The Dress Detective is the first practical guide to analyzing fashion objects, clearly demonstrating how their close analysis can enhance and enrich interdisciplinary research. This accessible book provides readers with the tools to uncover the hidden stories in garments, setting out a carefully developed research methodology specific to dress, and providing easy-to-use checklists that guide the reader through the process. Beautifully illustrated, the book contains seven case studies of fashionable Western garments – ranging from an 1820s coat to a 2004 Kenzo jacket – that articulate the methodological framework for the process, illustrate the use of the checklists, and show how evidence from the garment itself can be used to corroborate theories of dress or fashion. This book outlines a skillset that has, until now, typically been passed on informally. Written in plain language, it will give any budding fashion historian, curator, or researcher the knowledge and confidence to analyze the material in front of them effectively.

Private detective Easy Rawlins looks for a gangster's girlfriend in 1940s L.A.

Introduction -- 1 Artists & Wardrobes -- 2 The Slow Approach to Seeing -- 3 Observation -- 4 Reflection -- 5 Interpretation -- 6 Fashion & Identity -- 7 Fashion & Modernity -- 8 Fashion & Beauty 9 Fashion & Gender -- 10 Fashion & Politics -- Coda -- Appendix I Checklist for Observation -- Appendix II Checklist for Reflection -- Appendix III Checklist for Interpretation -- Bibliography -- Image -- Credits -- Index.

"A tribute to a time when style -- and maybe even life -- felt more straightforward, and however arbitrary, there were definitive answers." -- Sadie Stein, Paris Review As a glance down any street in America quickly reveals, American women have forgotten how to dress. We lack the fashion know-how we need to dress professionally and beautifully. In The Lost Art of Dress, historian and dressmaker Linda Przybyszewski reveals that this wasn't always true. In the first half of the twentieth century, a remarkable group of women -- the so-called Dress Doctors -- taught American women that knowledge, not money, was key to a beautiful wardrobe. They empowered women to design, make, and choose clothing for both the workplace and the home. Armed with the Dress Doctors' simple design principles -- harmony, proportion, balance, rhythm, emphasis -- modern American women from all classes learned to dress for all occasions in ways that made them confident, engaged members of society. A captivating and beautifully illustrated look at the world of the Dress Doctors, The Lost Art of Dress introduces a new audience to their timeless rules of fashion and beauty -- rules which, with a little help, we can certainly learn again.

Published originally in 1926, Rost's Die Überlieferung von der Thronnachfolge Davids is fundamental to the study of Samuel and Kings. The story of the ark, the account of the Ammonite war, Nathan's prophecy concerning David's dynasty, and, above all, the succession narrative or 'court history' are singled out for thorough examination, with questions of style, theme and religious viewpoint dominating the discussion. His thesis is brilliantly argued and has sustained a remarkable measure of agreement over many decades, though criticism has grown in recent years. It remains mandatory reading for the study of Samuel and Kings, Hebrew narrative art, and history writing in ancient Israel. There is an extensive introduction by the late Edward Ball.

Fashion is ever-changing, and while some styles mark a dramatic departure from the past, many exhibit subtle differences from year to year that are not always easily identifiable. With overviews of each key period and detailed illustrations for each new style, How to Read a Dress is an authoritative visual guide to women's fashion across five centuries. Each entry includes annotated color images of historical garments, outlining important features and highlighting how styles have developed over time, whether in shape, fabric choice, trimming, or undergarments. Readers will learn how garments were constructed and where their inspiration stemmed from at key points in history – as well as how dresses have varied in type, cut, detailing and popularity according to the occasion and the class, age and social status of the wearer. This lavishly illustrated book is the ideal tool for anyone who has ever wanted to know their cartridge pleats from their Récamier ruffles. Equipping the reader with all the information they need to 'read' a dress, this is the ultimate guide for students, researchers, and anyone interested in historical fashion.

Meet Dorothy Constance Mae Louise, or Dot as she prefers to be called!