"This is one of the most valued 'go to' books in my library with talking points new, even to me." — Alyja Kalinich, Disneyland Costume Designer

Winner of 5 Best Book Awards:
• 2016 Hollywood Book Festival Awards: History
• 2015 Beverly Hills International Book Awards: Performing Arts, Film & Theater
• 2014 USA Best Book Awards: Performing Arts, Film & Theater
• 2014 Family Tree Magazine UK: "Our Top Choice"
• 2013 Kirkus Reviews: Best Books

This volume of style clues for fashion detectives weaves fascinating elements of social history into tales of how, why, and when fashions evolved. Hundreds of sequential illustrations highlight the style flourishes that identify garments for men, women, and children as products of their individual periods. The images are accompanied by highly readable — and often humorous — comments and explanations by author and illustrator Betty Kreisel Shubert. A noted fashion historian, Ms. Shubert is a columnist for Ancestry Magazine and has designed clothes and costumes for stage and screen as well as hotels, restaurants, and casinos all over the world.
Ranging decade by decade from the nineteenth through twentieth centuries, this book offers a simple way to date photographs and clothing. It also provides background that makes less-accessible histories of costume easier to understand. This second edition, enhanced with a selection of new photographs, offers a valuable resource for costumers, vintage fashion enthusiasts, social historians, genealogists, and collectors of nostalgia items. The easy-to-follow format makes it a great browsing book even for those who are unversed in fashion design and history.

"A great reference book. I can't wait to put it to use!" — Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective

"Fascinating! I couldn't put it down. The author shows how social development influenced how we dress. I would certainly include this book in my theater classes for its value to future costumers, directors, and actors." — Allen M. Zeltzer, Professor of Theater, Emeritus, Cal-State University at Fullerton