Fifty Dresses That Changed the World

Design Museum Fifty

by Design Museum

You don't have to be a fashionista or a design aficionado to adore this fascinating look at the power of one dress to change society.
Join the Design Museum, the world's leading museum in contemporary design, on a guided tour of the 50 most important dresses in social history and design.
Filled with pages of beautiful clothes, and the famous faces (and bodies) that put them on the world stage -including Wallis Simpson, Jackie Kennedy, Twiggy and Cher and, of course, Princess Di-this fun volume shares fascinating appraisals of what gave the 50 most important garments their iconic status.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, History, Coffee Table Books, Fashion Design, Art, Reference

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Design Museum is a museum founded in 1989, located by the River Thames near Tower Bridge in central London, England. The museum covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. In 2007 the museum was listed by The Times newspaper as number two in their top five museums of the year.

Deyan Sudjic is the current Director of the museum. He succeeded Alice Rawsthorn in 2006. Unlike most large London museums, the entrance is not free, as it is not subsidised by the UK Arts Council. For this reason it operates as a registered charity, and all funds generated by ticket sales aid the museum in putting new exhibitions together. The museum attracts 200,000 visitors annually.


Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[ModCloth · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was ten years-old, among my favorite outfits was a long, maroon dress embellished with tiny, floral bouquets, and an oversized, lace collar. This, ladies and gentlemen, was not a dress that changed the world.

With a better eye than my young self, London’s Design Museum undertook the ambitious task of naming the Fifty Dresses That Changed the World. The result, a collection of brief histories and full-page photographs, lays out the dresses and designers that revolutionized fashion these past one hundred years. Beginning with Mariano Fortuny’s 1915 flowing Delphos Pleated Dress, the book attempts to lay out the importance of what we wear as women, and how these chosen dresses reflected, and in some cases, initiated social and cultural changes. Blending the wacky (the ‘Buried Dress’, which was left to decompose in the designer’s garden), with the classic (everyone’s favorite ‘Little Black Dress’), Fifty Dresses provides a fairly comprehensive timeline of women’s wear, while reflecting on the social, technological, and historical movements that got us where we are in fashion today.

Read more about Fifty Dresses That Changed the World after the jump.

While most dresses included in the book are notable fashion contributions, you can’t help but wonder as a reader if the book’s title is a tad too grand. Were these fashion statements changing the world, or merely reflecting the brewing movements of their decades? At times, the author doesn’t go as deep as he could into his explanation of how these dresses’ contributed to the world fashion scene, making the overall tone of the book somewhat uneven. Each dress’ history is told in an incredibly straight-forward manner and lacks the flair that each fantastic design deserve. You can’t help but wish for a more narrative touch when dealing with characters like Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn, and Cher. The age-old adage might say that the woman makes the dress, but you lose that intimacy in the book’s pages. Despite its flaws, Fifty Dresses is educational (Have you heard of the topless dress? I certainly hadn’t.), and will make a lovely, little addition to any fashionista’s coffee table. It also provides a handy overview to a younger generation who may not know the origin of their favorite wrap dress (Thank you, Ms. von Furstenberg).

The tried and true designs of the earlier part of the twentieth century certainly have cemented themselves in fashion history, but those mentioned later in the book, still may have something to prove. It is difficult to tell the staying power of the more current trends – will they remember balloon and galaxy dresses when the next volume of ‘Dresses that Changed the World’ comes out in one hundred years? Fifty Dresses wraps up with Hussein Chalayan’s 2007 LED dress, a vibrant, glowing manifestation made of Swarovski crystals and over 15,000 LEDs. With 2010 rapidly approaching, you can’t help but wonder what fashion has in store for us tomorrow. I only hope they go easy on the lace collar.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the selection made was from a very british point of view, it nevertheless presented an interesting choice of dresses, that somehow influenced how we perceive fashion.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduced me to the world of fashion designers and trend-setting dresses. Read at the recommendation of my HOC stylist who had been gifted a copy by a client.

[Moorhead Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes the unique, the influential, and the must have dresses of the 20th and 21st centuries. From the Jersey flapper dress and the Little black dress to Princess Diana's wedding dress and the One-shoulder dress, this book delves into the path fashion has taken throughout the years with wonderful visuals.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really problematic and vapid. Start with the lack of any dress before 1909, and go from there...

[Edy Gies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic little book that gives the history of fashion. It's more about the designer or the style than 50 specific dresses but it was still fun and helpful.

[Colleen Crayton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book if you want an overview of women's fashion through the years. Don't expect many details though (think a buzzfeed list in a book). A quick read.

[Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very short book, obviously designed for an exhibition. However, it makes up in historical scope what it has in brevity.

Each dress is represented by two pages. The first page is text with a small inset photo. The facing page is a larger photo of the dress in question.

Coincidentally I had just finished viewing the DVD "Coco before Chanel" prior to reading this book.

Of course the Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana references are here, although both well-justified as they were fashion icons in their prime (forget dowdy early Diana). And the whole array of sixties fashion trends are here. But there also are some interesting other pieces with which I was less familiar.

Needless to say, this work is not comprehensive. But as a fun, short read, it is delightful.

[Kris Grooms]

A good way to get an overview of the most important designers of the last hundred years. Every major couturier was hit, and a few I'd never heard of. The photographs are clear and beautiful. One problem I did have was that the photographs weren't always what I was expecting. For instance, Donatella Versace's bamboo-print silk dress was shown on the runway, not worn by J. Lo, who made it famous. There was no mention of her, or of Matt Lauer's hysterical take on it.

The book focuses on the sublime, the avant-garde, the statement pieces. If you need to know the basics of the LBD or the Chanel suit, this is a great quick-learn review.

[Kim Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book, which profiles 50 iconic dresses of the last century (with photos), is such a fun romp! Scanning the decades, the Design Museum celebrates the influential (from the flapper dress to Mary Quant's minidress), statement pieces (the Mondrian dress), and those innovative concoctions that were never destined to make it too much further than the runway (the topless dress). Nice little write-ups for each, offering a glimpse into why each dress broke from the pack and made design history.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this book more if it had included dresses before 1915 -- I didn't agree that some of the selections in the book were more influential than earlier styles, such as the floating and sheer Empire-style gown, or the bustle and princess dresses from the Victorian age, etc.
Otherwise, a good survey of 20th century dress fashion.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun for me. I'm hardly a fashionista, but I like to feel pretty, and therefore I kinda like clothes! And what I really like in a dress is a vintage vibe (think 40's, 50's and 60's). I enjoyed reading about each of the fifty dresses that were chosen, and some of them I would absolutely wear now!

[Rita]

Fascinating list of dresses, lovely photos, clean design, and great for a quick bus-ride read. Disappointed with the numerous mistakes - Rita Hayward instead of Rita Hayworth; it's instead of its, etc.

[Laura Brose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree that this book is lacking in many respects cited by other reviewers: the typos, the fact that it deals with dresses only within a limited historical timespan (it should have had a disclaimer); and the sin of omission in not featuring an image or mention of J. Lo in the Bamboo Dress, when it was she who made it famous in the public eye in the first place. But nevertheless, I learned a lot from this book when I wasn't expecting it: among the little facts I picked up was that the "Bandage Dress" which became a mark of boldness and modern style in our time was devised as a means of using waste strips of fabric left from the mass production of other garments. I wonder how many other stories behind well-known fashion trends there are that the public hasn't had an opportunity to learn?

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main idea of the book is to explain -in a really fast-reading and easy way- about the story of the dresses and what changed because of it. I liked it.
A ideia principal do livro é explicar -em uma leitura rápida e de um modo fácil- a história dos vestidos e o que mudou por conta disso. Eu gostei

[Katerina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book cause I was in a clothing store bored and my phone died and this was the decorative book in the seating area. Learned about fashion! Definitely feel like it didn't include many dresses from around the world though, pretty narrow scope. but what do I know. idk anything about the fashion world XD

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful concise little summary of contemporary monumental events and the people/companies behind them. Research is thorough but from a fashion history perspective the narratives are a bit brief. However, a beautiful refresher book to check out from the library.

[Anna L · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's essentially a photo album where each dress photo is accompanied by a couple of paragraphs of text. I wouldn't call most of the dresses highlighted 'world-changing' but some were definitely widely worn or widely recognized. Interesting to thumb through, but nothing more than that.

[Mary Helene · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was delightful. Nearly every dress I could say - Yes! I know that dress. Now explain it to me. I thought the authors did a moderately good job of that.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Changed the world” is hilarious hyperbole.

[Maddelline · Rating 4 out of 5]

[coffee table book] if you love dresses and especially statement dresses, this is the book for you

[Caroline]

there are a variety of books on this theme, this is the worst one I've read

[Sai Rahul Poruri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting glimpse into a world that I am mostly blind to. Whether or not I like it, fashion sense is important in this works and this book introduces 50 greatest hits in the fashion industry.

[Shawn Costello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, quick, and an interesting look at history and fashion

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to snap shot 50 dresses that changed the world. It's somewhat subjective and it's going to miss some but this book is a fun romp through a comprehensive selection and shows how fashion is influenced by the era it is in, art and technology. A picture and an informative bit of blurb is just enough to keep you hooked. It's a quick read but one to come back to.

Included in this book is the Queen's coronation dress which I actually went to see at Buckingham Palace where it was on exhibition this summer. Such a shame that the silk is no longer white. Nevertheless, an AMAZINGLY beautiful dress that showcases superb craft skills as well as impeccable design by Norman Hartnell. In fact, never explicitly mentioned or named - it's the tailors and seamstresses who bring these design visions into creation.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that presents, as the title says, the dresses whose impact was so great that they changed fashion. The formula is simple, each dress is presented in a full page photograph. On the facing page is a short essay on the history of the dress, construction techniques and why it was so revolutionary. There is also usually a smaller picture of the dress right beside the text.

The only issue I had with this book was that they frequently used a modern "re-interpretation" of the dress for the large picture. I would have preferred this be a picture of the dress when it was first introduced. Still, this is a wonderful short history of western fashion for the armchair fashionista.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of the fifty dresses gets a two page spread; a photograph on one page, a blurb on the other. The descriptions discuss the impact that the design had upon both the world of fashion and the designer's career. In some cases, the author attempts to reveal the inspiration for the dress, which I found rather interesting. The dresses are presented in chronological order, beginning in 1915 and ending in 2007. Common themes include: following traditional roles, breaking tradition, the use of innovative materials, practicality, and of course, the wow factor.
My faves? The Chanel suit, the wrap dress, the ghost dress, and the tea dress.

[Carole Prior · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the RESPECT and LOVE for GREAT DESIGN that is revealed by the off beat look at how dressed could influence and actually change how a woman dresses. It is truly a fascinating look at social values and reactions to sometimes world wide events, such as Wallis Simpson's wedding dress or Jackie Kennedy's look. It reminds me of how quickly Kate Middleton's wedding dress was copied, designed and constructed within a day of the big wedding. Truly an interesting read for anyone who designs or who loves the impact that something as relatively simple as a dress, can have on society.

[Relyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a bummer! I was intrigued when I came across this series of design books. I should have known. Any book with a mustard yelllowy-green cover and I are NOT going to get along. I was wanting eye candy and I got a lecture. I think maybe if you actually were a fashion designer, this might be great. But, for the average beauty lover - this book was a bummer.

[Jaimie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a few other books about influential dresses, so a lot of the material covered here was not new. All the basics were covered from Chanel's flapper dress to YSL's Mondia-inspired art piece and beyond, but the presentation lacked the glamour and sophistication of other sources.