Book Review: Vintage Details: A Fashion Sourcebook by Jeffrey Mayer and Basia Szkutnicka

 Every so often I stumble on a book when looking at another on Amazon--you know the part of the page that says "people buying this book also looked at . . ."   This book was one such book that I purchased fall of 2019 and never took the time to look at.  I picked it up today and found it to be a handy sourcebook.  It focuses on women's garments from 1916 up to 1995, most of which are in the collection of the Syracuse University Costume Collection as well as a few pieces from private collections.  There are some interesting pieces, to say the least. 

This is a book entirely of photographs.   It's organized by type of detail as is indicated in the contents:

The visual index shows thumbnails with the front and back of each garment in full then it lists the page in each section where you can find that specific detail for the garment you are looking at.

Let's see how that works using the blue Robe de Style.  Note the abbreviations for each book section and the page number.

The neckline photo appears on page 38.

The fastening and buttonhole section on page 189:

The hems, darts, stitching and fitting devices section on page 230

The pleats, frills and flounces section on page 270

The embellishment section on page 303

And the construction section on page 369

There are other sections which didn't apply to this particular dress such as collars, sleeves, cuffs, pockets, and surface.

It's nice to have photos of all of these details.  I'm still not sure about the layout.  I think having the sections as they are may be helpful for someone who wants to study specific garment parts of a lot of garments.  I tend to study a specific garment and look at all the details in that garment so I prefer the pics to be all together.  I'd also love a full page pic of the entire garment.  Since this book is a book devoted to details, it definitely does its job.  It's a beautiful book.  The price has gone up substantially since I bought it though there appears to be used copies for sale.  

I would recommend this book for anyone who likes to study vintage clothing and who particularly enjoys seeing all the interesting details up close.