100 Ideas That Changed Fashion

by Harriet Worsley

100 Ideas That Changed Fashion chronicles the most influential fashion ideas that changed womenswear in the West from 1900 to the present day. The book will be visually arresting, exciting to read and an inspiring fashion bible. Charting the incidents and ideas that changed the way women dress, it gives a unique perspective on the history of twentieth-century fashion. Rather than just documenting the changes in fashion, it also explains why these changes happened. From the invention of the bias cut and the stiletto heel to designers such as Coco Chanel who changed the way we think about clothes, the book will be entertaining, intelligent and a visual feast.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Art, Design, History, Fashion Design

216 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2011

Reviews

[Rozalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good book if you're interested in fashion and even if you're not, "100 Ideas That Changed Fashion" deals with greater topics than nylon and jumpers. I actually bought it because I wanted to do some research on feminism and emancipation (this will be my final presentation before I graduate, yay) and this book offered me a lot of information, really. It was very well written, the photographs were stunning and my perspective on fashion is so much greater than it was before. All in all, a very good book for people who like fashion and anyone who wants to find out more about the story of the stuff that has become our second skin: our clothes.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are the best part of this; in a few cases, the text refers to images that aren't included, and that was frustrating. The essays themselves often ended quite abruptly; I go the feeling the author just wanted to wrap up and move on to the next idea.

[Hannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het is lang geleden dat ik zolang over een boek heb gedaan. Een van de redenen is dat dit een van mijn eigen boeken is. Vaak kregen bibliotheekboeken voorrang, waardoor deze bleef liggen. Bovendien is het een non-fictie boek, dus die hoef je ook niet in een keer te lezen.

Ook is het lettertype van het boek vrij klein. De bijschriften bij de foto’s zijn nog kleiner en ook vaak wit op zwart, waardoor ze nog moeilijker te lezen zijn. Daardoor leest dit boek niet echt fijn. Toen ik het boek kocht, heb ik daar niet echt op gelet, want het onderwerp sprak mij meteen aan. Ik snap waarom er voor een bepaalde lettergrootte is gekozen, want nu beslaat elk idee precies twee bladzijden, met een bladzijde tekst en een bladzijde met foto/foto’s. Wat mij betreft had het boek ook wel iets groter mogen zijn, zodat alles dan nog steeds op twee pagina’s had gepast. Al had dat het boek misschien weer duurder gemaakt. Toch denk ik dat een iets groter lettertype mijn leesplezier had vergroot en ik denk dat ik het boek dan ook sneller had opgepakt.

Ik vind de opzet van het boek nog steeds leuk en dat is dan ook de belangrijkste reden waarom ik toch door ben blijven lezen. Qua onderwerp is dit boek zeker een aanrader. Het is leuk om te lezen welke ontwikkelingen allemaal invloed hebben gehad op de mode. Dit zijn ontwikkelingen in de modewereld zelf, maar ook andere invloeden in de samenleving, zoals bijvoorbeeld de opkomst van internet en muziekstromingen. Ondanks dat er sinds het verschijnen van het boek alweer nieuwe ontwikkelingen zijn in de modewereld, geeft dit boek toch een beeld over allerlei ontwikkelingen door de jaren heen. Daardoor blijft het later ook nog leuk om te lezen. Bovendien kan er in de toekomst altijd nog een vervolg op komen of een uitgebreidere versie.

Mijn rating is uitgekomen op drie sterren. Vier sterren voor de inhoud en twee sterren voor de uitvoering.

[Dierregi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the title and being interested in fashion, I thought this was a must-read. The 100 ideas are presented in a sort of chronological order, with images that illustrate the development of the original idea.

As an example, the book starts with "Couture" - made to measure for the super-rich - and this concept is illustrated with photos of a dress by Worth (the "first" couturier) and one from the 2007 collection by Galliano.

So far so good. However, I found some of the "100 ideas" weird or not ideas at all and not so ground breaking. While I can uderstand that "The wristwatch", "The little black dress" and "Mass-manufacturing" actually changed the world of fashion and were "ideas" (or inventions such as "Rayon" and "Lycra"), I do not agree with the selection of other "concepts".

Examples: "Celebrities" - are they "ideas" or real people who influence fashion? Big problem with semantic here... "Brand culture and logo worship" - it is a social trend, not an idea at all. "Paris challeged" - it is a "perceived event", linked to the developpement of transport and communication, but again... not an idea at all.

So, the title is very deceptive, some of the stories are good; others are space fillers, to reach the required number of 100.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

lai gan nosaukums atbilst saturam, gaidīju kaut ko vairāk par vikipēdijas atdarinājumu.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I collect and read many books about fashion and its history, and while this one offered some new insights I haven't gotten from other books, I still felt it was just okay, particularly because it was repetitive at times.

What I liked - the focus on different fabrics and the more technical aspects of fashion that often get overlooked, for example the entry on nylon stockings was interesting.

Some of my favorite "ideas" from the book include pants for women, the sweater, costume jewelry, the clutch bag, the wristwatch, make do and mend, low-key luxury, and glam.

For example, there are 2 separate "ideas" for celebrities and then pop stars. Presumably this is because singers and bands weren't as influential in fashion as movie stars until about the 50s and 60s, but it's still odd. Same for computer technology and wearable electronics - they could both have been folded into one idea. Also there are 4 sections for synthetic fabrics - rayon, nylon, spandex, and then one for synthetic fabrics. It seems to me the author had trouble coming up with 100 ideas and had to stretch a little. Some of them were just odd (tattoos, body piercings, false eyelashes?).

She also seemed to focus too much on certain examples - John Galliano is mentioned at least 8 times in the book, and in many places other designers could have been used just as effectively, if not more so.

A lot of the pictures in the book were great, but a lot of them were obvious substitutes for others for which they presumably couldn't get permission to use in the book.

Overall, 3 stars. Not bad, but there are better out there.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am no fashionista but I thoroughly enjoyed this trip through fashion history. The book gave me a better understanding of the trends I have lived through - punk, new romantics, hip-hop, brand-worship, rave, grunge, etc. Before reading the book I might have been tempted to say that fashion has become far more stable but this is not the case. The first 21st century decade was about fast, almost disposable fashion; the second is showing a slow but clear shift towards sustainable eco-fashion. This was an interesting read.

[Evgenia Pradel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre excellent qui parle brièvement de grandes et petites choses qui ont absolument changé le monde de la mode. Parfaitement écrit les articles sont bien accompagné par des photos et des illustrations. Même si on connait déjà des choses on lit ce livre avec plaisir!

http://une-petite-touche.blogspot.tw/...

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like fashion and try to have a sense of fashion, even if other people don't or think I don't for that matter. And I've recently watched a lot of fashion documentaries, thinking of fashion in a professional sense (even though it seems ridiculous at this point in my life). And I don't really know a whole lot about fashion, so I thought this book was halfway fascinating about points of fashion that I knew a bare minimum about. The pictures are just as good as the info I found and I liked that it included aspects of "fashion" that I wouldn't even connect as fashion.

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was repetitive, too shallow if you know much at all about fashion, and not all that fun of a read. The same point about mods wearing green army parkas to protect their suits from dust is repeated three separate times. In discussing historical trends, there are some inaccuracies.

The tone is also weirdly out of touch in places. Case in point, "Where would the modern woman be without tights?" Or "A thong is best displayed on a perfect body with an all-over tan." Also weird comments about how hot "thrusting" boobs in jumpers are.

[Luiza Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good to be used as consultation for fashion students. If you're a fashion enthusiast and would like to be introduced to this world without boring yourself or going too deep into specific topics, this is your book.

[Lenita · Rating 3 out of 5]

S'ok. Breezy read.

[Abby Epplett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a comprehensive overview of changes in 20th century fashion. The list format made it easy to follow.

[leia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and fun read, a good introduction to the world of fashion

[April Helms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this look at the defining moments of fashion, some of which I'd never considered. One, it's hard to overstate, and this book drives it home, how much the two World Wars changed the fashion scene, particularly for women. Many trends listed here have a direct or indirect connection to those world-shattering events. The brief articles are chock full of interesting information on fashion, trends and trendsetters. This would be a great book for anyone wanting a quick primer on the fashion world, or your "reluctant reader" who follows Project Runway religiously. A couple minor nits. One, in the article on the white wedding gown, it mentions Queen Victoria as the one who slowly ushered in the concept, making it sound like she was doing this as a romantic and revolutionary. Actually, her white wedding dress and eschewing a crown of jewels for a garland of flowers were a sign of austerity- plain fabric was less expensive than print, certainly less expensive than brocade. The country was facing financial difficulties at that time, and the new queen's white gown was her way of scaling back on costs. Also, in the same section, it mentions that most women wore pink or blue at their weddings. Blue, yes, but at that time pink (and red) were considered men's colors. You occasionally see a portrait of a woman in a pink print dress but not often. In another section, it makes mention how much World War I changed women's fashions, and how military uniforms impacted women's wear. This is very true, and as I said earlier, the World Wars did more than anything in completely turning women's fashion on its head. But the way the article is written, it makes it sound like war never had an impact on women's fashion. Certainly not true. In the Civil War, women often used military-inspired braiding on hems and sleeves, and the fashion of slashing garments in the middle ages to allow undergarments to show through was a result of war. Still, all in all an entertaining and enlightening read. Especially loved the sections on the impact of technology on fashion.

[Chloe Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

super interesting content but honestly written poorly. it wasn’t super engaging but each ‘idea’ was concise so in that respect it was an easy read.

[Rase McCray]

Overall, I think this is a good book, and I've given it an extra star because it's really directed at a generalized audience instead of an audience of scholars. However, while I appreciate all that it had to say and liked all the accompanying photos, it just didn't "do it" for me. Too little of it was innovative (which is perhaps to be expected in this type of book), even as it's take on the familiar material was slight. In the end, it's sort of a coffee table book because it doesn't go into too much detail about each idea, yet it's also not quite a coffee table book.

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

am i asking too much when i say i want a book thats full of beautiful photography and genius fashion insight but also uses fashion as an inspirational launchpad to draw larger prophetic conclusions about the world and also god-like insight into the state of my soul?

[Elina Belova · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun and interesting to read.

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book had some great photos, but I wish there were more photos -- especially of pieces that she described.

[Jessy Ismoyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures are amazing : ) So just you know.