Fashion Victims

By Alison Matthews David,

Book cover of Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present

Book description

From insidious murder weapons to blaze-igniting crinolines, clothing has been the cause of death, disease and madness throughout history, by accident and design. Clothing is designed to protect, shield and comfort us, yet lurking amongst seemingly innocuous garments we find hats laced with mercury, frocks laden with arsenic and literally…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Fashion Victims as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

From poisonous gowns to flammable petticoats, Fashion Victims shares the dark side of fashion history. What was the human cost to those beautiful gowns, both in terms of the wearers and the makers? This book is a little grimmer than my previous recommendations but no less interesting. A fascinating read.

From Cora's list on the history of fashion.

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