“Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style” – A Book from DK Publishing

Today I would like to write about a very special book that I have had the pleasure to read through, Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style.

Photo credit: Courtesy of DK.com

It’s an elaborate guide of the history of fashion and style spanning more than three thousand years of shifting trends and innovative developments in the world of clothing, since the ancient times up until the modern days. The book is published by DK Publishing, a global publisher with offices around the world in cities like Toronto, New York, London, Munich, Melbourne, Delhi.

My first encounter with DK Publishing Toronto was about 4 years ago when I met them at a TIFF-related media event, Bask-It-Style, in September 2012. DK Publishing is a frequent (if not constant) participant at the annual Bask-It-Style event, that usually takes place in Toronto one day before Toronto International Film Festival starts. Since Bask-It-Style’s mandate is celebrity gifting during TIFF, DK Publishing is one of the sponsors at the event, contributing books to the gift bag addressed to celebrities and media that attend TIFF and TIFF related events. I met DK Publishing representatives at every year’s Bask-It-Style event ever since, including this year, at a glamorous media event hosted by Thompson Hotel in Toronto this September.

I became aware of this book a few years ago, at one of the Bask-It-Style events that I have attended in the past. When I saw it and browsed through it a little bit at that media event, while talking to DK Publishing representatives participating at the event, I instantly knew that I wanted to have it, and now I am its happy owner. It’s a wonderful coffee table book to have in one’s personal library, especially if one is very passionate about fashion and its history, like myself. The authors of this book are a group or fashion writers and consultants that come from different segments of the fashion industry and the art world, like editors with fashion magazines, authors of fashion publications, bloggers, museum curators.

The book talks about the evolution of fashion starting with the ancient times from before Egypt up until nowadays. It is structured in 10 comprehensive chapters, addressing each of relevant fashion eras.

Chapter 1, Prehistory to 600 CE: The ancient world;
Chapter 2, 600 to 1449: Medieval romance and trade;
Chapter 3, 1450 to 1624: Renaissance splendor;
Chapter 4, 1625 to 1789: Baroque and Rococo;
Chapter 5, 1790 to 1900: From revolution to frivolity;
Chapter 6, 1901 to 1928, La belle epoque and the jazz age;
Chapter 7, 1929 to 1946, From glamour to utility;
Chapter 8, 1947 to 1963, Optimism and youth;
Chapter 9: 1964 to 1979, Swinging sixties to glam rock;
Chapter 10, 1980 onward, The designer decades.

Each chapter describes the history and evolution of fashion, style, trends, textiles of that era, with rich photographic examples and detailed descriptions. Some of my favorite topics in the book have been the accounts about Nefertiti, the queen of the Ancient Egypt; Elizabeth the First, the queen of England during Renaissance times; Marie Antoinette, the queen of France during the 18th century; Coco Chanel; Elsa Schiaparelli; the austere and utility fashion of the ‘30s and ‘40s, caused by the crash and the war; Christian Dior; boho chic and vintage; street style. It’s a book that fashion enthusiasts can learn a lot from about how fashion evolved since the dawn of the civilization and where fashion is today, in the 21st century.

The book is available at Amazon and Chapters Indigo.