Fashion From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day

326 Pages·1965·73.935 MB·English

by  Mila Contini

MILA CONTINI
ANCIENT
EGYPT
TO THE
PRESENT
DAY
Fashion
The history of fashion is the history of life.
For fashion is far more than the wearing of
clothes; the primitive caveman with his blue
paint, the Cretan ladies who left their bosoms
bare, the hair styles on Roman statues, the
social life of the Renaissance courts, even
the slim-hipped, boyish figures oftwentieth-
century women, are but a few of the by-
products offashion.
V
r, 3Jr.
Since earliest times a person's clothes have
reflected his status, taste, profession, and the
history and climate ofthe countryheinhabits.
So much is the character ofman expressed in
his clothes that a book such as this, which
shows changing fashions from the earliest to
the most recent times, is a history book ofa
peculiarly fascinating kind.
Nearly 550 illustrations, all but a few in
colour, trace the history of clothes since the
dawn of civilisation in Egypt. There is no
—
guesswork the eras are illustrated from art
contemporarywiththeperiod drawings,bas-
;
relief carvings, statues, ancient manuscripts,
greatpaintingsoftheRenaissanceandBaroque
periods, engravings, and clothes and acces-
sories now preserved in museums, all can be
found in this absorbing book.
continued on back flap

Fashion
FROM ANCIENT EGYPT TO THE PRESENT DAY
Roman sandaK. Bas-relief. Civic Museum, Avezzano
Followingpage: Accessories in a woman's wardrobe. Roman bas-relief ( ivic Museum, Avezzano
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Fash
ion
FROM ANCIENT EGYPT TO THE PRESENT DAY
MILA CONTINI
By
JAMES LAVER
Edited by
COUNT
EMILIO PUCCI
Foreword by
JANEY IRONSIDE
Introduction by
PROFESSOR OF FASHION DESIGN, ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, LONDON
THE ODYSSEY PRESS New
York
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publishedin 196s byTheOdysseyPress. Inc.
850ThirdAvenue.NewYork. NewYork.
©
Copyright 1965 ArnoldoMondadori-Ceam-Milano
Translation'|J Copyright 1965 PaulHamlynLtd
Printed in Italy-Officine Grafiche A. Mondadori-Verona
LibraryofCongressCatalogueCard Number: 65-20567
Layout by Fiorenzo Giorgi
Frieze ot cosmetic jars. First century. Spoleto Museum
CONTENTS
Foreword ii
Introduction 12
Egypt
13
Crete and Greece 27
The Etruscans and Romans
43
The Middle Ages
59
The Fifteenth Century 85
The Sixteenth Century in
The Seventeenth Century H3
The Eighteenth Century 177
The Nineteenth Century 217
The Twentieth Century 261
Fashion Today 299
Index 3i8
Picture Acknowledgements 321
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