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3rd out of 80 books
—
8 voters
100 Dresses: The Costume Institute / The Metropolitan Museum of Art
by
Harold Koda
What woman can resist imagining herself in a beautiful designer dress?Here, for the first time ever, are 100 fabulous gowns from the permanent collection of the renowned Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, each of which is a reminder of the ways fashion reflectsthe broader culture that created it.
Featuring designs by Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel, Madame Grès,...more
Featuring designs by Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel, Madame Grès,...more
Paperback, 232 pages
Published
November 1st 2010
by Yale University Press
(first published October 26th 2010)
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There is subliminal magic built into the fabric of a luxurious dress. It has a way of oozing romance, elegance, and the possibility of something extraordinary occurring on an otherwise simple evening. A dress can also speak its own language and, as 100 Dresses shows, the tongues are endless. A white lace gown, like the 1901 dress worn by Manhattan aristocrat Winifred Sprague Walker Prosser, brings to mind a traditional white wedding. In Winifred’s time however, the high-necked, mutton sleeved be...more
This book was incredable! It showed me several differant dress styles. Because of this book, I learned a great amount about the history of vintage clothing. The pictures are wonderful:you can see every unique detail on the dresses. Covering the history of the dresses, this books also gives the account of the designers as well.In short, I believe every historian should read this book because it gives more than what is expected.
100 Dresses provided a bird's eye view of fashion development for the last two-three centuries. The dresses in question are creme de la creme of the Costume Institute's vast collection, the pieces that best represent their respective time periods and designers.
In addition to striking designs, fabrics, and workmanship, one can trace some of the old-fashioned elements that survived through centuries of sartorial development and are still prominent in the work of today's designers.
In addition to striking designs, fabrics, and workmanship, one can trace some of the old-fashioned elements that survived through centuries of sartorial development and are still prominent in the work of today's designers.
Well, I could kick myself. I've been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art but missed seeing the dress collection represented in this great 2009 book. From the 17th century to 2006, each photo and one page description is glorious. Tidbits about the styles, stitching, designers, owners...all give a layer of history that helps you understand why each dress was chosen out of a collection of 35,000 costumes and accessories from 5 continents. It's historical fashion eye candy and would make a great book...more
A beautiful collection of dresses displayed at their best, and short (but informative) texts on them. (Perhaps it would have been nice to have a somewhat wider selection of 20th century designers than was presented in the book - Christian Dior was important, of course, but 12 of the dresses of these 100 were made by him or House of Dior in this collection. It could have been nice to give some space to perhaps names slightly less well known just to give a bit more width to the collection here pre...more
This book is pictures and descriptions of 100 dresses at The Met Museum. I loved looking at the photos and reading about why the dresses are important to history and fashion. After reading, Laura, Ian, and I all chose our top 10 dresses. We also chose our ultimate favorite dress. I was surprised at how different our choices were and for what reasons.
What a fascinating collection of historic gowns documented and put into a put spanning from the 16th Century to modern times. I love the details, the history, and the way it shows how fashion changed.
I have always like the design aspect of fashion. These dresses embody the best of design in "fashion." Plus its a great way to get little girls to count to 100.
This is a very cool book! My favorite of the 100 dresses by far was the Charles Frederick Worth dress from the turn of the last century. It's simply amazing as are a lot of the dresses I've seen from The House of Worth. There was also a quote that I really liked from Valentina, "Simplicity survives the changes of fashion...Fit the century, forget the year." 100 Dresses is a wonderful book and there is a perfect balance between captions/descriptions and photographs. I highly recommend it to anyon...more
Absolutely dreamy dresses that got me and my daughter through another cold winter's day...
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Can I say how much I love fashion books!? This one was so much fun, loved the pictures.
Fabulous, gorgeous pictures of dresses through the decades. A must-read for fashionistas, costumers and anyone who loves beautiful design.
The dresses in this book! Oh. My.Goodness. So cool.
Interesting, quick read. The book features 100 dresses, each in a 2 page spread. One page is the photo of the dress. The other page contains a short description/background and sometimes a related photo or piece of art.
The textiles span from the 1700s to the present. The designers appear to be (at a quick glance) English, British, French, Italian, and Japanese.
Most of the dresses are evening/formal wear. There are some more casual dresses.
It's a look at beautiful fabrics, incredible detailing, a...more
The textiles span from the 1700s to the present. The designers appear to be (at a quick glance) English, British, French, Italian, and Japanese.
Most of the dresses are evening/formal wear. There are some more casual dresses.
It's a look at beautiful fabrics, incredible detailing, a...more
May 09, 2011
Mirian
marked it as to-read
For Mickey Sue...
Droooooooool
Sep 27, 2010
Rebecca Huston
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
18th-century,
19th-century,
20th-century,
21st-century,
america,
england,
france,
keepers,
non-fiction,
clothing
Amazing photographs, lovely gowns, mostly modern, but some of the pre-1920 dresses are gorgeous. The colours are beautiful, each gown very unique -- and the green gown from the 1700's made my jaw drop from the sheer intensity of it. This is one that clothing junkies will love, all presented by the current curator of the Costume Institute of the Met, Harold Koda.
100 dresses from the late-1700s to the 2000s, with heavy emphasis on France, USA, and England. (Although Italy and Japan start to sneak in a bit at the end.)
Beautiful photographs, which allow for a great view of the detail.
I'll admit that my interest was at its peak for the earliest dresses presented, and waned the further we got into—and spent more time on—the late 1900s.
Beautiful photographs, which allow for a great view of the detail.
I'll admit that my interest was at its peak for the earliest dresses presented, and waned the further we got into—and spent more time on—the late 1900s.
May 18, 2013
Sumedha Mishra
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Sandra.ssudheeshgmail.com
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Tyra Barker
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May 15, 2013
Ghazaleh Khorraminiya
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May 14, 2013
Nasrin Mohamed
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May 14, 2013
Dorami Chan
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May 13, 2013
Jes
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May 13, 2013
Nneka Scruggs
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May 11, 2013
Megan
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