This stylishly illustrated guide parses the visual vocabulary to understand, investigate, and interpret seminal fashions and styles. The perfect companion for fashionistas and anyone interested in a better understanding of how fashions and styles evolve, this is the first book of its kind aimed at a general audience. Both dip-in reference and stylish resource, it covers 200 years of fashion history, as well as ancillary subjects such as jewelry, accessories, and hairstyling, showing how different looks and styles are interconnected through time. Fashion is defined by the newest and very latest, yet fashion designers are constantly taking inspiration from the past. Well-known classics of yesteryear as well as more obscure designs and styles from the deeper past are constantly recycled and reinvented by the latest generation of designers and stylists. Identified in this handy volume are all the main fashion trends of the past 200 years, as well as how they relate to contemporary styles. From Neo-Classical to Gothic, Streamline Modernism to Punk, Military, and Designer Branding, this is perfect for anyone who has ever wondered about the origins of the little black dress or why the Chanel bag is known as the 2:55 bag.

Fiona Ffoulkes lectures on fashion and textiles at the Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London and at the American University in Paris.