Author: John Peacock

Edition: 2

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd

One would imagine that a book like this would have some actual description. Just working with the front cover is not enough to get the point across. It is as if people are not even trying these days to sell. Well, here I am picking up the ball when the douche drops it. Anyhow, the book is about the dresses worn by men and woman over the last 1000 years. The writer is British, and the book was mostly written for a British audience.

The timelines are arranged by the rule of British Kings and Queens. This is a bit useful for people who are not familiar with British Rulers. The sample page shows the entire trend of the book. It has white and red pictures, with black lettering descriptions.There is a reason why the fabrics do not have color. This is mostly due to the fact that fabrics are protected, but not the shape of the dress itself.

The book is useful in that fashion. It works a bit like a shorthand for outfits. You do not need to do extensive research to drive at the historical accuracy you so desire. Even if you are just writing a book, and not doing a comic, it might be useful to know what the clothing items are called, for descriptions of attires. One can only get so far with just saying, "She had a pretty blue outfit, with frills."

Once you get closer to the end. The dresses take on a bland, and boring appearance. Maybe this has something to do with modern day British fashion. Frankly, I like attires with a bit more substance to them. Anyhow, the attires have men and woman separated. Men on top and woman on the bottom. The book is newer, and it has the same number of male and female characters.

In his other works, Peacock focused more on women attires, and neglected the masculine gender. This is rectified in this publication. There is by now a third edition, if you are into clothing past the year 2010. I suppose a book like this is going to get edited every so often, to match the ideal costumes of the present day. Though, frankly I have not seen today's attires take a great leap forward. Everyone is still stuck in late 1990s fashion. All, in all, artsy sisters recommends this book. I found it useful. 

• Does this book feature any fabric samples?

  Fabrics tend to be protected by copyright, so usually illustrators tend to avoid them when dealing with books. Instead of drawing original designs, they tend to just do without it. This is the latter. All the dresses are plain, without any actual fabric renderings. 

• What does this book mean by present day fashion?

  Present day varies with each edition of the book. Subtract a year, and then you have the references of the present day. He usually adds a couple of new ages, every decade of so, to update the book. 

• What does the book mean by George and whatever? I don't get it by looking at that pictures?

  The book has the time periods separated by British kings. This makes sense for anyone who is not British. So, for everyone else, now you know. It was written by a British guy for British people. 

• Does the book have any color images?

  The book technically has color images. I mean they are not in black in white, but red, white and black. However, as for the entire spectrum of color, there is none to be seen. It is just different shades of red. 

• Does the book feature costumes worn by British children?

  The book only focuses on adult fashion clothing. It doesn't feature a single example of a clothing attire worn by a kid.