Customer Reviews

The Well-Dressed Child: Children's Clothing, 1820-1940

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was an excellent book, both in terms of the writting and the photography. The section on antique christening gowns was particularly exceptional. I learned more concerning children's clothing from this single book than the last dozen antique clothing books I've read. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in antique children's clothing.

I ENJOYED THIS BOOK VERY MUCH. IT WAS EDUCATIONAL AND INTERESTING TO READ. THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE BEAUTIFUL! IT WAS SUCH A PLEASURE TO SEE A BOOK LIKE THIS. I HAVE SEEN OTHER BOOKS ON VINTAGE CLOTHING BUT THEY ARE DISORGANIZED AND NOT FACTUAL. THIS BOOK TOOK ME BACK TO A TIME I THINK I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO LIVE IN. ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS IN MY COLLECTION.

Anna MacPhail's book is a work of art in itself. Every page is glossy photo paper, and only one page has no photos. Each photo is in color, (even the black and whites are sepia toned), and some of the items are priced, giving collectors an idea of value. This book has very little text, so if visual history is your thing, this book is superb.

I was very disappointed with this book. I bought this book because of all the glowing reviews and was looking forward to having it in my library as a valuable reference source. I am a professional doll artist and am always looking for good photographic reference materials. This book had beautiful photographs, but only covered late 19th century, and early 20th century clothing. Very little effort was made to cover the other time periods that the title suggests. There was no time-line order to the photographs, instead they are just placed in the book at what seems to be a random order. Also, not alot of detail of the various clothing articles are shown in the photographs...if you are in need of good references on early children's clothing, and are serious about historical accuracy and costuming... I would not waste your money on this book. There are other sources which have more detail. Nice coffee table book especially if you have just a curious interest in antique clothing, but if you are a serious costumer, it is greatly lacking in needed detail and a timeline reference. It would be a good price guide for a vintage clothing collector, but is of no use to a costumer.

This is a very well written book with excellent photographs. It is a must for all lovers of antique children's clothing. I recommend it highly.

This is an awesome book from cover to cover. I was enchanted with the text and the many fabulous pictures and have read it over and over again. I especially loved the Christening section and drooled over the pictures of the many exquisite gowns. I am thrilled to have this beautiful book to add to my antique book collection. I have found the author Anna MacPhail also has an equally superb web site (www.[...].com) which I have started to visit on a regular basis.

I, too, purchased this book because of the glowing reviews, but I was extremely disappointed and am returning the book. It is not worth the price. The book design is amateurish -- the photographs throughout are jauntily tilted this way and that, and the pages are "decorated" with tilted squares, circles, and triangles of different colors, as well as distracting curlicues and lines. The overall organization leaves a lot to be desired. The material is not presented chronologically; one spread shows girls' clothing from 1930, 1920, 1870, 1880, and 1950. There are few antique photographs and the ones included are so overexposed or in such low resolution that you can't see the details of the lace and other trim (for example, in the image on the cover, the baby's dress, no doubt gorgeous, is seen as a totally flat area of white). Most of the photographs are apparently of items from the author's collection, which appears to focus on christening dresses, caps, and bibs, and the text gives little information on how children's clothing styles developed over the more than a century the book purports to cover. There is next to nothing about the changing lengths and styles of little boys' trousers over time. There is only one image of the ubiquitous sailor suit and it isn't even a typical one. There are factual errors (e.g., the author calls knee trousers "knickerbockers" in one instance). There is no source given for the valuations provided. All in all, a person interested in clothing styles in the 19th century would be much more richly rewarded by purchasing Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900 (I have no connection with this book.)

If you enjoy collecting antique and vintage children's clothing, or if you are a textile devote, or if you just like to look at how children were dressed in the past, this is the book for you. It is a wonderful reference as well as an interesting "coffee table" book. As a collector, I learned all sorts of fascinating tidbits. Thoroughly researched and well written, the book is a terrific addition to my library on textiles and children's clothing.

Love the topic and pleased w/ the amount of pictures. Would have liked more information. Found a couple errors so makes me wonder about the accuracy of the content. The book is cheaply made and I was appalled at how poorly it was packed and shipped. Not one for a collector but okay for reference.