This book is a comprehensive library of dress styles to be used as a reference for the fashion designer, fashion student and anyone interested in the fashion industry. The book is a springboard for ideas. Designer-educators Tracy Fitzgerald and Alison Taylor document all aspects of the dress, offering a lexicon of design inspiration. Illustrated with a superb catalogue of visual imagery, the book provides a common fashion language of terminology and is supported by a glossary of terms, and cross-references for further research. Creating an overview of how the dress evolved and its impact on the fashion industry, the authors pay homage to the experimental, the beautiful, and the innovative, showing how a dress can encapsulate a designer's vision and can often act as the key piece within a collection.