Gr 6-9-- Almost every page in these two volumes includes at least one vivid full-color fashion drawing or photograph (sometimes color, sometimes black-and-white, others in tinted half-tones), and often there is more illustration than narrative. The different pictorial formats place the fashions in the context of the era (historical settings such as Woodstock and GIs in Vietnam) or allow them to be viewed in detail. No important trends are ignored: Twiggy, Dior, the hippies and the mini, ripped jeans, Lagerfeld, Lauren, and Armani are but a few of the designers and fads represented. There is just enough text to create a sense of the events that influenced people, and to show how those events tied into trends. These titles are not for serious students of fashion, but will be fun for browsers and those interested in an introduction to the concept of clothing design in the context of contemporary events. Lila Perl's From Top Hats to Baseball Caps, from Bustles to Blue Jeans: Why We Dress the Way We Do (Clarion, 1990) also tackles this subject. In addition , The History of 20th Century Fashion (Barnes & Noble, 1986) by Elizabeth Ewing and Fashion: The Mirror of History (Crown, 1982; o.p.) by Michael and Ariane Batterberry give similar information in a more thorough presentation. --Janet E. Gelfand, Lawrence Junior High School, NY

This series gives an overview of fashion and trends, also providing some social and historical context. The text is dense in design and content, assuming the reader possesses a high level of knowledge, and it's fairly disorganized. But budding fashionistas will pore over the prodigious well-captioned photos and illustrations, which effectively differentiate among designers' styles throughout the decades. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind.