What People Wore

"This book was conceived, designed and produced by Ivy Press ... East Sussex"--T.p. verso.

Uses 1,800 chronologically arranged line drawings to illustrate the types of clothing worn from ancient times to the early twentieth century.

Filled with images selected from the personal photo albums of the British public, What We Wore provides a visual timeline of UK fashion since the 1950s. In What We Wore, crowdsourced family and amateur photos come together to create a makeshift style history of Britain. Taking readers into homes, onto city streets, into shops, and out to nightclubs and holiday spots, this book features a combination of original images and intriguing personal anecdotes that document changes in British fashion and style. The book encompasses the worlds of Mods, punks, ravers, grime kids, and everything in between, with photos submitted by everyday British people as well as celebrities, including Tracey Emin, Jeremy Deller, Jazzie B., DJ Harvey, and Don Letts. From black-and-white photos taken with Rolleiflex cameras and Polaroid party shots, to 35mm film and "selfies," these images and words combine to create a collective family album that feels both private and public, satisfying our yearning for nostalgia as well as our voyeuristic tendencies. Most importantly, this book records and explains British fashion trends and gives the reader a rare insider's glimpse into youth tribes and subcultures from the past 60 years.

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it is made of—an unparalleled deep-dive into how everyday garments have transformed our lives, our societies, and our planet. “We learn that, if we were a bit more curious about our clothes, they would offer us rich, interesting and often surprising insights into human history...a deep and sustained inquiry into the origins of what we wear, and what we have worn for the past 500 years." —The Washington Post In this panoramic social history, Sofi Thanhauser brilliantly tells five stories—Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool—about the clothes we wear and where they come from, illuminating our world in unexpected ways. She takes us from the opulent court of Louis XIV to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We see how textiles were once dyed with lichen, shells, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast-fashion brands. Thanhauser makes clear how the clothing industry has become one of the planet’s worst polluters and how it relies on chronically underpaid and exploited laborers. But she also shows us how micro-communities, textile companies, and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear. Drawn from years of intensive research and reporting from around the world, and brimming with fascinating stories, Worn reveals to us that our clothing comes not just from the countries listed on the tags or ready-made from our factories. It comes, as well, from deep in our histories.

Examines the history, manufacture, and care of American clothing from colonial times to the 1970s and discusses its relationship to the social milieu.

A narrative chronicle of fashion through the ages describes the outrageous, politically perilous, and life-threatening creations people have worn in different historical eras, from spats and togas to hoop skirts and hair shirts.

Tracing the evolution of fashion-from the early draped fabrics of ancient times to the catwalk couture of today, Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style is a stunningly illustrated guide to more than three thousand years of shifting trends and innovative developments in the world of clothing. With a wealth of breathtaking spreads-from ancient Egyptian dress to Space Age Fashion and Grunge-and information on icons like Marie Antoinette, Clara Bow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Alexander McQueen, Fashion will captivate anyone interested in style-whether it's the fashion-mad teen in Tokyo, the wannabe designer in college, or the fashionista intrigued by the violent origins of the stiletto and the birth of bling.