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The Lost Art Of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish (2014)

by Linda Przybyszewski(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0465036716 (ISBN13: 9780465036714)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Basic Books

review 1: Nowadays clothing is cheap, plentiful, and ephemeral: wear it for a season and get something new. That was not the case a century ago. Up until the 1950's, whether they sewed their clothing, had it sewn for them, or bought ready-to-wear, American women's wardrobes spanned seasons and years. Linda Przybyszewski tells the story of the Dress Doctors, the pioneering home economists who advised generations of American women how to get from fashion (what designers proposed) to style (adaption to suit the individual). What neckline flatters a round, oval, or heart-shaped face? Update a plain wool dress by changing the collar and cuffs! Foundation garments can make all the difference. Construction details--plackets and pleats, matching plaids and finished seams--are noticeable.... more There was a distinct difference between clothing for girls and teens and clothing for adult women, and fashion favored the latter. The era of the Dress Doctors ended in the 1960's when mod and youthful became the keywords, with fashions designed for Twiggy-thin bodies. Przybyszewski acknowledges that current fashion has convenience but she encourages less-is-more and quality over quantity. If only all scholarly books were written with such spriteliness! If you are interested in women's history, home economics, or the evolution of fashion design, add this to your must-read list. P.S. Kudos to Przybyszewski for writing: "If you cannot walk more than a block in your shoes, they are not shoes; they are pretty sculptures that you happen to have attached to your feet. You could hang them from your wrists for all the good they are doing you in terms of locomotion. Better to put them on a shelf and admire them fro afar."
review 2: I almost finished this book -- it was an interlibrary loan and I had to return it. In any case I reached the section where the author explains why American dress went to hell in a handbasket in the 1960s. As someone who came of age in those years, I can't completely disagree. Remembering when we first saw the Beatles -- people commented on their moptops, but they wore suits to perform (albeit rather fashion-forward ones.) I don't follow pop music now, but occasionally will see a group on TV and they usually are dressed as if about to clean out the garage. Even Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, apparently thinks nothing of preaching in a tshirt and jeans. There are many good things about the more informal dress of today, but perhaps the pendulum has swung too far.The author is an academic and that shows -- the book is not a breezy romp through several decades of American fashion. But there's a lot of interesting history about home economics as a discipline, and the ways in which it helped women and girls of modest means dress nicely (think dresses made of flour sacks). Although this book isn't for everybody, I would recommend it to people interested in fashion and/or women's history. less

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