Survey of Historic Costume

by Phyllis G. Tortora, Sara B. Marcketti

Survey of Historic Costume , 6th Edition, is the best-selling introduction to Western dress from the ancient world through the twenty-first century. Each chapter presents social, cross-cultural, environmental, geographic, and artistic influences on clothing. With visuals, illustrated tables, and in-depth discussions, readers come to recognize recurring themes and concepts and understand the role of dress from a diverse, global perspective. The new edition features more than 1,000 full-color photographs and illustrations, a new feature that examines global dress, and a fully updated chapter on the twenty-first century.

New Student Resources
~ Survey of Historic Costume STUDIO features digital study tools such as visual flashcards, self-quizzes, videos, and assignments and activities and includes a free Student Study Guide eBook to help students master concepts and improve grades.

New to this Edition
~ Chapter Timelines present an overview and images of historic events in each chapter focusing on fashion and textiles, politics and conflicts, decorative and fine arts, economics and trade, technology, and religion
~ New Global Connections boxed highlights dress and textiles from around the world including China, India, Japan, Latin America, Africa and more
~ New Chapter 20 covering twenty-first century dress from 2000 to present

Key Features
~ Contemporary Comments from contemporary sources provide a sense of the attitude toward clothing of individuals of the period
~ Modern Influences photo feature explains historic costume is reinterpreted in modern fashion design
~ Visual Summary Tables show clear line drawing of period garments and Illustrated Tables depict important accessories, footwear and headwear

~ Companion Survey of Historic Costume Student Study Guide (9781628922349) includes historic snapshots, review questions, summary tables, visual quizzes and glossary of key terms.

Teaching Resources
~ Instructor's Guide including sample syllabi and units based on the timeline in the book, chapter objectives, lecture notes, discussion questions, additional research projects, assignments, and an answer key for the Student Study Guide
~Test Bank with multiple choice, true/false and essay questions for each chapter with answer key
~ Image Bank with all the illustrations and photos from the text
~ PowerPoint presentations for each chapter

PLEASE Purchasing or renting this ISBN does not include access to the STUDIO resources that accompany this text. To receive free access to the STUDIO content with new copies of this book, please refer to the book + STUDIO access card bundle ISBN 9781501395253. STUDIO Instant Access can also be purchased or rented separately on BloomsburyFashionCentral.com.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, History, Fashion History, Reference, Art, School

720 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book to teach college Fashion History. Good descriptions of terms along with great images. A good textbook that students will hopefully keep at the end of the semester!

[Ava Teague · Rating 4 out of 5]

I genuinely liked this text book, in part because I enjoyed the subject matter and the class I read it for, but also because it had a real flare to it. Something about the way it would coldly state things like: "1430, men switch to leggings." just tickled me. It's so...ominous somehow. I guess that's probably just the brain of a overtired college student finding entertainment where there is little, but it wasn't just the ominous little updates that kept me interested. Where else would I learn that actual lifelong hardened criminals used to make a living snatching wigs off of the heads of rich people? If that's not a movie you'd like to see then frankly I don't understand what's wrong with you. I also relished the descriptions of fine Venetian ladies all done up like John Waters heroins with giant hair, platform shoes, and trashy amounts of cleavage. These are the sorts of images that really keep me shuffling on through my days. And if you think the fun stops when things get a bit more contemporary you would be wrong! I can't tell you how disorienting it was to see the members of Salt-n-Pepa gazing up at me from a textbook. Honestly a thrilling read. My only complaint is the cover, which is just alarmingly hideous.

[Momo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The textbook for the class I read this for were so good, they were really well laid out and very enjoyable reads.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

A textbook on the history of fashion in the West. Plenty of helpful line drawings and images, with clear, no-nonsense writing. I wasn't using this for a class, just found it on my own for fun, and learned more about the history of production and the place clothing has had in society over the years. I especially enjoyed the "Contemporary Comments," which present primary texts commenting on fashion. Plenty of this is negative (folks are more loquacious when they dislike something than when they like it) but it is fascinating to see, all the same. Not a ton of attention is paid to fashion subcultures in the 20th century, but that would make this textbook very long indeed.

[Diana Kanecki]

I love the book as it provides a description of fashion as well as cultural, technology, and creative influences. To me, this is a multithesis book that works at many levels as culture, communication, and leadership in addition to theater.

[Katrina Sark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 5 – Nineteenth Century 1800-1900

p.299 – INDUSTRIALIZATION – The Industrial Revolution produced the factory system, which involved the migration of people from rural areas to towns and cities that were unprepared to receive them.
The labourers in factories who were most abused were women, children, and the unskilled. Even those who worked at home were subjected to exploitation.
For the industrial capitalists, however, industrialization brought wealth and luxury.

CROSS-CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON FASHION – The importation of fine linen muslins from India, first seen in the soft chemise dresses of the late 18th century, continued.
Indian men wore Kashmir shawls made from the soft hair of the cashmere goat, woven in Kashmir, a northern province on the Indian subcontinent.
The Scottish town of Paisley began producing large quantity of shawl.
Fashion from Kashmir or paisley shawls continued for almost 100 years.

p.300 – TRADE WITH JAPAN – One of the first Japanese industries to profit from the opening of trade was the silk industry. A silk blight in Europe in 1860 created a demand for Japanese silk and silkworm eggs. […] Because Japan was the first non-Western nation to adopt Western industrial techniques on a large scale, by the end of the 19th century textiles dominated Japanese exports.
Once Japan opened its ports, collectors obtained examples of Japanese prints, lacquer, porcelain, glass, and textiles. Impressionist painters were inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. […] Japanese art had an immediate and major impact on European fine and decorative arts in the second half of the 19th century.

Part 6 – From the Twentieth Century to the Twenty-First Century

p.413 – GLOBALIZATION OF FASHION – Beginning in the 1970s and accelerating in the 1980s and after, the production of clothing tended to move from more affluent countries to low-wage countries.

p.419 – EFFECTS OF WWI ON FASHION – Women began to wear more comfortable, practical clothes for more active participation in the variety of jobs that they had taken from men.

[Chels · Rating 4 out of 5]

The glossary and index could use some attention. I understand that people reading this book are typically interested in fashion, but the resources need to assume the reader is brand new to the subject.

[Jessica Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information, but definitely reads like a textbook

[Sierra Allred · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most interesting textbook I’ve ever read!

[Anna Katherina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolutely fascinating and detailed look at fashion through the history of humankind. I don't know where to begin, so I'll keep it short.

There are illustrations. There are extant examples where available (though the sourcing wasn't the best). There are fashion plates. But unlike a lot of other books I've read lately, that's not all it is. In fact, it's quite the opposite: The information was incredibly detailed and covered a variety of subjects within each larger culture and era- including beauty ideals, political climates, and other cultural elements where necessary or known.

If you want an encyclopedia of historic fashion, in my opinion, this is it. And I think it's probably going to be particularly useful for someone in the SCA, or other forms of historical costuming or re-enactment.

[Joshua Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as part of my research on the types of clothing worn in the Early and Late Middle Ages, so my review is largely limited to those sections. The book had extensive details on clothing and ornament worn on various parts of the body, as well as details on how common articles were based on social class. A very accessible guide and good for increasing a non-fashion-expert's vocabulary in regards to descriptions of period style dress.