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Killer Style: How Fashion Has Injured, Maimed, and Murdered Through History
The clothes we wear every day keep us comfortable, protect us from the elements, and express our unique style--but could fashion also be fatal? As it turns out, history is full of fashions that have harmed or even killed people. From silhouette-cinching corsets and combustible combs to lethal hair dyes and flammable flannel, this nonfiction book looks back at the times people have suffered pain, injury, and worse, all in the name of style. Historical examples like the tragic "Radium Girl" watchmakers and mercury-poisoned "Mad Hatters," along with more recent factory accidents, raise discussion of unsafe workplaces--where those who make the clothes are often fashion's first victims.
Co-authored by a scholar in the history of textiles and dress with the founder of WORN Fashion Journal, this book is equal parts fab and frightening: a stylishly illustrated mash-up of STEAM content, historical anecdotes, and chilling stories. Nonfiction features including sidebars, sources, an index, and a list of further reading will support critical literacy skills and digging deeper with research on this topic.
Co-authored by a scholar in the history of textiles and dress with the founder of WORN Fashion Journal, this book is equal parts fab and frightening: a stylishly illustrated mash-up of STEAM content, historical anecdotes, and chilling stories. Nonfiction features including sidebars, sources, an index, and a list of further reading will support critical literacy skills and digging deeper with research on this topic.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2019
About the author
Alison Matthews David
4 books29 followersDr. Alison Matthews David is an associate professor in the School of Fashion at Ryerson University. She holds a PhD in Art History from Stanford University. Her research on fashion victims examines how dress causes bodily harm to its makers and wearers. She has also published on military uniforms, and on representations of fashion in literature, notably in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. She is also interested in colour theory and the aesthetic movement.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
April 15, 2019
Killer Style is a pretty interesting read! It reminds me of some of the fact books that I read as a kid in the 80s. Filled with gruesome details and colourful images, this will definitely appeal to those kids who like reading about darker material.
Each two-page spread covers a different deadly fashion trend and includes sidebars and pictures with even more interesting facts all about those people who've fallen victim to the crime of high fashion.
I did find the digital copy I had was difficult to read at times, but I think the size of the physical book will make that less of a problem.
4.5 stars rounded up for this delightfully macabre book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Owlkids Books for providing me with a DRC of this book.
Each two-page spread covers a different deadly fashion trend and includes sidebars and pictures with even more interesting facts all about those people who've fallen victim to the crime of high fashion.
I did find the digital copy I had was difficult to read at times, but I think the size of the physical book will make that less of a problem.
4.5 stars rounded up for this delightfully macabre book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Owlkids Books for providing me with a DRC of this book.
December 14, 2018
Clothing serves many purposes. At its base form, it’s one protection from our environment. Yet it can also provide comfort, or even be used as an expression of our personalities. Unfortunately, sometimes fashion can also have a severely negative impact. Simply:
Fashion can kill.
Maybe this sounds extreme, but authors Alison Matthews David and Serah-Marie McMahon have combed through fashion history to find a sometimes amusing, mostly horrifying series of deadly fashion vignettes. Their work is broken up into sections based on the human body. It starts with an exploration of head-based fashion like hats and hair, tumbles down the trunk, and ends on some killer shoes, pants, and skirts. The result feels all-encompassing for a short volume while showcasing that all articles of clothing and embellishments can be dangerous.
Radium poisoning from watches. Flaming tutus. Near decapitation by scarf. It’s all here, and Matthews David and McMahon deserve high praise for their sensitivity to the subject. The stories are sensational, but the authors push past the obvious and overused vanity tropes. They successfully humanize these fashion victims by rightfully placing their injuries or deaths in context—most died without realizing the inherent dangers of their clothes. Or, in many cases, it’s death by socioeconomic status, with the cheaper, more readily available product proving unsafe. This is most effective when they examine recent deaths, particularly sandblasting jeans in underregulated factories.
Gillian Wilson’s illustrations are another highlight. The subject matter is morbid, but her amazing work keeps the packaging attractive. Her graphics are dark, but beautifully playful.
This is a wonderfully macabre look into fashion history, packed with solid research, a plethora of pictures, and, well, death.
Note: I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley.
Review also posted at https://pluckedfromthestacks.wordpres...
Fashion can kill.
Maybe this sounds extreme, but authors Alison Matthews David and Serah-Marie McMahon have combed through fashion history to find a sometimes amusing, mostly horrifying series of deadly fashion vignettes. Their work is broken up into sections based on the human body. It starts with an exploration of head-based fashion like hats and hair, tumbles down the trunk, and ends on some killer shoes, pants, and skirts. The result feels all-encompassing for a short volume while showcasing that all articles of clothing and embellishments can be dangerous.
Radium poisoning from watches. Flaming tutus. Near decapitation by scarf. It’s all here, and Matthews David and McMahon deserve high praise for their sensitivity to the subject. The stories are sensational, but the authors push past the obvious and overused vanity tropes. They successfully humanize these fashion victims by rightfully placing their injuries or deaths in context—most died without realizing the inherent dangers of their clothes. Or, in many cases, it’s death by socioeconomic status, with the cheaper, more readily available product proving unsafe. This is most effective when they examine recent deaths, particularly sandblasting jeans in underregulated factories.
Gillian Wilson’s illustrations are another highlight. The subject matter is morbid, but her amazing work keeps the packaging attractive. Her graphics are dark, but beautifully playful.
This is a wonderfully macabre look into fashion history, packed with solid research, a plethora of pictures, and, well, death.
Note: I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley.
Review also posted at https://pluckedfromthestacks.wordpres...
April 15, 2019
I liked this book but it is way too short. Which was disappointing . It teases you and leaves you wanting more .
December 6, 2018
An original subject here. This book presents the true fashion victim, people who got killed, injured or sick from a large specter surrounding fashion. If you love fashion or just funny facts on various subject through history, this is a original book and you will learn unusual stuff in it!
March 26, 2019
This is an interesting look at the dangers of being fashionable. It seems to be aimed at kids, although the subject matter (and gruesomeness of some of the subjects) will probably make it suitable for older children and teens (and curious adults). Various fashion issues are covered in this engaging volume, everything from the Triangle Shirtwaist fire to the Radium Girls to women falling off their platform shoes and cracking their heads open.
Fashion fatalities seem to disproportionately affect women. If they weren't slathering lead on their skin (rotting it in the process), they were being burned alive in their flannelette nightgowns or going up in smoke as flaming ballerinas. It's especially infuriating to see that, in the case of the Radium Girls, nothing was done until a male employee got sick and died; only then was an autopsy performed and the real dangers exposed. (One of the more recent examples shows that we're starting to get a little more equality with fashion fatalities... though that's not a good thing!)
The text is highlighted with plenty of pictures: there are historical photos, postcards, and advertisements that'll make many modern readers shake their heads. Radioactive underwear? Yes, that was actually a thing... and recommended for babies!
I only have a couple of issues with this book. One is that, in some places, I would've liked a little more information (such as in the case of the 1909 department store fire in England that was caused by a celluloid-heavy display; the name of the store wasn't even mentioned). I get that this is a children's book, and there are plenty of sources at the back for further study. Still, it would've been nice to have certain things like that made a little less vague for kids who might want to Google to find out more. My second issue is a statement made in the conclusion that implies we're so much smarter now:
Unfortunately, that's simply not true. It's beyond the scope of this book to get into things like grandfathering approval (such as was done with thimerosal--a form of mercury--which is still in some flu vaccines), or the fact that we wouldn't have had things like the Vioxx scandal if such precautions were actually taken before products went to market. (For a really interesting and disturbing look at how what we put on our bodies may be affecting our health--without us knowing it--I'd recommend taking a look at the movie called Stink!, Jon Whelan's documentary about trying to find the source of the terrible chemical smell coming from his young daughters' brand-new pajamas. Whether we want to believe it or not, we're still being endangered by our fashion choices.)
Overall, this is a nice history book that tells the tales of some of humanity's worst fashion faux-pas. I just wish it didn't leave readers with the false impression that we've solved most of fashion's safety issues.
Thank you to NetGalley and Owlkids for providing a digital ARC.
Fashion fatalities seem to disproportionately affect women. If they weren't slathering lead on their skin (rotting it in the process), they were being burned alive in their flannelette nightgowns or going up in smoke as flaming ballerinas. It's especially infuriating to see that, in the case of the Radium Girls, nothing was done until a male employee got sick and died; only then was an autopsy performed and the real dangers exposed. (One of the more recent examples shows that we're starting to get a little more equality with fashion fatalities... though that's not a good thing!)
The text is highlighted with plenty of pictures: there are historical photos, postcards, and advertisements that'll make many modern readers shake their heads. Radioactive underwear? Yes, that was actually a thing... and recommended for babies!
I only have a couple of issues with this book. One is that, in some places, I would've liked a little more information (such as in the case of the 1909 department store fire in England that was caused by a celluloid-heavy display; the name of the store wasn't even mentioned). I get that this is a children's book, and there are plenty of sources at the back for further study. Still, it would've been nice to have certain things like that made a little less vague for kids who might want to Google to find out more. My second issue is a statement made in the conclusion that implies we're so much smarter now:
When new cosmetics, medicines, and chemicals are invented, medical standards and government regulations demand that they be tested extensively before they can be brought to the market.
Unfortunately, that's simply not true. It's beyond the scope of this book to get into things like grandfathering approval (such as was done with thimerosal--a form of mercury--which is still in some flu vaccines), or the fact that we wouldn't have had things like the Vioxx scandal if such precautions were actually taken before products went to market. (For a really interesting and disturbing look at how what we put on our bodies may be affecting our health--without us knowing it--I'd recommend taking a look at the movie called Stink!, Jon Whelan's documentary about trying to find the source of the terrible chemical smell coming from his young daughters' brand-new pajamas. Whether we want to believe it or not, we're still being endangered by our fashion choices.)
Overall, this is a nice history book that tells the tales of some of humanity's worst fashion faux-pas. I just wish it didn't leave readers with the false impression that we've solved most of fashion's safety issues.
Thank you to NetGalley and Owlkids for providing a digital ARC.
May 28, 2019
Super interesting nonfiction for an upper elementary and middle school audience, and I actually read it because it looked interesting to me, an adult! I learned about mad hatters, flammable materials that burned unsuspecting consumers, all kinds of products that contained lethally toxic chemicals, bizarre deaths from poor fashion choices, crazy fashion styles that were impractical and dangerous, as well as a review of things I already knew like radium poisoning, the triangle shirt waist factory fire, and the Rana Plaza factory collapse. An interesting collection of primary sources and just enough information to spark tween curiosity make this a perfect fit for my middle school library. I actually learned quite a bit of new and interesting things. (Flaming flannelette and poisonous green were particularly interesting!)
Young readers will get a taste of important issues like the need for government intervention to protect workers rights, and the vulnerability of poor and desperate people: “ We can reduce the body count of killer styles. Declare the risks unacceptable. Mind the most vulnerable. And absolutely, for sure, beyond a doubt… Don’t wear a scarf when riding a go-kart.”
Young readers will get a taste of important issues like the need for government intervention to protect workers rights, and the vulnerability of poor and desperate people: “ We can reduce the body count of killer styles. Declare the risks unacceptable. Mind the most vulnerable. And absolutely, for sure, beyond a doubt… Don’t wear a scarf when riding a go-kart.”
December 1, 2019
If the subject and layout of the book didn’t win me over enough, one of the dedications reads: “To Professor Snape, John Waters, and Elvira Mistress of the Dark.”
December 4, 2019
Quick, fascinating, and delightfully morbid.
August 26, 2019
Killer Style is a quick read for anyone interested in fashion history. It is geared towards tweens and teens, but the information is great for older readers too. The book accounts different ways that clothes have been dangerous to people. The authors lean less on freak accidents and more on how industrialization and the clothing construction industry have killed people in the making of clothes. (We do get our fair share of freak accidents, though.) We get information from the ways poisonous elements used in hat-making and dying have ruined the lives of both constructors and wearers, to the risks of constrictive and flamboyant fashions like corsets, hobble skirts, and high heels.
Divided into three parts ("Horrified Heads", "Miserable Middles", and "Unlucky Legs"), the authors present each account with the right balance of seriousness and sardonic commentary. The book presents each tidbit in a two-page spread with fun asides that branch off the particular subject (for example, in the footwear pages, they outline all the horrors of footwear in fairy tales). Information is mostly historical, but also includes more recent accounts such as the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse and the deadly diagnosis of silicosis on workers in the modern denim industry. But it is very clear that these accounts, while interesting and sometimes entertaining, come down to how tragically unnecessary a lot of the death and mayhem has been, and how it has overwhelmingly affected impoverished and underprivileged victims. The conclusion, "Don't blame the Victims" is a brief but effective summary on how regulation in the clothing and fashion industry protects the consumer.
A great primer on how fashion really does kill.
Divided into three parts ("Horrified Heads", "Miserable Middles", and "Unlucky Legs"), the authors present each account with the right balance of seriousness and sardonic commentary. The book presents each tidbit in a two-page spread with fun asides that branch off the particular subject (for example, in the footwear pages, they outline all the horrors of footwear in fairy tales). Information is mostly historical, but also includes more recent accounts such as the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse and the deadly diagnosis of silicosis on workers in the modern denim industry. But it is very clear that these accounts, while interesting and sometimes entertaining, come down to how tragically unnecessary a lot of the death and mayhem has been, and how it has overwhelmingly affected impoverished and underprivileged victims. The conclusion, "Don't blame the Victims" is a brief but effective summary on how regulation in the clothing and fashion industry protects the consumer.
A great primer on how fashion really does kill.
November 7, 2019
Killer Style: How Fashion has Injured, Maimed, and Murdered Through History by Serah-Marie McMahon and Alison Matthews David, illustrated by Gillian Wilson. 45 pages. NONFICTION. Owl Kids, 2019. $19. 9781771472531
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS , HS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
When someone tells you you have “killer style” or moan that you are a “fashion victim”, stop for a sec and remember, people throughout history have literally died for fashion. Starting at the top of your head and proceeding down to the shoes on your feet, McMahon and David write a short, pithy look at the ways that fashion came claim its victims. Great to pair with How They Croaked and They Lost Their Heads.
Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS , HS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
When someone tells you you have “killer style” or moan that you are a “fashion victim”, stop for a sec and remember, people throughout history have literally died for fashion. Starting at the top of your head and proceeding down to the shoes on your feet, McMahon and David write a short, pithy look at the ways that fashion came claim its victims. Great to pair with How They Croaked and They Lost Their Heads.
Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...
August 18, 2020
Book Club of Doom
Attendees: AL, GB, SN, SI, DA, EO, ES (outdoors), BC (at cabin), JM
GB hasn’t led one of these for awhile.
Call on a random person
_____
AL -- it was fun, it’s a kid book. Lots of overlap with other books we’ve read. Not much new. Fun, read it in about 15 minutes. There was one thing he didn’t know about, but he can’t remember what it was. Not a lot of thoughts.
JM -- took her 22 minutes to read. She’s read a lot of this sort of thing. History is her deal. Not a lot new. Interesting when it’s presented for children, and kids like morbid things. Would be popular with a certain group of kids. She liked the idea of how the fashion risks still are with us. She wishes there had been more of that. She liked the vibe and the way it looked.
ES -- got the kindle version of the adult version. Read intro, first four chapters are on poisons, jumped to fashion and accidents. Everyone said “Isadora Duncan” at the same time. ES told us about how the scarf is apparently still around, just in small parts. The adult book does focus on how the fashion risks are still with us.
SI -- she’s off the phone, because her mom wanted to know about bakeware. She’s getting stuff. This book took her longer than 20 minutes because she paced herself. It was interesting to see what they included and what they didn’t. She wanted more death. She liked the modern stuff, that it’s not just all old stuff. She liked it, she’s excited about it, and now she’s read it. Yay.
SN -- Her initial response was disappointment, and that she knew a lot of the content already. While the information was well-presented, it felt very superficial. The design required it to be superficial, which was too bad. Could have spent more time and given more information. It felt like a preview. Maybe she should just read the adult book. What was there was well presented.
EO -- it’s a little kid coffee table book. It’s a quick glance kind of book. It’s like a condensed “Horrible Histories” book. It’s beautiful and well-laid out. The end was more interesting than the beginning. She did learn some things, but she knew a lot of it already. It took her a few hours, but she was doing other things.
BC -- Not much to add. Very pretty, will probably get the adult book for her mom as a gift. It’s a fun book to have out. Liked the connection to modern times and how we are still dumb. She read it a bit at a time, so it was longer than 20 minutes. She’s adding the adult version to her infinite “to-read” list. She’s at the cabin and thought she’d join us because everyone else is tubing. Cabin conversation abounds.
DA - um, Disappointed! It was too superficial. Kept saying to author, “You forgot this!” Style over substance, needed balance between pictures and text. Good jumping off point to research pieces that interest you. Got copy from library. Done in 12 minutes before even finishing beer. Renee thought something was wrong he came back inside so quick. Wanted depth, needed a bit more “look here for more info”.
GB - it was fine. Fell asleep and had to find her place. Knew for kids and would be a more superficial, disappointed in how European/American it was. Didn’t mention foot-binding in footwear section. For kids who want gross stuff, or liked topic, or have on coffee table for kid to “find.” She likes to tell people about Doctor Who causing people to die. Liked that it was short since she’s moving again. Discussion on Gretchen moving. Also Gretchen getting a cat.
_____
*BC is off to do grownup things.
*JM said they occasionally tried to make it a but more global in places. She thought it assumed a lot about European fashion, like corsets. It really bothered her that the photo of lead makeup is not really lead makeup. NOT OKAY, Y’ALL. She gets that its hard to find photos of that sort of thing, but use a painting or something. This made her really question some of the other images and were they really representing the correct thing.
*Folks are putting pages in front of cameras to point images out.
*The author maybe threw out more scholarly pieces to turn this into the kids format. Dumber vs abbreviated. Might also be able to blame co-author.
*What age level is it for? Late elementary? Maybe as a jumping off point for middle school? Is it a high-low book? Still used some more difficult words.
*Could have done more forms of makeup!
*Mr. Yuck stickers aren’t in use anymore - would kids even recognize the sticker? PowerPuff Girls also a little outdated now. Turns out kids were attracted to the stickers so they weren’t effective. Whoops. Why isn’t this in the book???
*Discussion of Acknowledgments.
*Time travel talk. TIME AFTER TIME comes up at 2:46. Why the Cyndi Lauper reference?
*We talked about it longer than it took to read.
*SI shared her slideshow.
Attendees: AL, GB, SN, SI, DA, EO, ES (outdoors), BC (at cabin), JM
GB hasn’t led one of these for awhile.
Call on a random person
_____
AL -- it was fun, it’s a kid book. Lots of overlap with other books we’ve read. Not much new. Fun, read it in about 15 minutes. There was one thing he didn’t know about, but he can’t remember what it was. Not a lot of thoughts.
JM -- took her 22 minutes to read. She’s read a lot of this sort of thing. History is her deal. Not a lot new. Interesting when it’s presented for children, and kids like morbid things. Would be popular with a certain group of kids. She liked the idea of how the fashion risks still are with us. She wishes there had been more of that. She liked the vibe and the way it looked.
ES -- got the kindle version of the adult version. Read intro, first four chapters are on poisons, jumped to fashion and accidents. Everyone said “Isadora Duncan” at the same time. ES told us about how the scarf is apparently still around, just in small parts. The adult book does focus on how the fashion risks are still with us.
SI -- she’s off the phone, because her mom wanted to know about bakeware. She’s getting stuff. This book took her longer than 20 minutes because she paced herself. It was interesting to see what they included and what they didn’t. She wanted more death. She liked the modern stuff, that it’s not just all old stuff. She liked it, she’s excited about it, and now she’s read it. Yay.
SN -- Her initial response was disappointment, and that she knew a lot of the content already. While the information was well-presented, it felt very superficial. The design required it to be superficial, which was too bad. Could have spent more time and given more information. It felt like a preview. Maybe she should just read the adult book. What was there was well presented.
EO -- it’s a little kid coffee table book. It’s a quick glance kind of book. It’s like a condensed “Horrible Histories” book. It’s beautiful and well-laid out. The end was more interesting than the beginning. She did learn some things, but she knew a lot of it already. It took her a few hours, but she was doing other things.
BC -- Not much to add. Very pretty, will probably get the adult book for her mom as a gift. It’s a fun book to have out. Liked the connection to modern times and how we are still dumb. She read it a bit at a time, so it was longer than 20 minutes. She’s adding the adult version to her infinite “to-read” list. She’s at the cabin and thought she’d join us because everyone else is tubing. Cabin conversation abounds.
DA - um, Disappointed! It was too superficial. Kept saying to author, “You forgot this!” Style over substance, needed balance between pictures and text. Good jumping off point to research pieces that interest you. Got copy from library. Done in 12 minutes before even finishing beer. Renee thought something was wrong he came back inside so quick. Wanted depth, needed a bit more “look here for more info”.
GB - it was fine. Fell asleep and had to find her place. Knew for kids and would be a more superficial, disappointed in how European/American it was. Didn’t mention foot-binding in footwear section. For kids who want gross stuff, or liked topic, or have on coffee table for kid to “find.” She likes to tell people about Doctor Who causing people to die. Liked that it was short since she’s moving again. Discussion on Gretchen moving. Also Gretchen getting a cat.
_____
*BC is off to do grownup things.
*JM said they occasionally tried to make it a but more global in places. She thought it assumed a lot about European fashion, like corsets. It really bothered her that the photo of lead makeup is not really lead makeup. NOT OKAY, Y’ALL. She gets that its hard to find photos of that sort of thing, but use a painting or something. This made her really question some of the other images and were they really representing the correct thing.
*Folks are putting pages in front of cameras to point images out.
*The author maybe threw out more scholarly pieces to turn this into the kids format. Dumber vs abbreviated. Might also be able to blame co-author.
*What age level is it for? Late elementary? Maybe as a jumping off point for middle school? Is it a high-low book? Still used some more difficult words.
*Could have done more forms of makeup!
*Mr. Yuck stickers aren’t in use anymore - would kids even recognize the sticker? PowerPuff Girls also a little outdated now. Turns out kids were attracted to the stickers so they weren’t effective. Whoops. Why isn’t this in the book???
*Discussion of Acknowledgments.
*Time travel talk. TIME AFTER TIME comes up at 2:46. Why the Cyndi Lauper reference?
*We talked about it longer than it took to read.
*SI shared her slideshow.
April 4, 2019
Ever since lead based makeup was used, to make the face smooth and wrinkle free, people have met death through fashion.
This book does a delightful job of explaining every single fashion trend and how it killed off the user. From loose scaves catching in the wheels of a motorcycle, to licking the paint brushes used to paint clock faces with radioactive paint, this book has them all. All the ways you can die to be beautiful.
Fun, quick read. A delight for young and old. I'm not the target audience, but I read it in one sitting and loved it.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
This book does a delightful job of explaining every single fashion trend and how it killed off the user. From loose scaves catching in the wheels of a motorcycle, to licking the paint brushes used to paint clock faces with radioactive paint, this book has them all. All the ways you can die to be beautiful.
Fun, quick read. A delight for young and old. I'm not the target audience, but I read it in one sitting and loved it.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
January 4, 2020
For a style-loving kid, this is a chipper overview of the many ways fashion trends have hurt people. But I found it tonally weird. The design is light and airy and white-space-y and listicle-y and cute, and I guess people falling off their humungous platform shoes and getting strangled by their long scarves is kinda funny? But poor people dying from licking radium off their brushes in factories, sandblasting denim, patting toxic green dye onto hat trimmings, burning to death in sweatshop fires...not cute. And where is the overview of how unchecked capitalism and the lack of workplace protections really hurt people?
April 3, 2026
Lots of fascinating tidbits about the dangers of fashion in history. Love the photos and other visual matter, and learned a lot.
Took this out to middle schools in 2025-2026. Told the story of mercury + hatmaking and paraphenalenediamine (the book says PPD for short, but I learned that saying the abbreviation out loud only results in cackles in a middle school). Kids got excited when I pulled out a top hat and some fake mercury.
Originally from the UK, and there were a few spots where I could tell, but not a huge deal.
Took this out to middle schools in 2025-2026. Told the story of mercury + hatmaking and paraphenalenediamine (the book says PPD for short, but I learned that saying the abbreviation out loud only results in cackles in a middle school). Kids got excited when I pulled out a top hat and some fake mercury.
Originally from the UK, and there were a few spots where I could tell, but not a huge deal.
September 7, 2019
I absolutely loved this book! It's morbid, it's informative, and it's just what I wanted today. The book is separated into sections: Horrified Head, Miserable Middles, and Unlucky Legs. There are quirky illustrations mixed with historical photographs, ads, and newspaper clippings. It's dark without being too gruesome. I just wish there was more of it!
For: readers wanting a historical look at the dark side of fashion.
Possible red flags: readers may want more information than this book gives; the subject matter may be too difficult for some readers to handle.
For: readers wanting a historical look at the dark side of fashion.
Possible red flags: readers may want more information than this book gives; the subject matter may be too difficult for some readers to handle.
September 18, 2020
A pleasantly gruesome book that covers the deadly aspects of fashion (for those who make it and/or wear it) from head to toe. It's a good format -- big enough to enjoy the pictures, but small enough to easily hold. The sections are coherent and the subsections good for quick reads. I learned some things, felt smug about knowing some things (thank you, previous Cybils books) and enjoyed the time spent seeing how people manage to hurt themselves.
April 11, 2022
Liked the book . Could have been better with more engaging writing. 3 stars fits. Learned some things about the radium industry and how women workers in 1924 were dying from radium exposure. Company knew but did nothing. Nice. Also mentioned a factory collapse in India which made cheap t-shirts. They cleared out the bottom floor bank but made the cheap workers on the upper floors come or lose their month's pay. Nice. I will do more research on both those incidents.
June 18, 2020
This is a very short overview of some of the ways fashion trends have proven fatal, or harmful over the centuries. It’s clearly geared for younger (middle grade) readers, and I wanted more depth, but hey, I’m not the target audience.
The Amazing Book Club of Doom book for June, 2020.
The Amazing Book Club of Doom book for June, 2020.
September 30, 2022
A really interesting read about how fashion trends could literally kill you--like celluloid combs that were highly flammable or even long scarves that would get caught and strangle people.
I learned about the origins of the phrase "nonflammable clothing."
I learned about the origins of the phrase "nonflammable clothing."
May 7, 2019
Really interesting! sometimes I just like macabre stuff...
May 8, 2019
A vivid and wild ride about how fashion has influenced the world but at a high cost.
June 10, 2019
Interesting read...great photos and illustrations.
August 24, 2019
Very fascinating
February 14, 2023
This is a children's non-fiction book, but I found it fascinating and I wanted to remember it if I ever wanted to reference it later!
October 30, 2019
An interesting look at the macabre side of the fashion industry. The number of toxic materials that were used to create garments through history is astounding; it's eerie how many stories follow the same pattern - great new discovery, booming sales, and only when workers started keeling over dead did anyone notice that something was amiss. Unexpectedly - and pleasantly - this book also explores how working conditions have changed for those who make the clothes we wear, highlighting all the lives lost to the process - literal fashion victims.
July 6, 2020
Perfect for middle schoolers looking for something gruesome.
August 21, 2019
My poor husband had to endure me reading aloud once again. Parts of this book were just too interesting not to share. Wish it would have been longer.
April 15, 2020
I loved this book. Killer Style takes dangerous fashion tidbits and trends page-by-page through history. Along the way the author touches on other themes including rights of workers, class inequality, and commercialism. Easy to digest if somewhat chilling at times, yet never quite as gruesome as the cover. I think young readers will be fascinated, learn more about history than they might have imagined, and be compelled to learn more. What is better than a book that incites (or is it excites) a kid's curiosity?
December 17, 2020
Killer Style takes a global view of past and present fashion trends and the resulting dangers with a captivating/disturbing collection of well-known fashion contortions, poisonings and fatalities by body part, "Horrible Heads", "Miserable Middles," and "Unlucky Legs." Readers learn more about Europe's Queen Elizabeth I's Renaissance-era "Lethal Lead Makeup" covering her Smallpox scars and the gruesome details of the desperately unlucky Radium Girls who worked in factories in the United States in the 1920s and were poisoned by the radioactive glow-in-the-dark paint they used for delicately outlining the hours of the day on watch faces. In fact, poison features prominently in the history of fashion:
The authors highlight the often competing demands of the fashion industry to produce mass-consumed fashion items and their factory workers who often toil in dangerous working conditions for incredibly low wages, including modern day denim factories in Turkey where workers had to sandblast jeans for hours on end, creating the popular distressed fashion style while breathing in tiny silica grains that permanently damaged their lungs and caused early death. Emphasis in the text is placed on the ways factory workers have suffered from lax to nonexistent health and safety regulations in their workplaces, including sections "Fighting for Change" about factory catastrophes that bring the famous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City in 1911 and the Rana Plaza Collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 together as examples of workers uniting to assert their rights.
Excellent narrative nonfiction choice for fans of fashion and the more macabre elements of beauty and style, as well as students exploring Sustainable Development Goals, human rights, STEAM topics, and women's studies, grades 6 and up.
The authors highlight the often competing demands of the fashion industry to produce mass-consumed fashion items and their factory workers who often toil in dangerous working conditions for incredibly low wages, including modern day denim factories in Turkey where workers had to sandblast jeans for hours on end, creating the popular distressed fashion style while breathing in tiny silica grains that permanently damaged their lungs and caused early death. Emphasis in the text is placed on the ways factory workers have suffered from lax to nonexistent health and safety regulations in their workplaces, including sections "Fighting for Change" about factory catastrophes that bring the famous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City in 1911 and the Rana Plaza Collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 together as examples of workers uniting to assert their rights.
Excellent narrative nonfiction choice for fans of fashion and the more macabre elements of beauty and style, as well as students exploring Sustainable Development Goals, human rights, STEAM topics, and women's studies, grades 6 and up.
January 17, 2019
I was intrigued by the premise of this book and, in fairness, it covers a lot of different stories and does so pretty well. From the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire to Isadora Duncan's infamous decapitation, Killer Style covers the lot - and then some.
The content of the book is great - I did struggle with the formatting. I read this on an Amazon Kindle Fire and the formatting was all over the place. I tried to download for Overdrive and ran into errors. The formatting issues did ultimately make it hard to read in places. Pictures were spliced and chopped and spread across three different pages. Captions for those same photos were plopped down in the middle of random paragraphs and, on more than one occasion, the first line or so of a chapter was just plain missing.
Still - I read it straight through, which is in and of itself a testament on how engaging the content is.
While advertised as a children's or young adult book, I thought these stories were surprisingly thorough nutshells of an array of famous, infamous and obscure deaths thanks to clothing. As a fan of dark humor, fashion that kills is a topic of great interest to me. After all, people dying as a result of wanting to stand out - there's some irony in there somewhere.
But Killer Style doesn't just focus on fashionistas and people desperate to be in the limelight. They also cover deaths of workers - people who perished due to fast fashion trends and the greed of others. The stories )while grim) are told in a pretty light manner which makes this an easy read.
23 Word Review: The lessons learned in Killer Style include the fact that trends can be lethal and cheap clothes often come at a great cost.
The content of the book is great - I did struggle with the formatting. I read this on an Amazon Kindle Fire and the formatting was all over the place. I tried to download for Overdrive and ran into errors. The formatting issues did ultimately make it hard to read in places. Pictures were spliced and chopped and spread across three different pages. Captions for those same photos were plopped down in the middle of random paragraphs and, on more than one occasion, the first line or so of a chapter was just plain missing.
Still - I read it straight through, which is in and of itself a testament on how engaging the content is.
While advertised as a children's or young adult book, I thought these stories were surprisingly thorough nutshells of an array of famous, infamous and obscure deaths thanks to clothing. As a fan of dark humor, fashion that kills is a topic of great interest to me. After all, people dying as a result of wanting to stand out - there's some irony in there somewhere.
But Killer Style doesn't just focus on fashionistas and people desperate to be in the limelight. They also cover deaths of workers - people who perished due to fast fashion trends and the greed of others. The stories )while grim) are told in a pretty light manner which makes this an easy read.
23 Word Review: The lessons learned in Killer Style include the fact that trends can be lethal and cheap clothes often come at a great cost.
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