Booklist
If clothes, as they say, make the man (and now, of course, the woman), then knowledge about garments makes an individual understand the past in relation to human nature. Colonial Williamsburg curator and author (Eighteenth Century Clothing at Williamsburg, 1986), Baumgarten explores via the museum's collection the process of becoming a connoisseur of antique frocks, fabrics, mythos and meanings, life passages, alterations, and common dress. Everything's explained against a visual panoply of period paintings, artifacts, and clothing, executed in slow, sometimes meandering prose. Along the way, tidbits and informational sidebars stand out. Such as in the 1700s, when male wigs were in fashion, while at home, men removed them in favor of soft caps. Another interesting fact is that frontier legend Davy Crockett usually wore normal clothing, donning a hunting shirt only to appeal to his rural Tennessee voters. And George Washington was, in truth, taller than his forty-second successor, George W. Bush. Intended for fashion fans with enough time to wade through and reorganize fashion facts. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Library Journal
Beautifully produced...Well-written, well-priced,...full of pertinent details...[F]or both scholars and casual readers...[R]ecommended for all libraries.
--Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
