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Fashions of the Past (Historical Guide to World Costumes)

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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.