James Laver > Quotes

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

“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

“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