Skip to main content
Shopping cart: items Cart
Couture and Commerce
Save cover preview Save Cover Preview for Couture and Commerce

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Couture and Commerce

The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s

Alexandra Palmer,

Buy this book: Couture and Commerce

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Couture and Commerce

The Transatlantic Fashion Trade in the 1950s

Alexandra Palmer,

The 1950s were the golden years of haute couture, captured by iconic images of glamorous models wearing dramatic clothes. Yet the real women who wore these clothes adapted them to suit their own tastes, altered them to extend their life, and often could not bear to part with them long after the dresses had outlived their use. This gorgeously illustrated book demonstrates why so many of these designs are still in existence and why we are fascinated by them fifty years later.

420 pages | © 2001

University of British Columbia Press image

View all books from University of British Columbia Press

Back to topBack to top

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 The Paris Couture Structure

2 The Purchase of Haute Couture by Private Clients

3 Buying and Merchandising European Couture in Toronto

4 Couture, Fashion Shows, and Marketing

5 Alternative Sources of Imported Couture 6. The Value of Couture

7 The Couture Society Wardrobe As a Model of Taste

Appendices

A. Toronto Boutiques Selling Couture, Copies, and High-Priced Ready-to-Wear, 1945-63

B. Toronto Retail Prices of Second-Hand Couture, 1951-60

C. Toronto Retail Prices of European Couture and Boutique Imports, 1950, 1955, 1960

D. Toronto Retail Prices of Couture Copies and Adaptations, 1950, 1955, 1960

E. Canadian Client Records from the London Couture House of Lachasse, 1951-66

F. Biographies of People Discussed or Interviewed

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Credits

Index

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press