Chinese clothing : an illustrated guide /

Long a fashion and textile designer in Britain and Hong Kong and author of Mandarin Squares: Mandarins and their Insignia (1990), Garrett writes with encyclopedic knowledge of her subject: clothing worn from the Ming and Qing Dynasties up to the present day. Like Zhou Xun and Gao Chunming in 5000 Years of Chinese Costume (CH, Apr'88), she describes not only the elaborately embroidered robes of the upper classes but also the humble dress of laborers and servants. In addition, Garrett includes children's clothing, wedding and funeral attire, underwear, and the dress of the minority peoples such as Miaos and Tibetans as well as instructive chapters on fabrics, dyes, and embroidery. Although unable to compete with the earlier book in the number and beauty of the illustrations, Garrett's present book is more scholarly, better documented, with a stronger historical, cultural, and social setting. The 300 illustrations (100 in color) were taken from the author's extensive Chinese clothing collection and other private and public collections in North America, Europe, and Asia. Recommended as a reliable reference book for students interested in later Chinese history and art. Map; glossary; three charts of the official dress codes. Undergraduate; graduate; faculty; general. M. Morehart; University of British Columbia