Book Review: How to Read a Dress by Lydia Edwards

How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion From the 16th to the 20th Century

by Lydia Edwards (391.2 Edw)

 

In How to Read a Dress: A Guide to Changing Fashion From the 16th to the 20th Century, Lydia Edwards provides some amazing fodder for the imagination for sewists, costume designers and others fascinated by clothing and clothing construction. You will find centuries of style represented in sumptuous annotated photographs that reveal subtle distinctions in style and workmanship, and explanations of how different design elements fit into the history of costuming. Edwards honors the skills, talents and visions of the craftspeople who produced clothing artifacts as she elaborates on the clothing items themselves as interesting touchstones for different sartorial and social experiences.

 

Each artifact is presented with general description including museum collection information, as well as some fascinating facts. For example, the “Silk robe a l’anglaise with skirt draped a la polonaise, c. 1775, Los Angeles County Museum of Art” has a skirt which is “looped up into sections in the back using special buttons and ties” In the notes, however, we learn that to make their manual work easier, working class women would achieve a similar effect by drawing sections of the skirt up through pocket slits. Did the style originate with the working class, to be copied by the wealthy, or did the lower classes admire the style and devise their own imitation? Annotations also describe the history of materials used, the design of the petticoats, choice of shoes, style of bodice and which accessories were selected.

 

In today’s world where cloth and clothing is cheap and ubiquitous, it is fascinating to ponder cloth, how it was made and what was done with it, as a reflection of the era that produced it and how it is emblematic of the progression of “civilization.” Not only are the items beautiful to look at, but they each tell a story of their times.

I’m really really really excited about this book. If you are interested in fashion design, women’s issues, world history, or are just interested in how and why things are made, this book is for you.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Icons of Fashion of the 20th Century by Gerda Buxbaum, Worn: A People’s History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser, or Only the Clothes on Her Back: Clothing and the Hidden History of Power in the Nineteenth-Century United States by Laura Edwards.)

 

( publisher’s official How to Read a Dress web page ) | ( official Lydia Edwards web site )

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Services

 

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