Informative chapters that introduce each era coupled with extensive portraits of the groundbreaking fashion icons and countless expressive photographs work together to form a comprehensive portrayal of the rapid development that took fashion from the liberation of women from the corset all the way to the creations of modern designers.
encyclopedic, heavily illustrated history of fashion from 1860s to the present “Fashion – 150 Years” is an encyclopedic work, not only in content but in size and weight. Fashion is taken from about the mid 1800s to the present. Seeling locates the beginnings of modern fashion about 1860 when the English clothing designer Charles Frederick Worth working in Paris put labels with his signature on the gowns he designed. Seeling sees this as turning clothing–however ornamental, stylized, or individualized–into art–Worth was the first “fashion designer.”Since Worth’s innovative touch, there have been scores of outstanding fashion designers–all of whom make their appearance. The history of fashion from the mid 1860s is related in terms of profiles of the leading, most imaginative and skilled, most influential, and often most acclaimed fashion designers accompanied by abundant photographic material. One could follow the history just by following the copious, most color photographs. One sees how fashion spread out from its beginnings in Paris to the global, popular enterprise it is today. But one wants to read the profiles too for their colorful biographical material and ideas and approaches to fashion, and for putting the respective designer into the context of fashion history.Seeling has been a top editor at Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire after her time as a journalist interviewing many world-class celebrities. This incomparable work of hers can be used as a text on fashion history and also a reference. And its readable text plus the countless photographs give it the style of a popular book for informative and entertaining reading on fashion. And it’s an ideal coffee-table book.
Fantastic on any bookshelf or as a substantial gift! I love this book! On its own it looks fantastic on any bookshelf, delve into the pages and this book unfolds the secrets and stories behind fashion designers. The style and layout of the content reminds me of those autobiography-type magazine articles.These photos are fantastic and openly displays the variety of fashion from the cute and inspiring, to the odd and very abstract!The photographs are really well spaced and nicely breaks up the very informative text. An excellent reference book with interesting and little-known facts about these designers.
If you buy only one, this is it Huge, detailed, wide ranging and wonderfully illustrated. If you buy only one book on fashion, this should be the one.