Mambo Costumes History

One of the richest fabrics known to man, velvet is today more in fashion than ever. Couturiers and street designers favour its softness and lustre, but it has been famed throughout the ages for sumptuous elegance. Velvet is the story of this ostentatious fabric, in fashion, furnishing, art and design. Clothes from every period are featured, from the Middle Ages to the latest collections by Givenchy and Montana. Paintings and photographs illustrate velvet's use in upholstery, or as hangings in pa... [Read More]

Inspired by grand opera and Italy's imperialist victory in the Libyan War (1911-12), the Italian movie industry produced dozens of historical epics in the period just before World War I. The most influential and successful of these was Cabiria, the visually spectacular film which set the standard for big-budget feature-length movies around the world and opened the way for D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. De Mille. The story concerns a girl - Cabiria - who is separated from her parents during the Punic... [Read More]

Corsets and Crinolines is a study of the changing shapes of women's dress and how these were produced, how simple laced bodices became corsets of cane, whale-bone and steel, while padding at shoulders and hips gave way to the structures of farthingales, hoops and bustles. Added are contemporary tailors and dressmakers accounts, illustrations, index, a glossary of terms and materials, appendices on the repair and manufacture of corsets and crinolines.

While corrupt bosses exploit hard-working merchants preparing for a New Year’s celebration, Zatoichi dispenses justice with the edge of his cane sword.

Macedonian ethnic dress is full of meaning and significance. It is visually stunning and embodies the skills, expectations, hopes and fears, creative use of materials, and aesthetic sense of the individuals who made and wore it. Saturated with cultural meaning, these many-layered ensembles rank among the best examples of textile art anywhere.This landmark catalog brings together scholarship by Macedonian experts with a museum collection in the United States and outstanding photography to present... [Read More]

Used. Very Good conditions. May have soft reading marks and name of the previous owner.

The French poet-patriot Francois Villon enters a battle of wits with King Louis XI and fights to save his beloved in this exciting and romantic adventure. An enormous production with lavish sets and costumes, this swashbuckling story features a vibrant performance by the great John Barrymore. It also marks the American film debut of German film star Conrad Veidt, who would go on to play unforgettable roles in classics like "Casablanca" and "The Thief of Bagdad."

40 designs representing 19 premieres of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which toured from coast to coast, helping develop an enthusiastic new audience for ballet in America.

Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra, one of the most spectacular motion pictures ever to hit the silver screen, is now available in a new 75th Anniversary Edition DVD. Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, the historical epic stars Claudette Colbert as the cunning Queen of the Nile who, wielding her beauty like a weapon, lures Roman leaders Julius Caesar (Warren William) and Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon) into her web of royal deception and betrayal. Featuring a digitally remastered pi... [Read More]

This book traces the evolution of the style of men's dress through a sequence of diagrams accurately scaled down from patterns of actual garments, many of them rare museum specimens. The plates have been selected with the same purpose. Some are photographs of suits for which diagrams have also been given; others, reproduced from paintings and old prints, show the costume complete with its accessories. Quotations from contemporary sources--from diaries, travelers' accounts and tailors' bills--sup... [Read More]