books may be of some value to artists, for researchers and writers, it is essential to not merely know what a garment or hair style looked like, but what it was called. And, the detailed evolution of one style to another within a time period is invaluable.

Fashion in Costume 1200-2000 is an old classic catalog of western costume updated to 2000 in this paperback second edition. This detailed fashion survey contains a wealth of information valuable to costume researchers and designers and illustrators, and theatre workers and fashion historians. Over 800 line drawings illustrate the nine chapters which each cover a historical period. Incredible detailed information about underwear, accessories, jewelry, shoes, and hairstyles is included. An example of the 1980's-90's fashion era is a series of sketches of Diana, Princess of Wales in several outfits (p. 249). As in the previous edition, all is meticulously researched and presented. This reviewer has made good use of the previous edition in a second career as community theatre costume designer. I look forward to using this valuable and much needed updating of a classic costume reference.

Nancy Lorraine Reviewer

Es un libro de mucha ayuda para consultar sobre los diseños de los diferentes períodos de la historia, lo mejor es que no sólo tiene dibujos de la vestimenta de hombres y mujeres , sino que incluye además la de los niños en varias época, lo que es muy educativo.