A Pictorial tour of women’s fashions in history

There’s nothing better than historic reference for graphic design, illustration and art inspiration and idea sourcing. These books are inexpensive, but offer a huge opportunity to explore. Besides, I’ve included a pile of free sample files to get you started!

As we wrap up this year’s “Women’s History Month”, we wanted to continue our tour of fashion — some of the world’s most beloved fashion designers are women! So we pulled from the Design-bookshelf’s playbook and opened these books about fashion through time, around the world Enjoy!

A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938: From the Depression to the War
Shoes, Hats and Fashion Accessories: A Pictorial Archive, 1850-1940
20th-Century Fashion Illustration: The Feminine Ideal
Fashion in Underwear: from Babylon to Bikini Briefs
Classic French Fashions of the Twenties
Historic Fashion from Around the World
Art Deco Fashions CD-ROM and Book
Erté’s Theatrical Costumes

These books are must-own for anyone interested in fashion and costume! They offer exactly what their titles suggest — decades of fashions, portrayed in beautiful illustrations from contemporary catalogues. A joy to read and savor — not to mention a true resource for illustrators, graphic designers, fabric designers and even fashion designers!

A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938: From the Depression to the Brink of War Paperback

In addition to a world-wide depression and the rise of Fascism throughout Europe, the years between 1929 and 1938 witnessed dramatic changes in women’s fashion. With the turning of the decade, the free and easy fashions of the Roaring Twenties shifted to a softer, more conservative look, with an emphasis on curves rather than angles. Hemlines plummeted almost overnight and did not begin to rise until mid-decade.
Full story : A Decade of French Fashion: by Mary Carolyn Waldrep

Shoes, Hats and Fashion Accessories: A Pictorial Archive, 1850-1940

This book presents more than 2,000 illustrations of shoes, hats, and fashion accessories reproduced directly from now rare periodicals and catalogs from the 1850s to 1940. It comprises an invaluable pictorial survey for the fashion historian, designer, and enthusiast, as well as a practical source of illustrations for permission-free use by artists and craftspeople. The sources of these illustrations include major American, British, and European fashion periodicals of the time.
Full story : Shoes, Hats and Fashion Accessories by Carol Belanger Grafton

20th-Century Fashion Illustration: The Feminine Ideal

This fascinating retrospective chronicles the rise and development of modern fashion illustration from the early 1900s to the dawn of the twenty-first century. Its lively narration, illustrated by over seventy original works by fashion’s top illustrators, explores the social context of fashion illustration with feminine ideals that characterize each era. Professional fashion illustrator Rosemary Torre taught for three decades at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology.
Full story : 20th-Century Fashion Illustration: by Rosemary Torre and Harold Koda

Fashion in Underwear: from Babylon to Bikini Briefs

This revealing book documents the design and manufacture of intimate apparel from the ancient world through the twentieth century. From as far back as 3000 B.C., it traces the development of what women wore beneath their outer clothing, including hoops, stays, petticoats, corsets, brassieres, and other foundation garments.
Full story : Fashion in Underwear: by Elizabeth Ewing

Classic French Fashions of the Twenties

This fine reproduction of a 1929 French fashion catalog features styles for all occasions. More than 50 color illustrations showcase elegant dresses, gowns, and coats from the designers of an influential and internationally renowned studio. Designs include a promenade and party frocks of silk, lace, and taffeta, all in the era’s distinctive dropped-waist, knee-length mode, forming a panorama of fashions favored by flappers, society matrons, and other women of the 1920s.
Full story : Classic French Fashions of the Twenties by Atelier Bachwitz

Historic Fashion from Around the World

Reproduced directly from a rare nineteenth-century publication, these splendid engravings serve as a guide to more than four centuries of high fashion. Full-length portraits of impeccably dressed men and women reveal what the style-conscious were wearing from the late fifteenth century to the mid 1800s. A valuable sourcebook for commercial artists, designers, and crafters, this collection will also serve as a handy reference for students of fashion history.
Full story : Historic Fashion Electronic Clip Art by Pauquet Freres

Art Deco Fashions CD-ROM and Book

These superbly illustrated designs, selected from rare issues of La Vie Parisienne (one of the most prominent French fashion magazines of the 1920s), depict all the feminine charm, seductive chic, and elegant sophistication associated with the liberated woman of the early twentieth century. The CD hs 339 high-quality, permission-free illustrations!
Full story : Art Deco Fashions Book and Electronic Clip Art CD

Erté’s Theatrical Costumes

A fan-bearing slave girl, a worshipper of Horus, the wife of a Russian boyar, Ceres, a mermaid and a gypsy dancer — are among the 49 theatrical costumes that have been selected for this volume from the vast and widely praised output of the Russian-born, Paris-bred designer Erté (Romain de Tirtoff). Spanning the years 1911 to 1975, these extravagant, imaginative costumes — all done for specific actual productions
You’re going to love Erté’s Theatrical Costumes in Full Color

Enjoy these samples … click for full page versions!


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