Have you ever wondered why we wear the type of clothes we do? Packed with outlandish outfits, this exciting history of fashion trends reveals the flamboyant fashions adopted (and discarded) by our ancestors.In the days before cosmetic surgery, people used bum rolls and bombastic breeches to augment their figures, painted their faces with poisonous concoctions, and doused themselves with scent to … scent to cover body odor.
Take a fresh look at history’s hidden fashion disasters and discover the stories behind historical garments:
How removing a medieval woman’s headdress could reveal her as a harlot
Why Tudor men traded in their oversized codpieces for corsets
How crinoline caused a spate of shoplifting among Victorian ladies
Karen Bowman charts our sartorial history from the animal skins first used to cover our modesty and show off hunting skills, right up to the twentieth-century drive for practicality and comfort. Corsets and Codpieces is a fascination read for history buffs and fashionistas alike.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history–books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
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I am not a “fashionista”–my wardrobe is selected on the basis of practicality and comfort. But this book gave me insights into why people wear the things they do–and do so in droves. From legal requirements (Elizabethan sumptuary laws), to fabric shortages (1940s slim lines), to rebellions against accepted norms (late 1800s “empire” fashions), individual and cultural choices of body-covering have interesting reasons. The author’s research is thorough and carefully documented. Her delivery is not pedantic, but generous and often funny. She holds the reader’s attention with explanations of cultural complexity and individual eccentricity that manifest in silk, wool and feathers! I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy history, art, architecture, psychology, sociology – or clothes!
Truth is stranger than fiction. The pain and sacrifices made through the generations for the sake of fashion are mind boggling. Women sacrificed the most for the sake of beauty, risking health and survival for a tiny waist or frothy frontline. Deadly body image distortions are not a modern invention, they have been with us for centuries. On a lighter note, finally learned the purpose of a codpiece.
Always wanted to know about underpinnings!
This gives some great background on what it was like to live in certain periods by explaining the difficulties of some clothing styles.
Informative but a bit boring. Good bedside book to put one to sleep.
Very entertaining read. I’m not a fashionista but the historical detail about the evolution of modes of dress was quite interesting. Thank goodness I live in modern times where clothes are more comfortable! It’s amazing to see how old styles come back into fashion.
It was fascinating and since I’m fond of history and fashion it spoke to my interests.
interesting. Lots of light history to go along with the clothing of the day. the title is a bit misleading, as it was more history than clothing.
The history of fashion ….some of it rather crazy. Worth the read if you’re interested in how clothing has evolved. And the wild extremes some people went to in order be in fashion.
Always wondered about the evolution of fashion.
I have been interested in costume and clothing from other eras–could not beat this for unknown details of dress over the years it covered. It held my interest from start to finish for surel
Shows how masochistic women are willing to endure so much pain in order to conform to societies unrealistic demand for desirability. And how men with their cod pieces show, sock in the crotch, their insecurity.
Enjoyed discovering the origins of strange and unique words.