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Fashion Evolution: The 250 looks that shaped modern fashion
Trace the evolution of fashion through the 250 looks that defined it.
From the Chanel suit to the Wonderbra, via Jackie Kennedy, Ziggy Stardust and Alexander McQueen, respected fashion journalist and editor Paula Reed explores each of the styles and visionaries that have defined the way we dress.
Spanning fifty years - from the 1950s to the 1990s - and accompanied by striking photographs throughout, Fashion Evolution is the definitive story of the style moments that changed the world.
From the Chanel suit to the Wonderbra, via Jackie Kennedy, Ziggy Stardust and Alexander McQueen, respected fashion journalist and editor Paula Reed explores each of the styles and visionaries that have defined the way we dress.
Spanning fifty years - from the 1950s to the 1990s - and accompanied by striking photographs throughout, Fashion Evolution is the definitive story of the style moments that changed the world.
- GenresFashionNonfictionHistory
528 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
5 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Paula Reed
21 books27 followersPAULA REED teaches The Scarlet Letter to her high school English students every year, and each year finds something more to love about Hawthorne’s novel. She lives in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 1, 2020
From the 1950s through the 1990s, this book touches on a lot of fashion statements and people. Grouped by decade and with photos and discussions organized chronologically, it covers: designers, models, photographers, fashionable people, shops, movies that touched on or influenced fashion. Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Princess Diana. Hardy Amies, Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Emilio Pucci, Gianni Versace, Alexander McQueen. Nylons, beatnik style, stilettoes, jeans, bell-bottoms, hot pants, clogs, platform shoes, Air Jordans. Cleopatra, Bonnie and Clyde, Blow-up, Pretty Woman, Annie Hall, Clueless. Fiona Campbell-Walter, Jean Shrimpton, Twiggy, Kate Moss. And LOTS more.
Each entry gets a page or less of text and one photo, some color, some black-and-white. Several people repeat in text and/or photos like Bianca Jagger.
I wish each photo had had a better caption, not just what the put in the text. Who are the people? Who designed what they wore. What was the event? That sort thing. Sometimes the captions or the text answer my questions, sometimes not.
There's a good index so you can find someone or something specific.
Each entry gets a page or less of text and one photo, some color, some black-and-white. Several people repeat in text and/or photos like Bianca Jagger.
I wish each photo had had a better caption, not just what the put in the text. Who are the people? Who designed what they wore. What was the event? That sort thing. Sometimes the captions or the text answer my questions, sometimes not.
There's a good index so you can find someone or something specific.
April 5, 2021
The biggest problem with this book is it has too broad of a scope. If the author had focused on designers or models or something specific she might have had a better time.
The second biggest problem was that the pictures weren't really labeled. You couldn't tell if you were looking at a model or a designer or a photographer or what. For a minute I was like "Wow, she is really highlighting a lot of female photographers!" but then I figured out that they were pictures taken of anonymous models BY the photographers being referenced. Some of the pictures were of famous people so you could at least recognize them but it was unclear if Reed meant to highlight their "style" or something they took part in or even something they themselves designed.
I also didn't realize it was a British thing until a third of the way through where I was like "Is this just a book about things white people like?" and half way through I was like "Why are there so many British references?"
A better title for this book would be 250 things that a white Boomer from GB likes. It's kind of ok if that's what you're looking for but I'm not sure why you would be looking for that.
The second biggest problem was that the pictures weren't really labeled. You couldn't tell if you were looking at a model or a designer or a photographer or what. For a minute I was like "Wow, she is really highlighting a lot of female photographers!" but then I figured out that they were pictures taken of anonymous models BY the photographers being referenced. Some of the pictures were of famous people so you could at least recognize them but it was unclear if Reed meant to highlight their "style" or something they took part in or even something they themselves designed.
I also didn't realize it was a British thing until a third of the way through where I was like "Is this just a book about things white people like?" and half way through I was like "Why are there so many British references?"
A better title for this book would be 250 things that a white Boomer from GB likes. It's kind of ok if that's what you're looking for but I'm not sure why you would be looking for that.
Read
January 31, 2024I read Fashion Evolution: The 250 Looks That Shaped Modern Fashion by Paula Reed last year in March.
This book took me a very enjoyable year to read, because every few days I would read a couple of pages. Each page has a short essay & accompanying photos about an iconic look, person, designer, event, or item from a specific decade, spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s. I learned so much about how society and economics and interests shape fashion and how fashion shapes those external forces in turn.
It was also very interesting to see how fashion evolved, sort of in response to itself, and how fashionable looks would cycle but always in an updated form (I liked a lot of the 1980s and 1990s looks).
I also just liked looking at 250 cool looks. I’ve been slowly getting into fashion the last few years, and I think it’s very important to just look at a lot of cool clothes, so reading this book really helped me improve my eye.
Get it from your local library, you need to read the physical version!
This book took me a very enjoyable year to read, because every few days I would read a couple of pages. Each page has a short essay & accompanying photos about an iconic look, person, designer, event, or item from a specific decade, spanning from the 1950s to the 1990s. I learned so much about how society and economics and interests shape fashion and how fashion shapes those external forces in turn.
It was also very interesting to see how fashion evolved, sort of in response to itself, and how fashionable looks would cycle but always in an updated form (I liked a lot of the 1980s and 1990s looks).
I also just liked looking at 250 cool looks. I’ve been slowly getting into fashion the last few years, and I think it’s very important to just look at a lot of cool clothes, so reading this book really helped me improve my eye.
Get it from your local library, you need to read the physical version!
February 7, 2024
I really love fashion, hence my desire to read this book. I think of this book as an introduction to the entire world and industry of fashion, I read this when my knowledge in fashion is already considerable. I really recommend reading this, if you don't know anything about fashion and want to get an idea and know the surfaces of each decade from the 50's till the 90's. Btw: Margaret Thatcher is so NOT fashion.
March 23, 2025
The title is so misleading but i still enjoyed it! Very general and very very few actual looks
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews