Dressing Up Vintage

This is not a book for grungy secondhand roses raking around the fleamarkets for funky bargain clothes but for the serious connoisseur of fine vintage this book is indispensable.

What a wonderful find! This is a book that does everything it says on the tin and then some. Freely and beautifully illustrated with both period and commisioned photographs, it offers a cornucopia of images that cleverly demonstrates fashion, documenting & reflecting much of the past century. The writing is witty and wise: intelligent & informative without being patronising & it is infectious in its enthusiasm. For someone like me, with alot more interest than knowledge in vintage clothing, what I really loved about it was its accessibility and how helpful it was with information- there are handy tips on the where's and how's of vintage shopping and dressing nestling in every corner. Because of the way that it integrates socio-economic and historical detail, it even makes for good reading if you're not that interested in the clothes themselves, as it offers a rich visual history, through clothing, of the century that was. It often seems that every other book is "the definitive guide to..." but this one is the genuine article. No cheap imitation this, it offers an assured overview of vintage style and an indispensible source list of web-sites and stores that sell vintage clothing. And it is so much fun to read.

The cover of this book is simply hideous but it just goes to show that you can't judge a book by it's cover because once you get past that floppy, kitschy image this book is super! Quite simply the best book I have yet read on buying and wearing vintage clothes, covering everything from the humblest fleamarket finds to top couture pieces. There's even info about costume jewellery, handbags and other accesories to help you throw together an authentic look. It's both highly informative and inspiring. My only criticism is that it deals exclusively with post-war fashion. I would have liked to have seen something about earlier fashion looks like 1920's flappers, 30's tea dresses or Victorian style but unfortunately the book mentions NOTHING about these important eras and begins instead with the 1940's. Maybe we should have a prequel?

For anybody that loves clothes this is the book. I learned so much about fashion but in a way that was fun and useful. Not to be missed.

I really enjoyed "Dressing Up Vintage"! It was informative as well as full of interesting facts. I'm hooked on vintage now and have even started to collect myself.