Fashion Sourcebooks the 1940s

by John Peacock

Fashion Sourcebooks is a series of beautifully illustrated paperbacks presenting the costume drawings of John Peacock. The series charts the development of women's and men's clothing from 1900 onwards, with a volume devoted to the fashions of each decade. Fashion of the 1940s divides into two pre-New Look and post-New Look. The first period was dominated by the Second World War, when rationing and shortages affected the design of clothes. Women's garments had a somewhat military, functional appearance, with wide shoulders, straight below-the-knee skirts, and a minimum of decoration. In 1947 Christian Dior's New Look brought a romantic Narrow, rounded shoulders, lightly padded hips, and voluminous, billowing skirts introduced a new era of femininity and extravagance.

Genres: Fashion, History

Paperback

Published December 30, 1999

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the illustrations of the shoes but the drawings of the clothes felt a bit off despite really nailing some of the design line details from the period. Perhaps a bit of 1990s influence in the way things were presented? The addition of color would have really helped out as well.

[Skie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good references.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series of books. While at first glance they seem to be lacking text, hiding at the back of the books are thorough descriptions of each piece including fabrics, colors, general descriptions, and suggestions of occasions or events that they would have been worn for.
Biographies of the designers for each piece are also included in a separate section.
While it makes sense to separate the bios from the bulk of the book, I think that using captions might have been a more efficient way to give the specifics of each piece. Some reviewers complained about the lack of color in the illustrations, but I felt like that left room for your own creativity, and since the color schemes are divulged in the notes, the history is still there.

[Ara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely overview of year-by-year fashion pieces of the 1940s. Only I wish the drawings were in color and provided more detail. A fairly good reference piece, though.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book with very clean illustrations of what women and men wore during the 1940's.