Follows high-style couture trends over a 100-year period from 1800 to 1900, as illustrated in 374 color photographs of original, hand-colored fashion plates from the author's private collection. The 11 chapters (organized by decade) include a brief survey of the subtle changes in clothing design through each decade and a social history of the times. Follow the whims of fashion on this promenade through the 1800s, when high-society women sported beribboned toques and turbans and crinolines, capes, and extravagant sleeves. Based mostly on original French artwork, the fashion plates, which...