The Complete History of Costume & Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day

by Bronwyn Cosgrave

Provides a comprehensive history of fashion including examples of costumes from the ancient Egyptian period, the middle ages, early Renaissance, and the 16th through 20th centuries.

Genres: Fashion, History, Nonfiction, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2000

Reviews

[Elizabeth Aguilar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to describe how to feel about this book. It taught me a few things but the presentation of the information was odd and seemed to distract from what I could have taken away.

The transitions between topics within a chapter were awkward at times. It tried to both give an overview and nail down some very specific details but the execution seemed unfocused. The image captions were sometimes repetitions of the relevant text. The images chosen to go on the page didn't necessarily correlate with the most significant text and I found myself wondering why certain images or paintings were chosen over others.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you have a genuine interest in the history of costume and fashion, skip this book. It is a waste of your time. This book has no business calling itself a complete history of anything. I would suggest a Survey of Historic Costume written by Phyllis Tortora and Keith Eubank instead. They are actual historians and educators, while Bronwyn Cosgrave is not. She is a journalist and a pretty poor one considering she should have done her own research instead of relying on her friend Isabelle Marie Creac'h to gather the material for the second half of the book (which I assume begins at the Byzantine Period, where out of nowhere there is actual history written). The first 80 pages (up until the Byzantine Period) is pretty much just Cosgrave describing what she saw on some statue or fresco in a museum (with little to no visuals provided for the reader on what she describes). She gives little to no explanation why changes in dress occurred within or between periods and it quickly becomes clear she is not going to get too involved in the subject matter. Her writing tone is condescending and I often found myself cringing at her arrogance towards ancient cultures she clearly has no real knowledge on. Within each section she jumps around so much there is no direct chronological order to what she is referring to. I spent most of my time trying to figure out where she was in a timeline and I only finished the book so I could write this review. If you are looking to use this book to teach a class or learn anything of substance, DO NOT USE THIS BOOK. If you are looking for something to sit on your bookshelf or coffee table in which to impress your friends and will never actually open or read, then by all means this book will serve that purpose.

[Meg Powers · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the laziest books on fashion history I have ever read-barely any pictures, huge text, an inappropriately conversational style, and incorrect information. DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS!

[Mina Wagner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't believe a word she says without confirming it elsewhere!
She had a photo researcher find images for her; she wrote the book in 8 months.
She gives no provenance for the images beyond the internet resource -- she does not mention (does not know?) that some of them are modern (early 20th century) illustrations, and some are reconstructions of archaeologists' finds, from very few pieces. Does not separate those from actual period images. And she mis-identifies one iconic image, the most famous and unique of the culture. [Those examples all from the "Minoan" section.]
However, it is an interesting collection of images. If you look everything up elsewhere.
If you find it cheap.

[LadyS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not think the creators of the book did justice to fashion in the 20th century..it was very gloss-over compared to information provided from other eras.

[Cheyanne Rash · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my textbook for the fashion and costume class. Overall I liked the book! Learned a lot of history even outside of fashion. Loved how it related to fashion though. My only wish was that there was more on the 19th and 20th century sections on fashion style. I was really looking forward to reading about the styles of the 1900’s since those are my favorite decades, but there was pretty much no information on those decade’s styles just history on the designers.

[Karly TyGr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a college textbook for me in my Fashion Marketing program, but I kept it and it is not one of my coffee table staples. I love the rich history and beautiful photos, with intriguing writing about each era that shaped fashion.

[Ryan Carignan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was NOT worth the money I spent on it. It is poorly researched, the images are not very good and the overall layout is a disappointment. My suggestion? Toss this useless volume aside and read THE BOOK OF COSTUME by Millia Davenport instead. God bless and have a great day!

[Magdolna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing

[olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great great book...I'm using a lot of examples from this for my EE.

[Mazzou B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Many pages need to be doctored up for the more conservative viewer, but still worth reading!