The Wonderful World of Ladies' Fashion: 1850-1920 - Softcover

This book is first and foremost an illustrated history of evolution of women's fashions. It covers a period beginning with the mid-19th century and continuing through the end of the first World War, starting when the hoop skirt was high fashion and extending through the age of the bustle on into the adoption of the tubular or sheath styles. The changes in fashion are illustrated through woodcuts, steel engravings, and half-tones selected from dozens of rare old books, periodicals and catalogues. The original descriptive materials accompanies most of the illustrations, and in many cases entire pages of fashions and related advertising are reproduced exactly as they originally appeared many decades ago.

The pages of this book also record the many factors beyond apparel that served as fashion to a woman's life, including material on humor, advice, commentary and poetry. It covers topics such as education and etiquette through courtship, raising children, and the high price of household help. This book presents a surprisingly complete story of some American women and how they lived their lives while the nation was moving from an agrarian to an industrial society.l