“Victorian and Edwardian Fashion a Photographic Survey” – A Review

Just before our vacation in the end of March, I finished reading “Victorian and Edwardian Fashion a Photographic Survey” by Alison Gernsheim for our study of England.

Alison Gernsheim was a woman with a fascination for clothing fashions throughout history. Her main interest seems to have been the clothing fashions in Europe. From what I gather she was born and raised in England. She was in London when she wrote the Preface to the book. Mrs. Gernsheim was married, but all I know of her husband is from a passing comment in the book mentioning that he had a beard.

“Victorian and Edwardian Fashion a Photographic Survey”  was first published under the name “Fashion and Reality (1840 – 1914)” in the year 1963 by Faber and Faber, London. My copy of this book was published by Dover Publications. It is an unabridged version of the original.

“Victorian and Edwardian Fashion a Photographic Survey”  is a detailed look at the clothing habits of European men, women and children in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. It contains 235 black and white photographs of both men and woman of all ages. If you have ever wondered how women did their hair in 1842, what hat was made popular by Prince Albert of England or how many coats and pairs of gloves a man had to own for a single day, then you may be interested in reading this book. (I assure you the amount of coats and gloves a man had to wear in a single day was amazing!)

I really enjoyed this book. One of my favorite portions was the many pictures dating from 1840 onward. Though I want to give a warning that unfortunately there are 3 or 4 rather immodest photographs. We intend to cover them by taping pieces of paper in front of them in our copy.

I also want to give warning that this book contains some very sarcastic remarks. Many are amusing, but there are a few (mainly quotes from period articles and essays) that are ridiculing in their manner and are therefore rather offensive.

Notwithstanding these flaws, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in studying clothing fashion in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Rebekah ~ The Lord’s Daughter

10 comments

  1. Jocelyndixon says:

    Sounds very interesting. I can imagine them having some immodest photos, but yes a little tape will take care of that. Mom often does that if a book has a halloween page…. BLACK MARKER! lol

    I agree with you about meeting! If you ever come near Indiana… LMK! I want to know!

    We might be able to meet another blogger from HSB!!

    My prayers are with you!

    And, I think I will just send you my novel… I warn you though… I have plenty missing words and grammar erros… just be warned! lol

    And, LucyLillie's offical nick-name is Lucy. We only call her Lucy or LucyLillie.

    ; )

    It was SoooOooooOOooO good to hear from you!!

    Love,

    Jocelyn

    Read my latest post(s):

    We are Homeschoolers, no doubt: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Jocelyndixon/354094/

    Lemons & salt: http://www.homesteadblogger.com/Jocelyndixon/61903/

  2. SuperAngel says:

    YOU ARE BACK!! I am so excited!!

    LOL!! I am honored that you have been waiting for me to post!! I missed your encouraging comments.

    That is a good idea to remember my middle name. See what would I do without you??

    The visit with the Suarez's was terrific.

    I told Caleb your poem. He just laughed and smiled!!

    My next page is on my left sidebar under my links.

    As Always…

    Love,

    !!SUPERANGEL!! !!Amanda!!

  3. rjdjohn316 says:

    Hello-

    Your poetry deserves praise! Truly!

    Thanks for the comment! People tell me I'm sweet in comments all the time… but so are you!

    Please stop by and read my post about LucyLillie, and see a very cute pictures of her!

    Rachel

  4. mandygrace says:

    That sounds like a fascinating book! I love the Victorian period. :-)

    I wanted to let you know that I've given you the Blogger Reflection Award. You can check out my blog for the details!

    ~Mandy

  5. rjdjohn316 says:

    I wanted to let you know that I gave you the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award and the Blogging with a Purpose award! You can get the codes at my blog to put on your sidebar!

    Come and read the others who recieved the awards!

    Always a pleasure to read your blog!

    Comments are always welcome at the Tea-House!

    Rachel

Leave a Reply