From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps and girdles to garters, Underwear: Fashion in Detail gets up close to some of the most intimate items in the V&A. The book traces the evolution of underwear, from rare examples dating from the sixteenth century and the exaggerated shapes of eighteenth-century courtly undergarments, to Dior's curvaceous 'New Look' girdles to contemporary lingerie by Agent Provocateur and Rigby and Peller. Meticulous colour photography shows these fascinating garments in close detail, while intricate line drawings reveal their construction. The book also highlights the work of designers such as Vionnet and Westwood, who have taken influence from underwear for their own outerwear creations.

About the Author:

Eleri Lynn has managed the refurbishment of the V&A's Fashion Gallery and the new Clothworkers' Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion at Blythe House. She is curator of the V&A exhibition, Undressed: 350 Years of Underwear in Fashion, was assistant curator of The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007) and co-coordinator of V&A's Fashion in Motion series of live catwalk events.

A unique insight into Japanese dress from the 18th century to today, explored through sumptuous detail photography of some of the most fascinating pieces in the V&A’s collections

Bringing together more than 100 items of clothing, this book reveals the intricacies of Japanese dress from the 18th century to the present. Including garments for women, men and children, the details have been selected both for their exquisite beauty and craftsmanship and for how much they impart about the wearer’s identity, be it age, status or taste.

A comprehensive introduction, illuminating the main periods and key themes of Japanese fashion history, is followed by thematic chapters that cover all aspects of clothing, from hair accessories and necklines to hemlines and shoes. Each garment or object is accompanied by a short text exploring its structure and the fascinating range of decorative techniques employed, including embroidery, weaving, lacquering, stencilling, dyeing and digital technology. Specially commissioned detail photography and line drawings provide an invaluable resource for Japanophiles, students, collectors, designers and lovers of fashion and world dress.

Contents List:

Introduction • Necklines and Shoulders • Headwear • Sleeves • Waists • Waist Accessories • Hems • Lining and Undergarments • Footwear • Further Reading • Glossary • Picture Credits • Acknowledgments • Index

About the Authors:

Josephine Rout is a Project Curator in the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum. 
Anna Jackson is Keeper of the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

A unique insight into the history of 19th-century fashion, explored through sumptuously detailed photography of the some of the world’s most luxurious garments

The fashions of the 19th century continue to capture the imagination, but surviving examples are often too fragile to be on display, let alone frequently handled and studied. This book offers an invaluable opportunity to explore such garments in detail, from their elaborate trimmings, refined embroidery and lavish drapery to their restrictive corseting and impeccable tailoring. Their range is broad, from early designer dresses to Indian-inspired printed cottons, and from petticoats and brightly coloured corsets to feathered capes and dramatic sleeves.

Part of the Fashion in Detail series,, this book, now fully revised and updated, explores the opulence and diversity of 19th-century costume. A new, comprehensive introduction illuminates the history of fashion throughout the century, while each of the succeeding chapters explores particular techniques or elements of fashionable dress. Each garment is clearly illustrated with close-up photographs and specially commissioned line drawings, and is accompanied by a commentary by leading experts in historical dress, making this one of the most authoritative and beautiful studies of 19th-century fashion.

Contents List:

Introduction • 1. Construction Techniques • 2. Tailoring • 3. Trimmings • 4. Painted and Woven Textiles • 5. Embroidery • 6. Buttonings and Fastening • 7. Technological Innovations • 8. Collars, Sleeves and Pockets • 9. Accessories

About the Authors:

Lucy Johnston is an expert in historical dress and a former curator in the Department of Textiles and Dress at the V&A. She is now a freelance curator and museum consultant specializing in fashionable dress, shoes and rural workers’ clothing. Her publications include 19th-Century Fashion in Detail.

Helen Persson is former Curator of Chinese Textiles and Dress in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Asia Department.

Marion Kite is Head of the Furniture, Textiles & Fashion Conservation Section at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

List of Contributors:

Helen Persson, Marion Kite, Richard Davis, Leonie Davis

A rare, close-up look at the exquisite, labour-intensive details seen in 18th-century clothing

This beautifully illustrated book reveals the sharp pleats, high collars, gleaming pastes, colourful beads, elaborate buttons and intricate lacework that make up some of the garments in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s extensive fashion collection. With an expertly written text by one of the museum’s fashion curators and exquisite colour photography of garment details, complemented by line drawings and photographs, the reader has the unique opportunity to examine up close historical clothing that is often too fragile to be on display. It is an inspirational resource for students, collectors, designers and anyone who is fascinated by fashion and costume.

This new edition features an updated design, fresh content and new research, and an introduction that focuses on the makers and processes involved in producing 18th-century fashion.

Contents List:

1. Pleats, Gathers and Looped Drapery • 2. Collars, Cuffs and Pockets • 3. Stitching and Quilting • 4. Lace and Whitework • 5. Embroidery • 6. Pastes, Foils and Beads • 7. Chintz and Painting • 8. Pinking and Punching • 9. Fringes, Ribbons, Tassels and Buttons • 10. Fur, Feathers and Straw

About the Author:

Susan North is Curator of Fashion, 1550–1800, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She co-curated ‘Style and Splendour: Queen Maud of Norway’s Wardrobe’ in 2005 and has published several books for the V&A.

List of Contributors:

Henrietta Clare, Richard Davis, Leonie Davis, Deborah Mallinson

High-end 20th-century fashion explored through sumptuous detailed photography of some of the most luxurious garments in the V&A’s collections

Revealing the elaborate embroidery, intricate pleats and daring cuts that make up some of the 20th century’s most beautiful garments, this book explores the specific techniques used by couturiers as tastes and textile technologies evolved. Work by designers such as Mariano Fortuny, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret, Hubert de Givenchy, Mary Quant, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood is rediscovered, and exquisite haute-couture pieces, from sequinned Chanel trouser suits and richly embroidered Schiaparelli jackets to striking Balenciaga creations and Dior evening gowns, are examined.

Part of the Fashion in Detail series, this updated edition features a revised introduction and list of designers followed by chapters dedicated to a particular technique. Each garment is illustrated through detailed photography and line drawings and is accompanied by a commentary by leading experts in textiles and fashion.

An extraordinary exploration of the techniques used by couturiers in the construction of these exceptional garments, 20th-Century Fashion in Detail will delight all followers of fashion.

About the Authors:

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator, Department of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the V&A and Professor in Fashion Curation, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London.

Valerie D. Mendes, formerly Head of Fashion and Textiles at the V&A, is a freelance fashion and textiles historian.

Contents List:

Introduction • List of Designers • 1. Seams • 2. Gathers, Tucks and Pleats • 3. Collars, Cuffs and Pockets • 4. Fastenings • 5. Bows • 6. Beads and Sequins • 7. Applied Decoration

A head-to-toe exploration of Chinese dress through sumptuous, detailed photography of some of the most fascinating historic and contemporary pieces in the V&A’s outstanding collection

Chinese Dress in Detail reveals the beauty and variety of Chinese dress for women, men and children, both historically and geographically, showcasing the intricacy of decorative embroidery and rich use of materials and weaving and dyeing techniques. The reader is granted a unique opportunity to examine historical clothing that is often too fragile to display, from quivering hair ornaments, stunning silk jackets and coats, festive robes and pleated skirts, to pieces embellished with rare materials such as peacock-feather threads or created through unique craft skills, as well as handpicked contemporary designs.

A general introduction provides an essential overview of the history of Chinese dress, plotting key developments in style, design and mode of dress, and the traditional importance of clothing as social signifier, followed by eight thematic chapters that examine Chinese dress in exquisite detail from head to toe. Each garment is accompanied by a short text and detail photography; front-and-back line drawings are provided for key items.

An extraordinary exploration of the splendour and complexity of Chinese garments and accessories, Chinese Dress in Detail will delight all followers of fashion, costume and textiles.

About the Author:

Sau Fong Chan is a curator in the Asia Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum and a specialist in Chinese textiles and dress. She co-curated the exhibitions Rabindranath Tagore: Poet and Painter and Silver from the Malay World, and has contributed to several V&A publications.

Contents List:
Introduction
1 Headwear
2 Necklines and Shoulders
3 Sleeves
4 Pleats
5 Edgings
6 Buttons
7 Embroidery
8 Footwear
Glossary
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Picture Credits
Index
 

The V&A's renowned Fashion in Detail series has become essential reading for historians, costumiers, designers and fashion students alike and this impressive volume brings together for the first time, edited highlights from all the titles in the series.

The V&A's Fashion Collection is the largest and most comprehensive in the world, housing unrivalled collections of dress, accessories, shoes and hats, from exquisite seventeenth-century gowns to twentieth-century daywear and couture.

This chronological survey covers four hundred years of fashion, drawn from the V&A's five best-selling volumes: Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, World Dress Fashion in Detail, Twentieth-Century Fashion in Detail and Underwear Fashion in Detail.

With concise and authoritative texts by V&A curators, glorious colour photography and specially commissioned line drawings of complete garments, the reader is allowed the unique opportunity to look in the closest possible detail at the garments and revel in their breathtaking range of colour, texture and construction.

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator of Fashion at the V&A. She has curated many exhibitions including Vivienne Westwood (V&A 2004) and The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007) and edited the accompanying books.

From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps and girdles to garters, Underwear: Fashion in Detail gets up close and personal with some of the most intimate items in the V&A. Lynn traces the evolution of underwear, drawing on 120 objects that include rare examples dating from the sixteenth century, the exaggerated shapes of eighteenth-century court dress, Dior’s curvaceous ‘New Look’ and contemporary lingerie by Agent Provocateur and Rigby and Peller. Beautiful new photography shows close-up details of these fascinating garments, while intricate line drawings reveal their masterly construction. The book also highlights the work of designers such as Vionnet and Westwood who have taken influence from underwear for their own outerwear creations.

About the Author:

Eleri Lynn is a Fashion Curator at the V&A. Previously she was the Assistant Curator of the V&A’s major exhibition The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007).

From the mountains of Montenegro to the shores of South-East Asia and beyond, the V&A’s renowned world dress collection is highlighted in World Dress Fashion in Detail. The book, part of the V&A Fashion in Detail series, explores cut work and silk embroidery from Indonesia, applied metal braid and cord fastenings from Albania, as well as elaborate patchwork from Tibet, India, Korea and Iran. Specially commissioned photographs, authoritative text and line drawings showcase the breathtaking richness of detail that will delight and inspire anyone interested in dress.

This glamorous book, part of the V&A Fashion in Detail series, illustrates the intricate details of twentieth-century fashion. Spectacular photographs, accompanied by expert commentaries and specially commissioned line drawings, focus on fanciful Dior bows, Chanel button-holes and metal sprinfs on a Schiaparelli jacket. This unique study provides an insight into the techniques and craft practices used by couturiers and the construction of these amazing garments. Twentieth-Century Fashion in Detail will delight all followers of fashion. Previously available as Modern Fashion in Detail.

About the Authors: 

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator of the Department of Furniture, Textiles & Fashion at the V&A and Professor of Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion. She curated the exhibitions Vivienne Westwood (V&A 2004), and The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947–1957 (V&A 2007), and also edited the accompanying catalogues. 

Valerie D. Mendes is a fashion and textiles historian who became Chief Curator of the former Textiles and Dress Department at the V&A. She has curated numerous exhibitions and published widely on twentieth-century dress and textiles.

This book captures the richness of nineteenth-century fashion. As part of the V&A Fashion in Detail series, the opulence and diversity of clothing in the period are captured through exquisite colour photography, specially commissioned line drawings of the garments and authoritative text. Illustrating delicate embroidery on neoclassical gowns, Liberty & Co. smocking, vibrant colour on crinoline and bustles and elegant men’s tailoring, Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, now with a new cover, brings the nineteenth-century period to life.

This sumptuously illustrated book reveals the decorative seams, exquisite stitching, voluptuous drapery, strict corseting and slashing and stamping that make up the clothing in the V&A’s superlative seventeeth- and eighteenth-century fashion collection. Using an authoritative text, exquisite colour photography and line drawings of complete garments, the reader is allowed the unique opportunity to look closely at clothing, often too fragile to be on display.

Part of the V&A Fashion in Detail series, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail is an inspirational resource for students, designers, collectors and all followers of fashion.