There are discrepencies of terminology in comparison to other texts. This is especially true in his descriptions of Byzantine court costume; Laver uses some Greek terms as opposed to the Latin terms used by most other historians. Laver also has an ethnocentric bias and gives much information from an English point of view. As with Contini's "Fashion: A Social History" and Batterberry's "Fashion: The Mirror of History" (both sadly out of print), Laver's prose and scholarship are a little dated, and he predates political correctness. But the history of clothing is heavily tied to religion and superstitions, public morals and sexuality, gender and social hierarchy. To tell a politcally correct history of clothing is to apply a bias as skewed as the biases it would seek to rectify.

This is a highly readable and succinct account of its subject and is strongly recommended. Given that the wonderful Contini and Batterberry books are not available, Laver's very accesible text is an excellent introduction for the beginning costume historian.


A basic intro to fashion and costumes   November 10, 2003
 14 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book is aptly titled. It gives just a little bit about everything from ancient Egyptian styles to fashion in the 1990s. Those of you looking for photos and descriptions with great attention to detail should look elsewhere, but those of you looking for just an overview of fashion, this would be a good introduction.

The author discusses the rise and fall of fashion trends through the ages, and how society, industry, and particular people influenced them. The text in this book seems as informative, as it is concise. However, other reviewers seem to think that the author's information about pre-20th century costumes is inconsistent with other sources, but the post-20th century information is consistent with what I have learned from other sources.

Therefore, I recommend this book with some hesitation. If you want a good overview of fashion history, especially a pictoral history, I would recommend this book. On the other hand, if you are looking to learn more about a particular era, especially ancient costumes, I would recommend choosing a book specifically written about that era.


An overview of Western to Northern European dress   February 26, 1999
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This book is filled with pictures. The problems I've found with it are (1) it does not seem consistant in its terms with other historical costume history books so it is difficult to compare with other sources. (2) The writer tends to make sweeping statements that are true only for England, such as saying that hose weren't knitted until the 16th century because knitting didn't reach England until than. (3) Other statements are very frustrating since the author will state that so and so was dressed in a Persian or Arabic style and then does not describe that style at all. On the good side the pictures are helpful and some of the statements agree with other souces.


Great introductory read.   March 14, 2001
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

An easy read. Covers from 2900 B.C. to the 1990's with a particular emphasis on the 1800's. James Laver's writing style is wonderful, describing not only the clothing but the historical and social context for each style of dress. The fashions of each period are illustrated by a variety of historical evidence, including statutes, famous works of art, fashion drawings, diaries, cartoons and photographs. The book is not an in-depth study of each period but rather a very brief overview. The last chapter covering from 1940 to the 1990's was writen by Amy de la Haye and is markedly different in writing style. She does not discuss the social and historical context to the extent that Laver does but rather gives an overview of the major designers of each decade and their respective styles. As there is a lot to discuss in the last 50 years of fashion, I wish that this book had dedicated more than 31 pages to modern fashion.


Fab Pictures....   August 8, 2000
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is a nice *SMALL* (which is important when you are carrying it back and forth to class) book that is FULL of pictures. Don't by this book if you are looking for detailed explanations of the costumes...go to Boucher if you are looking for that... But if you want a good colour pictoral quick reference, this is the one to buy.

I love it and use it all the time. It is cracked open to the picture of Rubens and Isabella Brant!