Riffling through the wardrobes of years gone by, costume historian Lucy Adlington reveals the rich stories underlying the clothes we wear in this stylish tour of the most important developments in the history of fashion, from ancient times to the present day. Starting with underwear—did you know Elizabeth I owned just one pair of drawers, worn only after her death?—she moves garment by garment through Western attire, exploring both the items we still wear every day and those that have gone the way of the dodo (sugared petticoats, farthingales, and spatterdashers to name but a few). Beautifully illustrated throughout, and crammed with fascinating and eminently quotable facts, Stitches in Time shows how the way we dress is inextricably bound up with considerations of aesthetics, sex, gender, class, and lifestyle—and offers us the chance to truly appreciate the extraordinary qualities of these, our most ordinary possessions.

Lucy Adlington has an English degree from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of York. After many years running unique hands-on history workshops and presentations for museums, schools and heritage sites, Lucy now specializes in costume history, with a passion for the early 20th century. She collects 19th- and 20th-century costume. She runs the popular "History Wardrobe" series of talks—delightful costume-in-context presentations, all featuring original garments and accessories. She is the author of Great War Fashion and Fashion: Women in World War One, and the novels Diary of Pelly D, Carnegie-nominated Burning Mountain, and Night Witches.