Fashions of the Past (Historical Guide to World Costumes) [Hardcover]

Anna Buruma (Author), Aileen Ribeiro (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000 | Series: Historical Guide to World Costumes

Beautiful full-color illustrations provide a visual history of the clothes and accessories worn by people from ancient times through to 19th century Europe. Meticulously crafted and based on a variety of sources -- including paintings, engravings, and photographs -- the drawings are accompanied by carefully researched descriptions. Arranged by region and period, the fashions presented here represent the garments worn by royalty, religious figures, soldiers, servants, peasants, and an others in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing; illustrated edition edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855857278
• ISBN-13: 978-1855857278
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,689,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High quality costume illustrations in an attractive package, August 5, 2000

By 

Jo Manning (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fashions of the Past (Historical Guide to World Costumes) (Hardcover)

Subtitled "A Historical Guide To World Costumes," Buruma's survey boasts a foreword by Dr. Aileen Ribiero, head of the History of Dress department at the Courtauld Institute of Art. What makes the book unique are the color plates, which originally came from the Munchener Bilderbogen, published between 1848 and 1898 and reproduced in a British book, Costumes Of All Nations, in 1901 and 1907. The high quality color plates come from a variety of places, antique sculpture, frescoes and other wall paintings, illuminated manuscripts, fashion plates, portraits, earlier costume books. With four grouped illustrations to a page, these are not overly-large depictions, nor can they be all-inclusive in their coverage of a period, but the detail is excellent, and, as Dr. Ribiero says in her introduction, "they are detailed enough for the modern designer to find useful, giving a sense of the colour and appearance of costume both ancient and modern." The work is arranged chronologically, then by region of the world. Fascinating and beautifully done.