For today's post, I thought it was a good idea to share some snapshots from a book I'm reading at the moment. Some of you might know already that I'm reading into textiles and design this year for my Masters dissertation, and the book I'm about to speak about is one of the gems I encountered on my path. My very fashionable path, to be exact.
The book in question is called 'Costume in Malta: A History of Fabric, Form and Fashion', edited by Nicholas de Piro and Vicki Anna Cremona. In a few words, this book provides a stunning snapshot of Maltese clothing throughout history, covering aspects such as theatrical costumes, lacemaking and the relationship between fashion and social class amongst other. The material covered is always related to the Maltese context obviously, hence the title.
Unfortunately, I still haven't had the time to read through all the chapters of this book, but the parts I've read already are incredibly well-written. For instance, the first page I randomly landed my eyes on was from a chapter entitled 'The Evolution of Uniform in the Royal Navy' written by Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez. Even though I've never looked into Navy Uniforms in particular, the writing of this particular chapter was so compelling that I just couldn't lift my eyes off the words. Seriously, very interesting.
The authors's writing skills are enough to keep you flicking from one page to another, but the pictures almost invite you to build a time-machine and go back in time to wear those clothes yourself. The book has a large collection of photographs from so many different epochs and they're all so pretty and elaborate.
Anyone following my Tumblr page has realised that I've got a thing for vintage photographs portraying gorgeous ladies in feathers, ruffles and all that jazz. The book has so much of all of that - and more! - that I can't stop looking at the pictures no matter how hard I try!
The interesting thing is these photographs - and the essays too, of course - don't solely teach you about Maltese clothing traditions. They give you so much information about general Maltese history, the way social classes interacted in the past, and other random things like the 'It Places' of each and every decade!
My style is very vintage-inspired, so it's needless for me to say that coming across this book was just like finding a treasure chest of inspiration! Luckily, I have similar pieces in my wardrobe to the ones portrayed in the pictures, so I'll be able to recreate some of the looks. You know that fashion repeats itself, so it's not really surprising to find staples from other decades in stores right now! *gets excited*
This book is just one of the many fashionable books I'm going to have to read this year! University 'textbooks' have never been so great! I'm off to continue observing the details of the many photographs in this book :)
Before I leave, I just want to wish all students starting University tomorrow - freshers and non-freshers - a massive good luck for their new academic year! You can do it!
-B
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