Dressing Up Vintage

by Tracy Tolkien

Filled with valuable advice on spotting designer dresses and distinguishing between valuable and less-valuable garments, this guide to "dressing up" with vintage clothing introduces readers to all the essentials.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 10, 2000

Reviews

[Nicole Bosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking but nice surface level information about lots of different styles of the 1940s-90s. Heavy lean towards punk style in the latter decades. Easy read with nice pictures, perfect for those uninitiated into the world of vintage dress.

[Marcie Lovett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of photos of mostly high-end vintage clothing and accessories from 1940s-1990s, fashion facts, cultural significance of period styles, trade gossip and an international source list.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Not a huge hit for me, though, because I'm not as interested in the designers and collecting valuable vintage fashion. I enjoyed reading the text on punk and on Jackie O, though. Loads of interesting pictures of the fashions-- nice and big, some close-ups for detail, too. Oh, and I found a blurb about purses with slipcovers-- shedding some light on Ma's slipcovered purse "collection" from the 80's. I don't think that fad will be resurrected.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an interesting compilation about the most influential designers, it's simple and straightforward, with lovely photographs that work like a time travel.

I am not a collector but I have been practicing fashion illustration and I found this book very useful to know a little about history and vintage clothes.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well done book about fashion in each decade from 1940's-1990's. I was totally absorbed in this trip down memory lane.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting journey into our fashion past--great finds and faux pas all--Dressing Up Vintage could be helpful to the beginning collector and just plain fun for those who like to browse and shop.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a nice overview of fashion since around the mid 1900s. Great photos. However, it does concentrate on high end clothing.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the 50s beaded cardigans!