Description
The second entry in Scarecrow’s Historical Dictionaries of Professions and Industries series (Historical Dictionary of Japanese Business, 2007, was the first) addresses the “rag trade,” a $320 billion industry. Sterlacci and Arbuckle have studied and taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York as well as worked in fashion, and their combined academic and industry expertise informs this rich and compact resource. They have assembled a dazzling array of information about “the events, innovations, people, and companies that helped shape the fashion industry as we know it today.” The volume opens with a list of acronyms and abbreviations that rivals the library profession’s penchant for two- and three-letter combinations, then moves down the runway to a detailed chronology and extended introductory essay, and finally to the featured collection of hundreds of thoroughly cross-referenced entries covering designers, companies, terminology, trade organizations, fabrics, and more. Designers such as Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi, Vera Wang, and many others all take a bow. Capsule histories of retail giants like May Company and Federated Department Stores, Inc. are provided, as are histories of iconic brands like Adidas, Burberry, and Gap. Historical fashion items, such as the Chiton and Toga, are defined, as are more recent items, like Capri pant and T-shirt. Accessorizing this collection are appendixes listing fashion magazines, trade shows, major trade associations and organizations, fashion and textile museums, size ranges, and more. The show concludes with a comprehensive, categorized bibliography. Although there is nary a color plate or designer sketch in sight (the center of the book features eight black-and-white photos representing signature looks from the late 1940s to the present), the profusion of facts and references makes this a must-have for academic and large public library reference collections. --Carolyn Mulac
