Fashion is ever-changing and while some styles mark a dramatic departure from the past many
exhibit subtle differences from year to year that are not always easily identifiable. With
overviews of each key period and detailed illustrations for each new style How to Read a Dress
is an appealing and accessible guide to women's fashion across five centuries. Each entry
includes annotated color images of historical garments outlining important features and
highlighting how styles have developed over time whether in shape fabric choice trimming or
undergarments. Readers learn how garments were constructed and where their inspiration stemmed
from at key points in history - as well as how dresses have varied in type cut detailing and
popularity according to the occasion and the class age and social status of the wearer. This
new edition includes additional styles to illustrate and explain the journey between one style
and another larger images to allow closer investigation of details of dress examples of lower
and working-class as well as middle-class clothing and a completely new chapter covering the
1980s to 2020. The latter demonstrates how the late 20th century and early 21st century firmly
left the dress behind as a requirement but retained it as a perennially popular choice and
illustrates how far the traditional boundaries of 'the dress' have been pushed (even including
reference to a newly non-binary appreciation of the garment) and the intellectual shifts in
the way women's fashion is both inspired and inspires. With these new additions How to Read a
Dress revised edition presents a complete and up-to-date picture of 'the dress' in all its
forms across the centuries and taking into account different sartorial and social
experiences. It is the ideal tool for anyone who has ever wanted to know their cartridge pleats
from their Récamier ruffles. Equipping the reader with all the information they need to 'read'
a dress this is the ultimate guide for students researchers and anyone interested in
historical fashion.
