What People Wore: 1,800 Illustrations from Ancient Times to the Early Twentieth Century (Paperback)

~ Douglas Gorsline (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Almost two thousand black and white illustrations outline the changing world of people's clothing from ancient times to the early 20th century. This is a fine survey of clothing styles and history, packed with plate after plate of style examples for both men and women. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Description

Fascinating panorama of styles — from diaphanous gowns of Egyptian royalty to 1920s wardrobe of American flapper. Accessories and hairstyles. Illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (August 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486281620
• ISBN-13: 978-0486281629
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #140,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book For Research, April 26, 2000

By	Ray Ritch (PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This book is excellent! The pictures are very detailed, the information is substantial, and the book is extremely organized, which is also a good thing. I especially like his focus on the hair styles and clothing accessories. It is the best book I've been able to find (near and abroad) on historic costumes and outfits. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history, clothes, and hair styles.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag, November 9, 2003

By	Christine Doyle (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the culmination of research done by Mr. Gorsline. He has recreated the illustrations based upon research done primarily in the New York Library system. Many of his drawings have a reference... but that reference isn't formatted in such a way you could actually find out anything useful. For that reason it's not a particularly good choice for serious "historical" costumers. But if you're willing to accept that limitation, it is a nice reference, particularly the collected drawings of hair and head coverings.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reference, especially for early clothing and hair, June 18, 2003

By	Elizabeth (Milpitas, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I received this book as a gift, and have found it very useful in creating accurate costumes, especially for the Medieval styles. The later (Victorian, Edwardian, etc.) chapters have been less useful to me because they offer limited examples of a few different garments from each time period. Fashions changed so much more quickly after the Renaissance, that a more detailed look at the styles of each decade, or each year, in each locality after the 16th century, would be much more useful. The chapters on medieval and ancient fashions, however, are extremely useful to me, because the images are taken from contemporary manuscripts and illustrations and represent a time period for which we know comparatively little about the garments most people wore, although research continues. The drawings make it easy to see the line of each garment and its shape, which is very helpful in drafting patterns for such garments, and the illustrations of hairstyles and head coverings are also very clear and understandable. This book is most useful as one book in a library of costume publications, as it does not contain much, if any, information regarding fabric weaves, colors, embroidery, etc.