Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from La Mode Illustrée

This book is an "eye candy" delight. Not only are there beautiful black and white sketches of the fashions, but the heavy line drawings behind the sketches are ornate and depict a setting that corresponds to the era. Anyone looking for the fantasy romance behind the fashions of this era will not be disappointed with this book.

Fashions are compiled chronologically and the fashion plates are very detailed. Many plates don't just show the front of the models, but they also show the same posed women from the back. One of the main things I like about this book is that it's not just all formal wear. There's also a lot of day wear being featured which helps in understanding the lifestyles of Victorian and Edwardian ladies (albeit the privileged class). This book is simply a beautiful resource and should be included in every Victorian/Edwardian fashion-lover's library.

"La Mode Illustree" was to 19th-century fashion mavens what "Vogue" and "Elle" are today, with its gorgeous color and B & W line illustrations of the latest in fashions for men, women and children. Joanne Olian, former curator of the costume collection at the Museum of the City of New York, has painstakingly assembled a huge collection of the finest illustrations showing beautiful ladies' fashions from 1860 to 1912, with almost every year getting at least one page (though, as another reviewer mentions, some years unfortunately aren't examined in much detail). Every illustration is full-page and accompanied by a paragraph or two of text, generally taken directly from the original description of the item in LMI. Nobody who is at all interested in fashions of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods should be without this book!

This book is one of the most comprehensive, well-done and complete guide to both Victorian and Edwardian fashion I've ever seen. Although the illustrations are black and white, they are surprisingly well done (most costume design books don't detail hair styles, patterns, etc, but this one does.) I recommend this book as a very accurate guide to the period for researchers, costumers or fashion enthusiasts. The book, along with fantastic illustrations, includes a summary of the times and fashions and a very helpful glossary. Also it is much more than any other book I've seen--- it included SEVERAL fashions for each year and several different occasional wear layouts. If you are curious about this period, you must buy this book. I only wish they had a similar book for every period!

I was leery of ordering this book, because most of the books that claim to illustrate both the Victorian and Edwardian eras merely skim over the Edwardian. But I was pleasantly surprised. The book covers the years 1860-1914 and gives equal (or slightly superior) coverage to the Edwardian and pre-WWI years. The illustrations are large and detailed, allowing for very good views of the trimmings of the garments, and the smaller rear views of many garments are invaluable to the recreationist. Also included are period captions describing the intended uses of the garments (tea or opera, for young girls or women "of a certain age"); these are both interesting and very helpful for the self-educated costumer. The selection of dresses, coiffures, hats, parasols, coats, lingerie, nightdresses, and children's clothing is well chosen and the garments are lovely.My only complaint is that a few years are either entirely skipped, or skimmed over: 1866, 1872, 1875, 1878, 1883, 1893, 1899, and 1911. However, the existing material is excellent and very useful--I wholeheartedly recommend it.