This is an amazing work of history, focused on women's clothing and how it both reflected and influenced the times. I loved reading it! As a woman, I wear jeans and pants for work many days. This book had me thinking about how my clothing speaks for me. A very interesting, engaging book that is not dry, but energetic in its appreciation for women and what we wear.

ARC Copy - a few problems.
Page 100 of 516 - "...continued to wear corsets and confining skits [oops!] well into the 1920s."
Page 138 of 516 - "Military accouterments..." misspelled
Page 196 of 516 - "...elastic...is frequently used to hold [the?] top of the dress..."
No others I have spotted yet.

I needed pictures with this book, I kept having to stop to look up everything mentioned.

I found it interesting, but maybe I'm just not as enthusiastic of the subject as I thought. I love wearing skirts and dresses, I love history, but this dissertation was hard for me to feel engaged with. I have no complain with the writing or subject, it's just too bad I needed the visuals.

I enjoyed the way the chapters were broken up (i.e., The Wrap-Around Dress, The Little Black Dress, The Tennis Dress, etc.) but I just didn't know enough about the names dropped to stay interested.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read to this book in exchange for my honest review.

Much like author Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell discusses in the preface to this book, I adore wearing dresses (and skirts, though I find them slightly more difficult because you then need the right top). She’s preaching to the choir when she talks about wearing them pretty much exclusively. For me as a trans woman, dresses are my way of embodying and expressing my femininity (they are not, of course, the only way to be feminine). I’ll talk more about that later in the review. For now, I’m happy that NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press provided the eARC! Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century is a thorough overview of how skirts and dresses have evolved in response to our changing society and cultures. I learned a lot, and it gave me a lot to think about.

This book is not for the fashion faint of heart! Now, it’s ok if you are a fashion neophyte like me! I don’t know much about fashion. I recognized a couple of the bigger names dropped here—Chanel, Dior, Versace, et al—but Chrisman-Campbell demonstrates why she is the fashion historian and I am not with the effortless way she elucidates connections among fashion designers, fashion houses, and various other parts of the industry. I added a great many words to my vocabulary as I read. So unless you too have studied fashion history already, be prepared to be immersed in a whirlwind of new ideas and concepts.

The book is structured into ten chapters, each of which is named after a particular garment: the delphos, the wrap dress, the little black dress, the mini skirt, etc. Upon this structure, Chrisman-Campbell layers and drapes and pins on the development of milestones in dress and skirt fashion. Though the chapters are arranged in a loosely chronological way, Chrisman-Campbell continually revisits important touchstones in history, such as the two world wars, to connect their dramatic reshaping of Western society to the particulars of the garment she’s discussing at the time. Hence, Chrisman-Campbell spends much of the wrap dress chapter commenting on Diane von Furstenberg’s iteration of it, she does trace its origins to the taxicab dress earlier in the century, created in response to women needing to get in and out of their dresses more easily and with fewer hands to assist.

It’s somewhat of a truism that the world wars, particularly the Second World War, upended the social order. For that reason, much of what Chrisman-Campbell has to say might feel at first glance very obvious. What makes Skirts so enduringly edifying, then, are the particular facts that she brings to bear in each moment. It’s one thing for an historian (or even a grandstanding layperson holding court at a dinner party) to make sweeping proclamations about how the Second World War liberalized clothing customs or whatever. It’s another thing entirely to drill down into the details and the nuance—the way that hemlines fluctuated over the decades, for example. Shorter hemlines were a response to rationing of fabric during the war, and longer hemlines took over afterwards as a sign of prosperity, only to rise again as fashion designers carved out a new category, teenager. As Chrisman-Campbell tracks these decade-by-decade, sometimes year-by-year, changes, she names names and even goes so far as to cite specific shows, catalogues, or photographs that incited new fashion. It’s so much more complicated than “shorter hemlines correlate to women’s liberation.” It’s a complex ecosystem of designers, celebrity models, advertising campaigns, parties, entertainment media, and yes, the economy.

As the subtitle of the book suggests, and as Chrisman-Campbell refines in her introduction when she traces the metonymy of skirt, ultimately she is trying to unpack the complicated way in which skirts and dresses are linked to each era’s concept of femininity and women’s bodies. Women’s dress has historically been a tool for exclusion, for titillation, or even for asserting power. The shifting nature of what is acceptable, when, and where reveals a lot about how our society polices women’s bodies. There’s also a need to be intersectional in this conversation, for Black women, fat women, and disabled women receive more scrutiny and censure than white, able-bodied, or thin women.

Ultimately, I’m not sure how successful Skirts is at having that intersectional conversation. That probably means it’s not as successful as it should be. To her credit, Chrisman-Campbell signals that she is aware of the need for this intersectionality and brings it up on occasion. She mentions the misogynoir that Serena Williams has faced on the tennis court over. Later, she touches upon the queering of fashion, from dancehall and Pose to male celebrities like Kurt Cobain and Harry Styles wearing dresses. All in all, I think Chrisman-Campbell tries to be inclusive, but she could do more to acknowledge how the fashion industry has historically been white and cisnormative—partly because fashion was, until the middle of the twentieth century, very much a rich person’s game as well.

That’s the other area in which I was expecting more from this book: commentary. Each chapter is very illustrative and comprehensive in tracing influences, developments, etc. Yet Chrisman-Campbell mostly saves her editorializing for the introduction and conclusion. I can understand the possible reasoning behind this writing decision, yet for a book that seems to aim broader than an academic audience, it doesn’t do much to establish Chrisman-Campbell’s voice, as a writer, throughout. Consequently, I was less excited in the reading of the book than I was by how much I had anticipated reading it!

I was drawn to Skirts because I was drawn to skirts. Well, mostly dresses. I came out as transgender two-and-a-half years ago. Part of my social transition has involved redefining my wardrobe in a way that authentically represents my gender. For me in particular—not, I want to stress, for all trans women—this means dresses. I really identified with what Chrisman-Campbell says about how comfortable they are, how easy it is to slip into one before you go about your day … I love dresses. Embracing the dress was a way of embracing the womanhood that had, until recently, eluded me. Replacing my old wardrobe with a new one full of dresses was a transcendent experience: gone were a couple of mix-and-match separate sweaters and jeans and dress pants (for work); in came the dresses in a riot of colours and patterns and prints, particularly polka dot. I love polka dot. Also, because I’m a knitter, I have now knit myself two skirts, projects which have once more helped me connect with and reaffirm my femininity.

So reading this book was, for me, an important way of connecting with traditions of femininity that are my heritage but were denied to me as a result of being assigned male at birth. When I put on a dress in the morning to go to work—whether it’s a comfy wrap, slinky sheathe, flowing midi, etc.—I’m joining a long tradition of women embracing not just fashion as it exists in this moment in time but echoes of fashions past. (In my particular case, I have quite a late ’50s/early ’60s vibe in a lot of my wardrobe aesthetic—I adored hearing about how tights took over in the 1960s as hemlines rose again.) In an era where we are, hopefully, all starting to become more aware of the harms of fast fashion, learning about the history of our clothing is as important as understanding the present state of the fashion industry.

Skirts is therefore one of those books I would recommend in this way: if the description sounds like it’s a book for you, then it’s going to be a book for you. It is exactly what it says on the tin.

Kimberly-Chrisman- Campbell’s Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity Twentieth Century is a delightful, well-researched book covering different trends in skirts-dresses in the twentieth century. For me, I see this as a book that I will keep on my shelf to refer to when reading historical fiction. I can’t wait to purchase a hard copy to be able to see the illustrations as the Kindle review copy did not have any. It was also difficult to go to the end notes. I tried to read this over a couple of weeks as there were so many examples and people to think about in each chapter. While reading, I also thought about my great-grandmother, grandmother,, mother, and myself. As a high school student in the late sixties, pants were not allowed in school except to wear under my dress or a-line or pencil skirt when it was cold. Of course, the pants went in my locker during school. After high school, I worked in a bank and pants were not allowed until 1973 and then only coordinated pant-suits. While reading, I found myself digging out pictures of my mother and my grandmother to look at their dresses. I thought the author did a wonderful job of using sports stars (Serena), actresses,……..as examples. Historical fiction is my favorite genre, and I can see myself referring to the different illustrations in this book while reading.
My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

I was very intrigued when I picked up this book and really got into it. I am by no means a fashionista, I mean I’m a hippie at heart and my favorites clothes are bell bottoms and tunics. What I do know is that you never give up your leather jackets, your worn in jean jacket, and you should even hold onto those capris, because they go in and out of style through the decades. One season it’s long dresses and the next it’s the mini, skinny jeans and then baggie jeans, and don’t get me started on scarves, hats, handbags ,and jewelry! What I enjoyed about this book was all the insight as to how trends started and which ones really blew up. The author not only brings up fashion trends such as the “little black dress” but also talks about famous fashion designers. I enjoyed reading about strong females who were told they had to wear one thing but chose to wear what they wanted. Can you believe in the “old days” if you were wearing a skirt to short or a blouse not up to your neck you could be arrested? Author Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell does an amazing job of explaining the who, what, why about each fashion trend and I learned so much. Did you know women who played tennis back in the 1900’s had to wear long heavy skirts and long sleeve shirts? Their whole body was covered up, I have no idea how they could move around the court like that! Kimberly covers the famous wrap dress, the strapless dress, the bar suit, the miniskirt, and so many more. It’s fascinating to see how these styles came about and how women were treated like they were hussy’s for not covering every part of their body. Did you know women weren’t even allowed to wear pants/jeans? Wow. Such a good book I’m so glad I got to read it.

This book provides an entertaining history of skirts (and dresses). Rather than taking a chronological approach, the author focuses on some major styles--such as tennis dresses, mini skirts, midi skirts, LBD, etc.--which is not only unique but highlights the often cyclical nature of fashion.

Although I enjoy reading non-fiction, I really didn't expect this book to be such a quick, entertaining read--unputdownable, really, although I had to take frequent breaks to learn more about designers and celebrities mentioned. My only real complaint is the lack of illustrations, but perhaps there are photographs in the completed version (I read an ARC). Highly recommended for anyone who even has a passing interest in fashion or history. #Skirts #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"Skirts" by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell is an interesting and engaging social history about the impact and meaning of skirted attire throughout history. The book is well-paced and takes readers through this history via discussions of multiple iconic skirt/dress designs. Prior to reading "Skirts" I was unaware of a lot of the fashion history that was discussed throughout the book, but I found so many sections to be fascinating. As a lover of social history and micro-history narratives, I really enjoyed "Skirts" and would recommend it to like-minded readers and anyone interested in the intersection of fashion history and feminist theory.

Oh my goodness but this was such an unbelievably interesting book! I too have a fascination with skirts, and found the history of them and their role in feminism and political movements to be holy informative and entertaining. The writing style is marvelous, it's like talking with your favorite super smart aunt - fun facts are dropped in left, right, and center, and paired with anecdotes and interesting historical tidbits that made it feel more like storytelling than information relaying. I loved it!

I received an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. Skirts is a dissertation about women's fashions and how they have changed over the years. Each chapter is dedicated to a certain style (i.e., The Wrap-Around Dress, The Little Black Dress, The Tennis Dress, etc.). There is also lots of name-dropping--many of which I never heard of. While some of the history and background was interesting, for me, this book was very dry and read more like a college text book than a book that was written for the general public. I also disliked the politics discussed when it came to Hillary Clinton and her pantsuits. While I have nothing against Ms. Clinton or pantsuits, I found the entire chapter unnecessary. I am old enough to remember when pants for women were outlawed in the workplace, and yes, we have come a long way, baby. Thank goodness. The ending depressed me even more when it seems that men's and women's clothes are now blending together to blur the genders. Call me old-fashioned, but I really wonder where we are heading exactly as a society. No males or females--just people. No mothers or fathers---just biological parents. Masculinity and femininity are passe starting with the fashion industry--at least that is what I gleaned from this book.

First off, I am a fan of fashion history. This was catnip. It reads incredibly fast as well. Instead of being organized purely chronologically, as I would expect, it was structured around specific types of skirts and moved in a progression from there. That way, we got to watch the little black dress and the mini live in their own worlds. Genuinely fun read on garment history and feminism. I had a blast reading it and now really just want to dive into the Dressed podcast's archives to see if the author has ever been a guest.

A surprisingly, I must admit, fascinating look at a garment which I haven't worn in years because, well,.....Chrisman-Campbell explores the history of 10 different styles of skirts and dresses and the socio-economic and psychic aspects of each. While there's perhaps too much about Chanel. there's also Fortuny (those pleats!) and the tennis dress and so much more. And, men in skirts. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a light, informative. and entertaining read.

I made short work of this fashion history looks back at the skirt and it’s place in fashion lore as well as American history.
From the mini skirt to Chanel’s essential black dress, the author gives an abbreviated look at the evolution of women and their Relationships with pants.
I am not a fashion person, nor trend setter, but I’ve always liked looking at how styles, fabrics, and designs have evolved over time.
It’s a good introduction to the skirts women were often forced to war in the 20th century.
Ironically, I despise skirts and don’t even own one. It’s pant for me, all day, everyday!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Skirts, but I found it to be very informative and I loved it. I am a huge dress and skirt lover and rarely wear pants myself and I found it really interesting to learn the history of different styles of skirts throughout different time periods. The author was very detailed and you could tell she knows her stuff and is a big fashion lover. I am glad I read this and it has given me a lot to think about!

This book offers a look at the history of women's wear throughout the twentieth century, focusing on the trends, styles, and fashion icons that made it the revolutionary century it really was. Each chapter focuses on a different style or trend, offering a lot of information on clothes that I had never heard of or knew little about. I have very little knowledge of fashion history, but this book was written well and in in a way that is interesting and easy to follow. My only complaint is that I wish there had been more pictures, particularly at the beginning of each chapter, as I am not familiar with the styles discussed and would have like a visual to better understand the topic.

Interesting read about changes in clothing, without the imagery to help demonstrate the points being made. It is amazing how many times women struggles in the job place onto be seen as equals, or personal clothing preferences of the times are reduced to whether a woman wore a skirt/dress or trouser/jeans. As a young girl, I can recall myself and others celebrated when pants were allowed in school on cold winter days under your dress or later as the chosen outfit for the day. The slogan ‘you’ve come a long way baby’ is lost on the generations that did not have the same struggles for workplace equality. Overall, I enjoyed the clothing history lessons and how clothing styles are cyclic in nature.

I have to admit--I love my dresses. I wear dresses everyday and each one has a skirt attached to the bodice. According to the author Chrisman-Campbell, since all dresses have a skirt component they count in the pantheon of "skirts." Even Reese Witherspoon chimed in with her whimsical love of dresses and skirts in the intro, citing how for short women, pants just don't work. Dresses/skirts provide women with a way to express their personal style, sexuality, and feminity in a very visual style. This new work, Skirts, tracks the evolution of women's fashion in the last 100 years as a means of gauging the power of the "New Woman" in western society. This work by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell carries a much more important message--the role of feminine dressing and its ability to self empower women through the 20th century.

Throughout history, the skirt has been the mainstay of dressing for women. As women moved into the modern era, centuries of traditional dressing disappeared as designers created new feminine silhouettes to match the rapidly changing status of women. The author begins with the abandonement of corsets and crinolines and acres of fabric that "artificially cinched and shaped" and the introduction of the sleek female visage of the 1910s-1930s. Who knew one could chart such a wide swarth of the skirt/dress and its role in fashion, art and history? Starting with such fashion trail blazers as Fortuny and Vionnet, Chrismann-Campbell marches us through the introduction of corsetless dressing, the bias cut which hugged the female form, and the reveal of the sensual ankle. These new styles laid the foundation of feminine fashion for the rest of the century.

As I read the tales of the various artisans who created some of the most beautiful fashions in dresses and skirts, I couldn't help but think of Stanley Tucci's reprimand to Anne Hathaway in "A Devil Wears Prada" that haute couture fashion creates some of the most beautiful art of the century. The attention designers dedicated to detail and craftsmanship that Chrisman=Campbell charts in her work, shows the intricacy of the art of a beautiful fabric and a stunning silhouette. She links the power of beautiful dressing to the burgeoning feminist movement of the 20th century and how women used the skirt to reveal her growing independence and liberation from the constraints of society and repressive clothing. The author's knowledge of tailoring and designing shows in her narrative and helps to recreate the images in one's mind. But there is a big problem with the work is that the copy I read had no graphics, no illustrations, no images to visualize the silhouettes the author discussed. I found myself constantly googling the designers or the specific piece discussed come alive. To create a work on the importance of fashion and not have illustrations and graphics is a huge setback. ( In the publicity for the upcoming publication, it does say it is beautifully illustrated. I hope so. )

But Skirts is more than just an homage to beautiful fashion of 20th century feminine dressing. The author charts the burgeoning women's movement and how it was reflected in fashion. As women became more emboldened and brave, their hemlines rose, their silhouettes became more revealing, and their willingness to flaunt their femininity and sexuality grew. As Edith Head stated " Make the clothes loose enough to prove I'm a lady, but tight enough to show 'em I'm a woman. " Chrisman-Campbell ties her story of social history to changing concepts of feminity and the emergence of modern feminism. Women use clothes to visually express their new found place in society and as a means to express their ever shifting sensuality and sexuality. By the mid 20th century, women wear started to wear pants in public, Skirts shows how women, even with the choice to wear trousers, embraced new dress fashions to empower themselves. The introduction of the mini skirt, the "naked dress" (think Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK) and the bodycon dress shows the power of illusion to create a new version of female empowerment.

Skirts is a fun read especially for me since I love fashion and am also an experienced seamstress. I have been sewing my own clothes since my mom taught me to sew at age 4. Tracking the development of the modern female form and the clothes that shape it offered a wonderful glimpse into the denizens of artisans and crafts people who created the working pieces of art that women wear. As a child of the 60s I remember my first mini skirt and midi skirt. We forget how shocking these fashion choices were. As Skirts points out, the female embrace of dresses is not only a fashion statement but a political one that reveals our new found place in the public hierarchy. .

Skirts (and by extension, dresses) have a long history, but I didn't realize quite how long until I read this book. From the scandalous world of women's sportswear to some of the most iconic gowns worn by women of state and all the way to casual skirts for everyday use, this book opens up a world of details about the opinions of men and women as fashions change but the basic concept of skirts stays the same.

Overall, I was expecting a bit more opinion and less dry fact, but this book is an excellent reference piece if that's what you're looking for. I'm told it's beautifully illustrated; the advanced reader's copy I received had no illustrations. My experience would have been significantly augmented if I hadn't found myself needing to pause to look up various designers and dresses along the way. The descriptions in the narration are merely adequate. That aside, I was quite fascinated to consider how the clothes I wear now were inevitably influenced by a history I had heretofore never considered. I have more confidence in my dress-selecting abilities after reading this book and a new appreciation for the trend-setting garments and inevitable copies that I see all around me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

When you pick out your clothes in the morning how do you pick out your outfit? Do you pick it out based on the events of the day? Comfort? Or do you go into the morning looking for an outfit that will make you feel powerful and confident?

The book skirts was one that caught my interest from the beginning and this book did not disappoint. This book went from the Egyptian pleating styles and Grecian dresses to Dior’s New Look and then the feminists movements who went against the midi skirt.

This book was so interesting and if you love fashion and/or history this is a book I would for sure recommend.

This social history of an undervalued garment highlights 10 styles and their various offshoots. Included are such groundbreakers as Fortuny's Delphos gown, Serena Williams's tutu tennis dress, Coco Chanel's LBD, Diane Von Furstenberg's wrap dress, Marilyn Monroe's naked dress, the poodle skirt, the miniskirt, and Billy Porter's tuxedo gown. The author looks at skirts and dresses through various lenses -- gender, race, class, popular culture, politics. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell writes in her author's note that she intended the book "to correct some outdated and even damaging misconceptions." She has succeeded, or at least made a valiant effort, with this detailed and wonderfully readable microhistory. Since the e-galley I reviewed didn't include photos and illustrations, I did a lot of googling as I read, and now I'm determined to purchase a copy of the finished book.

[Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

When I first saw the title of this book my eyes widened in wonder and I thought: "no way... there is no way an author can write an entire 272 page book about... skirts!" And so... my interest was piqued.

Oh my goodness! Wow... I was wrong. The author wrote a very thorough book about the role "skirts/dresses" have played in the twentieth century within a social and fashion-historical context. It is very clear that Chrisman-Campbell has thoroughly researched her subject. I liked her clean, matter-of-fact tone which was not bogged down by superfluous wording. It let her research shine and got her message across to the reader.

From era to era, "skirts" have prevailed, influenced and paved the way of fashion and stood the test of time, evolving and adapting in an effort to stay relevant. One of my personal favorite is the section on Coco Chanel. For me, she was an incomparable fashion influencer, as was her iconic little black dress which never faltered in its popularity to this day. The section about the "tennis dress" was an entire movement that could have had its own book. My "oh wow" senses kicked in during that discussion. To be honest, each chapter was fascinating as it was enjoyable to read about past celebrities/influencers as pertaining to their context with skirts/dresses.

I found this book to be thoroughly detailed in its execution, a "smart" book endowed with a plethora or facts that made for an entertaining read. You will have to pick up a copy to learn of all the juicy details.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the lovely opportunity to read this ARC and submit an honest review.

Rating: 5/5