The History of Modern Fashion

This exciting book explores fashion not simply from an aesthetic point of view but also as a manifestation of social and cultural change.

Focusing on fashion from 1850, noted fashion historians Daniel James Cole and Nancy Deihl consider the evolution of womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, decade by decade. The book looks at the dissemination of style and the mechanisms of change, at the relationship between fashion and the visual, applied and performing arts, the intertwined relationship between fashion and popular culture, the impact of new materials and technology and the growing globalization of style.

With photographs of costume from museums and images from the fashion press including editorial photography, illustrations and advertising, the book will include insights into icons of fashion and the clothes worn by 'real people', providing a valuable visual reference for the reader.

Daniel James Cole teaches the History of Fashion at New York University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He is also a freelance costume designer with stage, television and film credits.

Nancy Deihl, the Director of the graduate program in Costume Studies at New York University, specializes in the history of fashion and textiles from the mid-19th century to the present.