A Fashion Dictionary

Struggling to tell a basket-stitch from a bland-stitch? Have you been lusting over a camisole or a chemise this season? Wondering if the line of Duchamp's Op-art would flatter your figure? Contained within this definitive dictionary of essential industry terms, styles and expressions, you'll find the answer to every imaginable fashion dilemma.

Author Janey Ironside was a game-changing professor at London's Royal College of Art in the '50s and '60s, and her book is a veritable mine of information, perfectly tailored to the needs of fashion students and casual dressmakers alike. No conventional dictionary, it divides entries into eleven invaluable sections, including: silhouettes, accessories, footwear, hair, textiles, terminology for would-be dressmakers and the richly creative art of millinery. Were it not for the vision of the dedicated Professor Ironside - who nurtured such precocious talents as Ossie Clark, Bill Gibb, Zandra Rhodes, and Foale and Tuffin - fashion would never have been recognized as the prestigious academic discipline that it is today. First published in 1968, her Fashion Dictionary is more relevant today than ever, providing a crucial point of reference in an ever-changing creative industry, by which Janey will continue to educate and enlighten for decades to come.

Janey Ironside was professor of fashion at London’s Royal College of Art, a position she held from 1956 to 1968. She was a key figure in enabling fashion to be accepted as a valid academic subject in Britain.