Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century [Hardcover]

Kyoto Costume Institute (Creator), Kyoto Costume Institute (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

A person's clothing is an essential key to his or her culture, class, personality or even religion. This text shows how our ancestors dressed, considers the amazing accomplishments of contemporary fashion and shows how our descendants may dress in the distant future as clothing design evolves.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; Hardcover edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822812064
• ISBN-13: 978-3822812068
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 7.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most beautiful books I have seen, December 30, 2002

By 

C. Berte (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century (Hardcover)

Being familiar with two earlier Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) publications--The Evolution of Fashion (19th & 20th Century) and The Revolution of Fashion (18th Century)--I was excited to discover that Taschen had produced a new book covering fashions from the 18th to the 20th Century found in the KCI collection. Although I was concerned that this new book might just be a revision and compilation of photos from the two earlier exhibits (with, perhaps, some additional costumes to cover the second-half of the 20th Century), at 700+ pages, I figured there must be at least a few new entries.

The book arrived today and I have been unable to put it down. As soon as I opened the book, I knew that my fears had been unfounded. The new book not only includes costumes found in the earlier books, but includes detailed close-ups of those costumes and many new costumes. The depth of color and detail in the photos is extraordinary. (Taschen is well known for the quality of its publications.) Although the text accompanying the photos is generally quite minimal--limited in many cases to date, description and the inventory number of each piece--it will often include some historical information in an introduction to a period or style. Moreover, many of the 20th Century entries are preceded by a short biographical sketch of the designer whose fashions follow.

The KCI is well-known for its extensive collection of Western costume. One of the Institute's rather unique features lies in its presentation of those costumes. Rather than laying the clothes out flat, they are displayed on manikins in the manner in which they would have been worn--including shoes, hats, gloves, purses, fans, etc. Through this book, Taschen has succeeded in making the KCI collection accessible to the rest of the world.

(As testament to the quality and beauty of this book, two co-workers I showed the book to today--people who are not costumers or designers--have placed their orders for a copy.)

Without a doubt, this book will be a well-treasured addition to my library.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book is one of the best, June 23, 2004

By 

EP Trauma (chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century (Hardcover)

This book is spectacular. I have nothing bad to say about it at all. It chronicles fashion from the 18th century to today, and it shows as well as tells you clear examples of every changing detail. I'm interested in both historical and modern fashion, and this book is a fantastic resource for both victorian fashion and current fashion and everything in between. the picture quality is top notch and every item is displayed and photographed flawlessly. the text is interesting and informative. i'd say this is a must have for any fashion student, especially ones interested in alternative or historical fashion. I like that this book chronicles western fashion, but since it was published in japan from a japanese school, it examines the effects that the east had on western fashion. they also include lots of women designers even from historical times when women were not commonly coture designers. there is detailed information about why fashions changed and the influences impacting the changes without getting off the subject and turning into a history lesson. this book gets an A+ and is worth every penny i paied for it. (at a museum, so i didn't get the amazon discount either.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where has this book been all my life?, January 11, 2005

By 

chintz22 (Newburyport, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century (Hardcover)

This tome has rocketed to the top of my costume book collection. Fine quality color photographs with plenty of detail shots of one of the most impressive collections of costume in the world for around $30? An unbelievable value! Each era is covered well, but I found the clothing from 1750-1800 to be especially gorgeous. If you have an interest in historic clothing get this book NOW!