A beautifully tailored history of this fashion staple—at once a garment of tradition, power, and subversion. The Suit unpicks the story of this most familiar garment, from its emergence in western Europe at the end of the seventeenth century to today. Suit-wearing figures such as the Savile Row gentleman and the Wall Street businessman have long embodied ideas of tradition, masculinity, power, and respectability, but the suit has also been used to disrupt concepts of gender and conformity. Adopted and subverted by women, artists, musicians, and social revolutionaries through the decades—from dandies and Sapeurs to the Zoot Suit and Le Smoking—the suit is also a device for challenging the status quo. For all those interested in the history of menswear, this beautifully illustrated book offers new perspectives on this most mundane, and poetic, product of modern culture.

YOU ONLY GET SEVEN SECONDS TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION - ARE YOU MAKNG YOURS COUNT? A good suit is essential part of every wardrobe, yet so many men still don't know how to shop for, alter and style their suits. In The Suit Book, Clare Sheng decodes the process of buying and wearing a suit. Her advice is also a reminder that dressing well is an integral part of the road to success. Using real examples and illustrations, Clare outlines what to look for in a suit and reveals why even the most expensive garments will look cheap if they aren't fitted properly. These easy-to-follow tips will show you how to dress better and feel confident with the way you look. If you want to take your style to the next level, this book is a must-read. You will never again feel like an imposter in your suit or the menswear department.

In a new compact edition, a luxurious celebration of the elegant craftsmanship behind the timeless French men’s fashion and lifestyle labels. Home of haute couture and the world’s leading fashion houses, Paris and its inhabitants represent sophistication and refinement to the rest of the world. Debonair Parisian men continue to participate in a centuries-long tradition of sartorial craftsmanship and quality. In its newly accessible compact edition, The Parisian Gentleman is like a dream shopping excursion to the leading men’s style-makers, from hidden ateliers and little- known studios to internationally renowned labels such as shirtmakers Charvet, shoemakers Berluti, and the recently revived trunk-makers Moynat. The stories behind each house, and the creative minds and artisans who give each brand its unique identity, bring the clothes alive, capturing an unceasing dedication to quality in an era overrun with new, mass-produced trends. Author Hugo Jacomet’s portraits of these often-inaccessible marques (or brands) are intimate and illuminating, thanks to his personal connections to many of the leading figures. His text is accompanied by beautifully shot photographs of the designers, studios, garments, and locations, the majority of which were taken exclusively for this book.

Ready-Made Democracy explores the history of men's dress in America to consider how capitalism and democracy emerged at the center of American life during the century between the Revolution and the Civil War. Michael Zakim demonstrates how clothing initially attained a significant place in the American political imagination on the eve of Independence. At a time when household production was a popular expression of civic virtue, homespun clothing was widely regarded as a reflection of America's most cherished republican values: simplicity, industriousness, frugality, and independence. By the early nineteenth century, homespun began to disappear from the American material landscape. Exhortations of industry and modesty, however, remained a common fixture of public life. In fact, they found expression in the form of the business suit. Here, Zakim traces the evolution of homespun clothing into its ostensible opposite—the woolen coats, vests, and pantaloons that were "ready-made" for sale and wear across the country. In doing so, he demonstrates how traditional notions of work and property actually helped give birth to the modern industrial order. For Zakim, the history of men's dress in America mirrored this transformation of the nation's social and material landscape: profit-seeking in newly expanded markets, organizing a waged labor system in the city, shopping at "single-prices," and standardizing a business persona. In illuminating the critical links between politics, economics, and fashion in antebellum America, Ready-Made Democracy will prove essential to anyone interested in the history of the United States and in the creation of modern culture in general.

A law professor and cultural critic offers an eye-opening exploration of the laws of fashion throughout history, from the middle ages to the present day, examining the canons, mores and customs of clothing rules that we often take for granted

The crossbow is an iconic weapon of the Middle Ages and, alongside the longbow, one of the most effective ranged weapons of the pre-gunpowder era. Unfortunately, despite its general fame it has been decades since an in-depth history of the medieval crossbow has been published, which is why Stuart Ellis-Gorman's detailed, accessible, and highly illustrated study is so valuable. The Medieval Crossbow approaches the history of the crossbow from two directions. The first is a technical study of the design and construction of the medieval crossbow, the many different kinds of crossbows used during the Middle Ages, and finally a consideration of the relationship between crossbows and art. The second half of the book explores the history of the crossbow, from its origins in ancient China to its decline in sixteenth-century Europe. Along the way it explores the challenges in deciphering the crossbow's early medieval history as well as its prominence in warfare and sport shooting in the High and Later Middle Ages. This fascinating book brings together the work of a wide range of accomplished crossbow scholars and incorporates the author's own original research to create an account of the medieval crossbow that will appeal to anyone looking to gain an insight into one of the most important weapons of the Middle Ages.