The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500-1914 The National Trust ( 20 June, 1996 ) Book Our Price : £ 20.99 List Price : £ 29.99 You save £9 (30% off) Prices subject to change. usually dispatched within 24 hours.

A feast of interesting facts

If you were only allowed one book on fashion, youd never find a better book than this. It covers fashion from 1500 to 1914 (I wish it went further) but as well as historical detail which is superb, it has analysis and gives snapshots of the day; the author has delved into some sort of treasure box to bring us quotes from letters and periodicals of the day so theres a reality to it too. You really get a sense of what it was like to wear those clothes. There are lots of pictures too, of illustrations and portraits. I have a lot of fashion books but none comes close to this one for original research and authoritative detail.

A masterpiece

This book is just a masterpiece. The amount of research that has gone into it is astounding, but that doesnt make it dull. Ashelford has somehow managed to find letters and articles, sometimes from hundreds of years, ago to bring the past to life and make us realise that we were just as obsessed with clothes then, as we are now. If you are or know a fashion scholar, buy this book. It will be constantly referred to.