James Laver > Quotes

“Clothes are inevitable. They are nothing less than the furniture of the mind made visible. ”
― James Laver

“Perhaps there was never another period in history when it would be so true to say that the wife was considered theoretically an angel and was practically a slave.”
― James Laver, Clothes : Pleasures of Life Series

“It is true that the reign of his father, Henry VII, had already seen many modifications in medieval costume. The line, instead of being vertical, was now horizontal; the shoes, instead of being excessively pointed, became broad-toed, as if to echo the new style of architecture with its flattened arch. Ladies' headdresses ceased to be replicas of Gothic pinnacles and began to resemble Tudor windows.”
― James Laver, Costume and Fashion: A Concise History