Fashion Through the Ages: An Encyclopaedia: Silhouettes, textiles, and terminology from 1500–today—an illustrated reference guide Kindle Edition

Fashion Through the Ages: Silhouettes, textiles and terminology from 1500–todayFashion Through the Ages is a lavishly illustrated reference book that traces the evolution of clothing from the courts of Renaissance Europe to the social‑media‑driven styles of the 2020s. Across more than four hundred pages, readers travel through time, exploring how silhouettes, fabrics and cultural values shaped the garments people wore. Drawing on primary sources such as portraits, surviving garments and period texts, the book explains why Spanish farthingales created enormous conical skirts in the 1500s, how Medici collars replaced ruffs and stays moulded the long‑waisted silhouette of the 17th century, why cage crinolines and pagoda sleeves were essential to the flamboyant mid‑19th century, and how the high‑waisted empire gown emerged from Revolutionary France. Moving into the modern era, it charts the rise of flapper simplicity in the 1920s, the New Look’s nipped‑in waist and full skirt in the 1950s, the casualisation of the 1960s and 1970s, and the power‑dressing excesses of the 1980s. It finishes with the digital age, from minimalism and grunge in the 1990s to athleisure and maximalist micro‑trends of the 2010s and 2020s.Packed with annotated illustrations, historical context and a comprehensive glossary, this encyclopaedia is an essential resource for designers, students and anyone fascinated by the ever‑changing language of fashion. Read more