Fashion Plates

The lectures we've had recently with Emmanuelle Dirix about the rise of the department stores and brands and women shopping in the 19th Century reminded me of a book a bought before Christmas. I bought 'Fashions and Fashion Plates 1800-1900' by James Laver (on the right) for £3 from Camden market along with the book on the left, which was £1. I initially bought them because I found the pattern covers really interesting, plus I'm a sucker for really old (& really cheap) books but after the last friday's lecture, I realised these were the type of fashion plates we were getting told about. Although this fashion plate was actually made & published in 1943, it has detailed colour tinted drawings inside of fashions of the 1800- 1900 for both men and women, for a variety of occasions. When I'm less busy I'll photograph or scan some of those pages and upload them onto here.

ALSO: the above photo is a bit dark but on the fashion plates book, there are some red/brown stains which look a lot like blood but I'm not too sure, still, I try my best not to touch that part whenever I hold or look at the book!