Follows high-style couture trends over a 100-year period from 1800 to 1900, as illustrated in 374 colour photographs of original, hand-coloured fashion plates from the author's private collection. The 11 chapters (organized by decade) include a brief survey of the subtle changes in clothing design through each decade and a social history of the times. Follow the whims of fashion on this promenade through the 1800s, when high-society women sported beribboned toques and turbans and crinolines, capes, and extravagant sleeves. Based mostly on original French artwork, the fashion plates, which appeared in magazines of the day, also document fashion illustration as an evolving art form, making this book an invaluable resource for historians, scholars, theatre costume designers, artists, and fashion enthusiasts. AUTHOR: Felicity J. Warnes, who lives in North London, England, has spent the past forty years collecting fashion plates and books on costume and couture, which she sells at her bookshop in North London and on her website, www.fjwarnes.co.uk. SELLING POINTS: . Unique visual record of nineteenth-century women's fashion as seen through original, hand-coloured fashion plates . Contains many fashion illustrations not seen in the public domain for over 100 years . A 100-year perspective on the history of costume, as documented by those who lived at the time 375 colour