The Complete History of Costume & Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Now a multibillion-dollar global obsession, fashion from clothes and jewelry to makeup and grooming has reflected both individual identity and cultural mores since the beginning of history, declares Bronwyn Cosgrave, an editor at British Vogue. The Complete History of Costume & Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day is a well-written, lavishly illustrated resource that, the author maintains, corrects many of the errors found in previously published references. Fashion-magazine devotees will enjoy flipping through this beautiful, engaging book just as much as serious students of the subject will relish poring over it.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

The Complete History of Costume and Fashion is a comprehensive illustrated guide to the history of clothing and fashion. At different times in history, fashionable dress has taken very different forms. From the first fashion style of the Egyptians to the extravagant clothes of the Romans, from the birth of the Dandy to haute couture in the twentieth century, this book chronicles the evolution of style for both males and females from a social, cultural, and historical perspective.

Organized by specific time periods, coverage includes:
The Ancient Egyptians: Noble garments, wigs and hairpieces, eye make-up, jewelry
Greece and Rome: Classical elegance, the Etruscan wardrobe, bright colors, the toga
Middle Ages: Medieval Europe and Byzantine fashion, age of chivalry, trains and sleeves
Early Renaissance: Damask, taffeta, velvet, tight-fitting bodices
Sixteenth Century: Flowering of the arts, science and fashion, doublets and ruffs, bodices
Seventeenth Century: Influence of the Baroque, ribbons and embroidery, wigs for men
Eighteenth Century: Extravagance and excess, masks, buckled shoes, three-cornered hats, hoop skirts
Nineteenth Century: Victorian values, crinolines and bustles, artificial hair color, double-breasted jackets
Twentieth Century: The age of diversity, global style, mini-skirts, supermodels, street fashion, new fabrics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Checkmark Books (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816045747
• ISBN-13: 978-0816045747
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #276,652 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Nearly Useless as a Costume Reference, October 22, 2001

By A Customer

Always on the lookout for any new costume reference, I was
eager to leaf through this one. Unfortunately, it was nearly
a waste of time.

I say "nearly", because Cosgrave provides quite a few helpful
illustrations, though the objects depicted are often mislabelled and period paintings are seldom fully cited.

In general, I found this volume to be shallow and badly researched. It's full of bad generalizations and misused terminology. Cosgrave makes numerous statements which are at odds with everything I've come to know about historical costume. Seldom are these bald statements backed by sources discussed in the text. She also has a 'thing' about Byzantine costume. Everything worn in any other place or time suffers in her constant comparisons.

One of my favorite absurdities is that her entire discussion of medieval jewelry is a dismissal of the same as "crude". (Though she does allow that the Irish did some nice work. And, of course, it suffers by comparison to Byzantine jewelry.)

Another example: The caption regarding a painting of people in Burgundian Court Dress urges the reader to "Note the Byzantine influences". Huh?!!

In general I'd recommend that the re-enactor or Costume History
student look at the pictures and ignore the text.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good general costume history, September 8, 2001

By	"daniel0302" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This is a beautifully designed publication certain to be rewarding to someone seeking an overview of the subject. The text, while not truly in depth, is very readable and is written in a vernacular yet polished style. Customs of the various cultures and periods, along with manners and gender roles in society, are covered as well. Ancient Europe and the Mesopotamian cultures (Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria) are omitted. Some of Ms. Cosgrave's information about other early cultures - especially the Egyptians - does not totally coincide with other authors and should not be taken as gospel, but rather as a possible interpretation. In other chapters, some of the observations and conclusions are quite insightful. The illustrations are wonderful and astutely chosen (with the exception of some 19th century line drawings used to illustrate early Egyptian, Greek and Roman costume.) The illustrations are also reproduced well, and the number of color plates is quite abundant for a book of this price. The books main weakness, and this is a big weakness, is that these beautiful and well chosen illustrations are not consistently attributed with the date, name of the work, artist, or museum, and in fact some of them are incorrectly identified or dated. Also, in the sections of the book on the 19th and 20th centuries - both in the illustration placement as well as the text - the reader does not really get a clear picture of the looks of the individual decades and periods within these centuries. Given the rapid changes of silhouettes and styles that occur in these years, a more thorough and detailed account would be welcome. With these notable reservations, this publication has still achieved reasonable success, and is still a recommendable text on the subject, especially for novices. The attractive price - especially the Amazon price - makes this a good value as well and contributes to its overall rating.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars There is nothing complete about this book., December 8, 2006

By	M. Ashworth "Maa" (Cold white north) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The most complete book of History of Costume I have found is "Survey of Historic Costume" by Phyllis Tortora and Keith Eubank. The title of this book "The Complete..." and the lack of content simple don't belong together.

This book is a beginners basic introduction to costume. It needs to be reviewed and mistakes need to be fixed.