WWD Century, Special Collectors Edition, September 1998, edited by Edward Nardoza, published by Fairchild Publications, New York, NY — 268 pages — profusely illustrated — measures: 10 1/8" x 13 3/4"

Contents:

• Letter From the Chairman
• The Decades:
• 1900-1909:
• It's a new century, full of promise and experimentation. Immigrants swarm America's shores, providing a cheap work force that is the backbone of the U.S. garment industry. Couture prospers in Paris, and the S-shaped silhouette is the look of the day.
• 1910-1919:
• The second decade is full of battle and progress. World War I, dubbed "the war to end all wars," is fought, bringing women into the workplace — complete with a new, suitable wardrobe. Suffragettes fight for and eventually win women's right to vote in 1919, and unions keep up their struggle to develop labor laws to protect mostly immigrant workers.
• 1920-1929:
• Life is a dare — a mad, wondrous jaunt. The Jazz Age is one of instant gratification and defiance... play now, pay later. Chanel emerges, hemlines dance along the leg, youth is idealized in the flapper. On the darker side, fascism is on the rise, Hitler publishes his book... and in the U.S., the Great Depression looms.
• 1930-1939:
• After nearly a decade of endless partying, the country suffers from a massive hangover brought on by the stock market crash of 1929, which dramatically impacts the luxury and fashion businesses. But the movies provide a source of escapism, and Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd president, giving a petrified nation a New Deal to put people back to work.
• 1940-1949:
• World War II engulfs the globe and even takes its toll on fashion as materials are rationed. Women are back in the work force, wearing pants and cutting their hair. But after the war, femininity returns as Dior's New Look dazzles the fashion world, setting a pace for decades to come.
• 1950-1959:
• From the New Look to poodle skirts. Hula-Hoops to TV, the decade is fat and fun. The country is giddy with postwar prosperity, optimism and modern conveniences, even against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Korean Conflict. In high fashion, the decade belongs to Dior, but Elvis Presley's explosion on the music scene makes rock'n'roll one of the century's most powerful social forces, in fashion as well as popular culture.
• 1960-1969:
• A walk on the wild side, from the elegance of Camelot to the abandon of Woodstock to those unbelievable footsteps on the moon. The Sixties compresses a remarkable volume of history into a relatively short moment — Vietnam and the antiwar movement, assassinations, Civil Rights, the Pill, sexual freedom. Fashion goes from the pillbox hat to defiant bra-burning to space-age chic.
• 1970-1979:
• The "me" decade is one of the most reviled — and, ironically, revisited — periods in fashion. It is the era often called "the decade taste forgot" (remember leisure suits?) Fashion romps from the hippie hangover that leads to ethnic and retro influences, to the storied days of Studio 54, to violence expressed in punk, terrorist chic and aggressive uniform looks.
• 1980-1989:
• Big money rules. It's the era of Conspicuous Consumption and leveraged buyouts. And American designers like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan become household names. The Reagan presidency sets the tone for a New Society of elegant affluence and extravagance, when clothes as large as the times. Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles are wed in a fairy-tale fantasy, and Di's gown is one of the most copied dresses of the next few years.
• 1990-1999:
• The last decade of the millennium is one of extremes. Overt opulence is over, minimalism is in, stripping away the glitz of the Eighties, in fashion and in photography. In the workplace, dress codes are shattered.
• The Metamorphosis of American Retailing
• New York's Lucky Seventh
• The Italian Conquerors
• Fashion's Fantasy Lab
• The Image Makers
• The Sweet Smell of Success
• Innerwear: From Corsets to Consciousness
• The Sign of the Cloth
• The Icons
• The First Ladies
• Star Power
• They Told WWD
• Acknowledgements
• Louise's Fashionary