From the momentous invention of the needle some 40,000 years ago to the development of denim, from Neolithic weavers to the biggest names in the fashion industry today - here is a matchless guide to the landmarks of costume history and the forms and materials used through the ages, as well as to the underlying motives of fashion and the ways in which clothes have been used to protect, to express identity, and to attract or to influence others.

This fifth edition features a new chapter by Professor Amy de la Haye, Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History and Curatorship at London College of Fashion, charting the increasingly diverse styles that characterize the new millennium, from radical reinventions at major fashion houses to affordable and disposable ‘fast fashion’.

Woven in with the latest looks are explorations of recent developments in fashion media: influential blogs, online shopping and celebrity trendsetters, which together form a fascinating picture of how we dress in the 21st century.