John Peacock (1)

I have a hard time being enthusiastic about this book. It's a collection of hand drawn figures in chronological order to illustrate the evolution of men's and women's fashion over 900 years. My main problem is that ALL of the figures have a distinct 20th century fashion model posture, which distorts the lines of the garments. The pelvic thrust really displays the bias of the artist's timeframe--and not those of the fashions being illustrated. That was not the stance of the 1820s, or the show more 1540s, for example. And the figures all have tiny, tiny heads, which is more than a little creepy. Go look at original, contemporary sources and skip this book. show less

Another of John Peacock's books depicting fashion of one era or another. The good news is this is one of the few places you can find modern fashions in a form that's fairly easy to study. The bad news is threefold.

First of all, Mr. Peacock draws all figures as elongated, small-headed people who wear clothing from the 20s, 30s, and 70s very well indeed, but they don't show the clothing as it actually looked on real people.

Secondly, this volume and the corresponding volume, [Fashion show more Sourcebooks 1970s] are scant, at best. A better choice are the two larger volumes by the same author, divided into mens and womens wear, and encompassing the century rather than a single decade.

Finally, the fashions shown in Mr. Peacocks works are NOT representative of the clothing worn by most people in the eras depicted. They ARE, however, a good representation of the product emanating from Design Houses. If you are content with "Fashion" being interpreted as "Designer Fashion" only, then these are the books for you. If you're looking for the clothing the common man wore, take a look at the Sears Catalog books that are readily available. show less

This isn't for people who wish to research the dress of any time period in depth, but it is an excellent all-in-one reference for artists who frequently need to draw period costumes on a casual level, which wouldn't justify buying a number of specialized costume books. I whip it out constantly to add accurately dressed background characters.

fantastic reference book for history, but I have knocked off a point because it doesn't have anything on peasants clothing, and the modern (1960's onwards) is just wrong! pen and ink illustrations, no colour.