Underwear: Fashion in Detail

by Eleri Lynn

Genres: Fashion, History, Non-fiction
Pages: 224
Series: Fashion in Detail
Rating:

Synopsis:

Get intimately acquainted with the V&A's world-renowned collection of undergarments in this eye-opening visual history. From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps, Underwear: Fashion in Detail traces the peculiar evolution of underwear. Revealing photographs highlight close-up details in the garments, while intricate line drawings show their masterly construction. A wide range of designs is represented, from rare 16th-century examples to Dior's curvaceous New Look, to Calvin Klein's notorious briefs.

Underwear: Fashion in Detail is another of the books from the V&A delving into a particular topic through their collections, this one written by Eleri Lynn. I found it a little less easy to read than the others, with text arranged in columns rather than going smoothly across the page, and it doesn’t provide full images of many of the items discussed. Just seeing the detail without seeing how it fits into the whole is pretty unedifying, to be honest.

There’s a lot of information here, and someone with a better visual imagination might find it more useful for envisaging the whole thing, but I was a bit disappointed in the presentation.

Still, if it’s a topic you have interest in, it’s worth it!

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)