Genealogy Books - Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900

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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Full of detailed information on fashion
Comment: I purchased this book because my business, PhotoMD.net, is digital restoration of old photos and
documents. I wanted to be able to recognize, with some degree of accuracy, the relative time period
of some of the older photos I work on, although that's not necessary as part of my job.
/>The author has an amazing eye for detail - I find I read over the commentary and look back and
forth from the photo to the text repeatedly on each photo to fully understand/recognize what is
being discussed. Although there is a wide range of classes presented, there is a strong bias towards
portraits of the wealthy... no doubt because they could afford portrait photographs and the
fashionable clothing to wear in them and the poor could not, making it far easier to find their
photos for such a project. Consequently, though, the book is not as helpful to me for pinpointing
dates in assorted photos of what I'd call 'ordinary' people as I'd hoped. 'Ordinary' to the author
seems to be 'not a model'. I thought it would be far more photos of middle and lower class people.
'Fashion' quite literally means couture, and not simply what 'most' people were wearing, which is
what I misunderstood the descriptions to indicate.

That said, the information offered
here, for anyone with a strong general interest in the history of American fashion, is
comprehensive, fascinating and well presented. I am still glad I purchased this book.

Customer Rating:

Summary: One of the best entries to the field in recent years.
Comment: One of the biggest problems in working with costume is the lack of dated, identified examples. Too
many so-called experts use unidentified, undated photographs in an attempt to explain the past.
Severa does not fall into that trap. In a large number of cases, she hangs her hypothesis on dated
and/or located examples. This enables her to suggest how quickly or slowly someone at a certain
income level might change dress due to fashion. It also enables discussion of regional differences.
The result is a superb reference tool for discussion of American costume. It is expensive, but
worth the investment if you are seriously involved in some aspect of historical costume.

Customer Rating:

Summary: My favorite book on photo history
Comment: I love this book and go over it often. I love mid 19th century fashions.. and this is the book to
explain and show real people wearing the real fashions.. My husband asks often if I have all the
page numbers memorized yet.. I read it so often. I paid full price and have gotten my money's worth
of entertainment!

Customer Rating:

Summary: Probably the best thing available in this field
Comment: I consider Severa's work to be of great potential use to any family researcher who has ever stared
at an unidentified family photograph and wondered just when and where it was taken. For, unless one
descends from a famous family, such images are likely to be distressingly anonymous. As with any
type of historical research, searching out the context can greatly increase one's chances -- and in
a photo, while the countryside and the buildings may not change, the clothing of the subjects almost
certainly will. Even those expert in other areas of historical knowledge often make mistakes in
interpreting the depicted garments of ordinary people. Or not so ordinary: The author describes
several misinterpretations even of Paul Revere's clothing in the famous John Singleton Copley
portrait. And Severa, as probably the leading historian of American costume, is certainly the best
possible author for a massive study like this. Each chapter covers one decade of the 19th century
since the practical introduction of photography, including first a discussion of general trends and
the effects of manufacturing innovations and social influences, and then examining and discussing a
large number of specific individual and group portraits of farmers, families, children, shop girls,
and soldiers in considerable detail. This isn't "just" a reference guide, though, but a fully
realized history and the reader not only will learn about the details of American dress but also
will acquire a number of new insights in historical method.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Photographic Treat
Comment: If you like looking at old photographs with haunting, austere faces staring out from stilled figures
in 19th-century garb, this book is worth every penny. The photos in this volume are incredibly
evocative and encompass a wide range of people from various walks of life. The photos are nicely
presented, with one large picture per page accompanied by an extensive caption that explains the
clothing/fashion details reflected in the picture. This is one of those books that I return to again
and again because I love what it does to my imagination, in terms of stimulating my ideas regarding
both Victorian-era costuming and a way of life that is long since vanished.

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