20th-Century Fashion. 100 Years of Apparel Ads

In this illustrated history of fashion, 400 advertisements from the Jim Heimann collection trace not only the changing trends and silhouettes of the 20th century but also the evolution of their marketing, as fashion transformed from an activity exclusive to Parisian salons into today's global mega-industry.

The Way We Wore
The history of modern fashion from haute couture to mass market

The 20th century saw fashion evolve from an exclusive Parisian salon for the wealthy elite to a global industry employing millions, with new trends hitting stores before the last model has even left the runway.

Along the way, the signature silhouettes of each era evolved beyond recognition. For women, House of Worth's crinolines gave way to Vionnet's bias-cut dresses, Dior's New Look to Quant's Chelsea Look, Halston's white suit to Frankie B's low-waisted jeans. In menswear, tailored suits signaled the end of bespoke tailoring, long before Hawaiian shirts or skinny jeans came into their own.

20th-Century Fashion offers a retrospective of the last hundred years of style through 400 fashion advertisements from the Jim Heimann Collection. The images trace not only evolving trends, but also the evolution of their marketing and audiences, as fashion was adopted into popular culture and the mass market, decade by decade. An in-depth introduction and an illustrated timeline detail the style creators and trendsetters, and how historical events, fashion houses, retailers, films, magazines, and celebrities have shaped the way we dress, then and now.
The author
Alison A. Nieder has worked in fashion since 1985, in retail, apparel manufacturing, and as a fashion journalist. She is the managing editor of California Apparel News, a fashion trade publication covering the West Coast textile and apparel industries.

The publisher
Jim Heimann is TASCHEN's Editor-in-Chief. A cultural anthropologist, historian, and avid collector, he is the author of numerous titles on the architecture, pop culture, and history of Los Angeles and Hollywood, including Surfing, Los Angeles: Portrait of a City, California Crazy, and the TASCHEN All-American Ads series.

20th-Century Fashion. 100 Years of Apparel Ads
Hardcover, 15.1 x 19.5 cm
592 pages
English language