'Fashion' is a slightly misleading title for this history of clothing and costume. The subtitle 'The Ultimate Book of Costume and Style' is a better fit. And a fascinating glimpse into the clothing of the past it is.
Dorling Kindersley have one again provided a stunning looking reference book. The range of illustrations is astonishing. Contemporary illustrations and photographs are complimented by more detailed modern photographic studies of particular pieces. These are informative and illustrate the changing costumes very well.
The concentration is very much on European and western clothing. Perhaps this is unsurprising and, given the span of time that the book has to cover, not necessarily a bad thing. There is also a distinct weighting toward female fashion; menswear isn't ignored but doesn't receive the same attention as the pretty frocks.
My main complaint - and reason why this book does not get the five stars it otherwise would - is that the text, at times, rather lets down the quality of the illustrations. For instance, on one of the pages showing men in formal clothing in the 1920s we have a photograph of an actor dressed in a top hat, black jacket, grey waistcoat and checked trousers. The text suggests that he is wearing a "black dinner jacket" rather than the morning coat you might normally expect. In fact, he appears to be wearing the short black jacket that makes up part of the costume known as either 'black lounge', 'stroller' or 'Stresemann'. It is the black blazer and striped grey trouser gear of old fashioned barristers and, once upon a time, bank managers. The checked trousers would be a natty variation. The impression that the authors are not familiar with the dress code is reinforced when, elsewhere on the same page, they say that the Stresemann was "a dark single breasted suit".
Issues like this are a sad let down. That said, the quality of the rest of the book and the extraordinary depth and range of the illustrations mean that, nitpicks aside, I would still thoroughly recommend this to anyone.
Three-and-a-half stars.