Living Fashion

'Living Fashion' by Leen Demeester, explains the influence of fashion on the daily life of middle class women in Western Europe between 1750 and 1950. The text focuses mainly on high fashion as women from the middle classes tried to copy these styles as well as they could. The powerful rise of the bourgeoisie in the 19th century provided them with new possibilities and created an accessiblity to a pastime which stimulated the purchase of fashion. Jacoba de Jonge attended law school in Leiden, Netherlands, but gradually her passion for costume history grew and she started with a unique collection of dresses, now containing over 2500 pieces. She worked at the The Hague Kostuummuseum (museum of costume) for a year in 1965 and organised many costume exhibitions afterwards. With the help of historical gowns and accessories, fashion collector Jacoba de Jonge was able to create an image of the relation between the 'fashion ideal' and the actual clothing that women were wearing. Living Fashion looks at the production of fashionable clothing and the subsequent consequences concerning posture and behaviour. The book is then completed by several expert studies on fashion in general. Text in English and Dutch.