Planet Fashion: 100 years of fashion history

by Natasha Slee, cynthia kittler (Illustrations)

Hold onto your hats and lace up your boots; we’re off on a fashion adventure! Travel through 25 scenes in fashion history, circling the globe with your two young stylish travel companions—one boy and one girl, dressed the part in every picture. Each lavishly illustrated scene captures the mood and style of a unique time and place, accompanied by a trove of fashion history facts.
 
Your journey begins over one hundred years ago, twirling around the ballroom in gowns and tailcoats. Travel on to dress up in Oriental silks to see a performance of the Ballet Russes, shimmy down in the flapper fashion of the Harlem Renaissance, fling your feather boa as you schmooze with movies stars on the Hollywood red carpet, and glue your hair into spikes as a London punk in this celebration of fashion and culture .
 
Each vibrant, style-defining setting shows an array of characters showing off the distinguishing fashions of the time . Captions point out key fashion features, accessories, and cultural influences —like the cycling bloomers of the active and career-driven New Woman at the start of the twentieth century, the morale-boosting felt hats worn during the Second World War, and the plastic sunglasses inspired by space goggles from the Space Race era. Fact boxes give the time, place, key designers, and trends in silhouettes, hemlines, and sleeves for each fashion scene.
 
Use the timelines at the back to see how historical events intersect with the evolution of fashion. One timeline summarizes the formative events of the twentieth century and three others highlight trends in shoes, hats, and bags . A Can You Find? page gives you motivation to study the scenes even more closely. Can you find a waiter dropping his tray of coffee on the streets of Paris? And a pair of roller skates at the dazzling disco jam?
 
From Bollywood to Hollwood, suburban Canada to the French Riviera—embark on a voyage of discovery. A century of inspiring style awaits…

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion, History, Childrens, Picture Books, Historical, Middle Grade

64 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2019

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Planet Fashion is a fascinating journey in fashion history, both elegant and informative at the same time.
We get a glimpse into distinctive fashion characteristics (silhouettes, hemlines, sleeves), key designer figures, accessories and cultural set-up at different points in time and place. I loved the international aspect of this book- scenes from China, Vietnam, Australia, West Germany, Japan, South Africa…
The illustrations are gorgeous and drawn in a fashion designer style that budding fashion connoseurs will definitely find inspiring.
There is an interactive element- in all 25 scenes there are 2 recurring characters, our journey guides, a boy and a girl. At the end of the book there are also addtitional ‘spot in the picture’ activities. I also loved the timelines which really brought it home how silhouettes, shoes and bags have changed over the 100 years of fashion history covered in this beautiful book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group Wide Eyed Editions for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Planet Fashion: 100 years of fashion history" by Natasha Slee is an adorable little book about the history of fashion all around the world and how it has changed throughout the years.
It totally drew my attention and I found it very interesting. The illustrations are really beautiful, colorful and enhance the detailed text. All the clothes are detailed drawn and explained. The font here used isn't a typical one, but I appreciated this choice because it is an elegant and particular writing style. It's a new and funny way to learn about the history of the clothes we use today.
I strongly recommend this book to all children and even to adults: it's a captivating time travel through an amazing kind of topic.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very impressive picture depiction of fashion over the past 100 year. And not just fashion in the West, such as the US and Canada, but throughout the world. We get images from India, Shanghai and Vietnam as well as the UK (several times) and the US (several times).



Each spread talks about the shape of the clothes, and the how and why of each situation that made it distinct and special. The little facts about each section bring home the issue of the whys and wherefores of how the dress was done.

Highly recommend it. Easy enough to access, and wonderful information.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, YES! So many fashion and costume books focus on Western history - but this one includes Bollywood style, the evolution of the ao dai in Vietnam and zhongshan suit in China, and even the flash-in-the-pan skhothane scene in urban South Africa.

Great illustrations and lots of captions make this oversize item something to sink into - although the italic display typeface used for the body text will be hard to read for some kids.

[Candice Forte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this book to use as an overview of fashion through time for my children as we homeschool. I received an eARC copy from the publisher that in no way affects my review.
The book is very colorful. It is almost too colorful for me. Some people like color and I get that. I do, but in a different style. It is very busy! If you want a lot to look at you will enjoy this book. The artistic style did not appeal to me. I cannot really describe it well, but will try. Caricatures meet Picasso? It was just very abstract to me. If I want something depicting history of fashion I struggle if the clothing is only a caricature of what it actually was.
The content dates are late 1800s to present and quite a few are American. I did like that at the end there was a timeline and drawings of shoes only. Those were neat touches!

[January Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very informative and laid out very well. One of my sons wants to follow my footsteps and design clothing, so we read this together and we both learned quite a bit actually.

[Priyanka Konagondala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and what not to like about fashion and illustrations!
Its a burst of colors and the book makes for such a happy gift for anyone who looks fashion n art. Got it for a good deal at a local store.. what a gem of a find

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at fashion trends and the cultural elements that prompted them. Large format allows lots of room for the dynamic scenes on each two-page spread. One of the things I loved most was the inclusion of fashion trends around the world, including Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, China, Japan and others. Bright colors and terrific illustrations make this as eye-catching as the subject.

This was so much fun and I read it slowly over a week or so and I really enjoyed spending time pouring over all the details of each busy scene. Lots of history here and so much fashion to absorb and smile over. There's some wonderful back matter here too including a timeline and a terrific visual chart depicting the ups and downs of hemline lengths over the ages. There is even a sort of search game included directing readers to locate a small element hidden on each page.

The history spans the late 1890's to 2009 or so. I would have loved a list of recommended reading.

I should note that I am writing this review clad in the Covid 19 work-from-home style of pajamas and fuzzy socks ;-)

[Andreea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fun little book for kids, however it does treat the subject in a childish way and I think kids are smarter than that and if they have an interest for fashion, then this book is a nice start but not enough.

The information and representation is only a small complaint. The big one is... the font of the text and how hard it was to read! It is pretty hard to get over that - and the dry information did not make it better to read.

But the illustrations are a lot of fun.

[Debra Schoenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

I have been studying fashion for so many years and wish I had this book when I was younger.

What I really enjoyed was the way the author presented fashion not only in chronological order but also geographically. Her depiction of international fashion was also fascinating.

The descriptions were informative and fun and I loved the wonderful illustrations with a bit of whimsy thrown in.

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know a lot about fashion but I regularly re-watch Project Runway and Making the Cut. Does that count? I had this on hold at the library so I had no idea what I was getting until I picked it up. It was a great surprise that this book is a large format illustrated book full of captions and bold graphics. I spent a morning reading through every bit! I loved that other cultures besides the Western perspective were represented, though I wish there was more — nothing from South America, for instance. (Also, why are there no page numbers?) I enjoyed the seek and find element of the story, too. Younger folks will enjoy this book, and I did, too, as a new senior citizen!

[Beth Kakuma-Depew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fun take on the history of fashion. i love how they integrated historic trends into the conversation - like how cycling changed fashion. This would make a great gift book, but might be too light for school assignments.

[Penny lurkykitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, informative and colorful overview of fashion over the last century. Multiple countries are represented. Great for kids interested in fashion or those who just like learning something new via a big fun book.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

From an illustration-only perspective, it felt like every cult classic look was adequately represented, from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to "Kazaam" with Shaq, so I'm pleased with the variety. Will update once I slog through the zillion captions. Love that there's a bit of a scavenger hunt at the end.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good look at fashion trends over the past 100 years. Primarily US & European fashions are featured but a few interesting styles from other locations are also shown.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. The pages are very dense with the illustrations and text mixed together over 2-page spreads.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

a cute little book. not very long, nor overly detailed but good for an overview of the last 100 years

[SA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely excellent; I was riveted to every page. I'm sure I spend at least ten or fifteen minutes on each double-spread illustration. Fantastic.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but unfortunately the illustration stylr don't show the different fashions as all that different from one another, lending a flatbed to the historical ebb and flow of fashion.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good visual guide to fashion through the ages.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you know a child who is interested in fashion? Maybe you know a child who has watched Project Runway with you. Maybe you just want to let a child know that the world is full of interesting things to learn. For any of these kids, Planet Fashion is a fun resource.

The book covers 100 years of fashion history in detailed, bright, appealing two page spreads. The book starts in 1890. Just a few of the places to visit include Paris, Harlem, London, Mexico, China and India. For each fashion described there are facts listed by the figures. There is also for each two page fashion look, a section including When, Where, Key Designers, Silhouette, Hemline and Sleeves.

At the back of the book, there are additional pictures of accessories including hats and bags. There is also a section with objects to look for. All in all, the whole package is amusing yet informative.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this tour of fashion. I truly enjoyed it. All opinions are my own.

[Ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-illustrated and researched book for young people on the art of fashion and design that is incredibly ambitious in that it not only covers fashion across the ages, it also explores what was happening during these periods in different parts of the world. It explores trends in England, China, Japan, Australia, Mexico City, the USA, to name but a few!

I also felt I leaned new things - for example, that in the mid 1920s, because of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, patterns were then seen on dresses that contained hieroglyphics.

The selected font in the book was sometimes a little much for me as it became distracting. I did love the illustrations though and the notes of interest that were spread across each of the pages. That the author is a fashion and lifestyle journalist is evident and gives great depth to this short book.

I would recommend this for someone who has just embarked on a journey of fashion discovery!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing and Natasha Slee for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathleen Guinnane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book fills a gap in my library about fashion. The pages are bright and inviting, although possibly a bit overstimulating. There is a lot going on in each scene and if you don't look carefully you might miss something. The main font was a little difficult to read on a computer, but hopefully that won't be the case in the printed book. The captions around the page describing outfits and events of the time period and place were entertaining and informative. I recommend this book for middle grade readers who are curious about fashion.

[Jessica (Spooky KidLit & We Who Walk Here, Walk Alone) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations, a wealth of information, and a diverse range of cultures and locales make this a fashion title to recommend. Unfortunately, the font choice made reading very difficult for me. I'd be very interested in purchasing this title if they could adjust the fonts in a new edition to make the text more legible.

My thanks to Wide Eyed Editions and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[J. d'Merricksson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Planet Fashion by Natasha Slee is a delightful history book for young readers. Over a century of fashions trends are presented via twenty-five different scenes packed with fashion factoids. My cubs and I read this together, and we all mostly enjoyed it. The facts did feel disjointed- random decadal-oriented collections, scattered over cluttered scenes. I did like that different parts of the world were explored. Recommended for kids interested in fashion history.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.