This is a fascinating walk through the changing styles of women’s clothing focusing on skirts and dresses. From my teen years to the present I have been interested in women’s fashion and the changes following changes in society, but in some cases leading the way.
The book is divided into ten sections. All are informative, filled with details about the fashion designers as well as their creations. My favorite was the one on Chanel. Her fashions changed the way women viewed themselves. Her unstructured clothing gave women more freedom and led to women moving from the home to the wider world. Her little black dress is a classic that is still venerated today.
Tennis fashions were interesting going from calf length dresses that must have been difficult to run in to the very short skirts worn today which give women a much treated range of movement. Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dress was the height of practicality. I remember how easy they were to slip into and you always looked stylish.
Another interesting area is hemlines. Before WWI hems were long because the time was elegant and fabric available. After WWI and WWII hemlines came up because fabric was not as available. However, as sheer fashion statements the maxi dress and the mini dress were either fun to wear or a nuisance. I was glad to get rid of my maxi’s.
If you’re fascinated by fashion this is an excellent book. I do hope there are illustrations in the published version. It was hard to visualize the fashions I wasn’t familiar with from the written descriptions in the ARC I received.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.
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