Cultural Reference Costumes

Originally published in France between 1876 and 1888, Auguste Racinet’s Le Costume historique was in its day the most wide-ranging and incisive study of clothing ever attempted. Covering the world history of costume, dress, and style from antiquity through to the end of the 19th century, the six volume work remains completely unique in its scope and detail.This TASCHEN reprint presents Racinet’s exquisitely precise color illustrations, as well as his delightful descriptions and often witty c... [Read More]

Fashion is ever-changing, and while some styles mark a dramatic departure from the past, many exhibit subtle differences from year to year that are not always easily identifiable. With overviews of each key period and detailed illustrations for each new style, How to Read a Dress is an authoritative visual guide to women's fashion across five centuries. Each entry includes annotated color images of historical garments, outlining important features and highlighting how styles have developed ove... [Read More]

Examines the ways in which hair has served as a signifier of class, gender, ethnicity, conformity/non-comfority, authority, and power throughout history. Countless issues and examples are explored in this volume including: hair styles of royalty; wigs worn by lawmakers and judges; ceremonial hairstyles of tribes throughout the world; Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads; hair in the counterculture (including the musical Hair); skinheads, Mohawks and punk style; the hairstyles of First Ladies; celebrity ... [Read More]

FASHIONPEDIA is a visual fashion dictionary covering all the technical terms from style to material to production with illustrations and infographics. It encompasses rich, extensive information and yet is easy to read. Whether you are an industry insider or a fashion connoisseur, FASHIONPEDIA is all you will ever need to navigate the fashion scene.

Hamilton, the hip-hop rap musical, has revolutionized theater. It’s the story of an immigrant, “young, scrappy, and hungry,” who kicked off the Revolutionary War and built the central government of today. Within this book appears the musical’s backstory with many deeper insights. How do the Schuyler Sisters’ signature colors reveal their personalities? Which stage equipment best amplifies the themes? What of the words like “Satisfied” and “My Shot,” with so many double and trip... [Read More]

Published in partnership with the prestigious Fondation Internationale de la Haute Horlogerie, this book presents the most beautiful timepieces from the Middle Ages to the present. Lavishly illustrated, The Beauty of Time contains a selection of nearly two hundred wonders—from mechanical and pendulum clocks to pocket and wristwatches. The timepieces are annotated by an expert horology historian and accompanied by a text that elucidates the cultural and artistic contexts in which they were cr... [Read More]

Riffling through the wardrobes of years gone by, costume historian Lucy Adlington reveals the rich stories underlying the clothes we wear in this stylish tour of the most important developments in the history of fashion, from ancient times to the present day. Starting with underwear – did you know Elizabeth I owned just one pair of drawers, worn only after her death? – she moves garment by garment through Western attire, exploring both the items we still wear every day and those that have go... [Read More]

A well-illustrated cultural history of the apparel worn by American Catholics, Sally Dwyer-McNulty's Common Threads reveals the transnational origins and homegrown significance of clothing in developing identity, unity, and a sense of respectability for a major religious group that had long struggled for its footing in a Protestant-dominated society often openly hostile to Catholics. Focusing on those who wore the most visually distinct clothes--priests, women religious, and schoolchildren--the ... [Read More]