Textile arts.

"This is a comprehensive guide to understanding and creating men's costumes and fashions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As well as being historically accurate, the author's patterns have been prepared so that they fit the modern male figure and adapted so that they can be readily constructed using today's fabrics and sewing techniques."--Back cover.

Paris has been the international capital of fashion for more than 300 years. Even before the rise of the haute couture, Parisians were notorious for their obsession with fashion, and foreigners eagerly followed their lead. From Charles Frederick Worth to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, fashion history is dominated by the names of Parisian couturiers. But Valerie Steele's Paris Fashion is much more than just a history of great designers. This fascinating book demonstrates that the success of Paris ultimately rests on the strength of its fashion culture – created by a host of fashion performers and spectators, including actresses, dandies, milliners, artists, and writers. First published in 1988 to great international acclaim, this pioneering book has now been completely revised and brought up to date, encompassing the rise of fashion's multiple world cities in the 21st century. Lavishly illustrated, deeply learned, and elegantly written, Valerie Steele's masterwork explores with brilliance and flair why Paris remains the capital of fashion.

Now available from Abrams, this popular book offers a rare, close-up look at the exquisite, labor-intensive details seen in fine historical clothing. Perfect decorative seams, minute stitching, knife-sharp pleats, and voluptuous drapery-all are here, alongside more unusual techniques such as stamping, pinking, and slashing. Most of these effects cannot be replicated by machine, yet many of today's fashion designers take their inspiration from the past, adapting these details to a more contemporary idiom, and to the realities of modern manufacturing. Drawing from the Victoria and Albert Museum's world-famous collections, the book contains a gallery of exquisite photographs, accompanied by clear line drawings showing the construction of the complete garment and a text that sets each in the context of its time. This book will appeal to anyone interested in fashion, historical costume, or textile history, from cut and construction to fabric and trimmings.

This gallery of exquisite photographs, with line-drawings showing the construction of the complete garment, and a text that sets each in the context of its time, is a visual feast for all fashion lovers, and an essential resource for curators, collectors, students, and designers.