An Intricately Illustrated 19th-Century Study of Global Fashions

In 1876, French scholar and artist Auguste Racinet published Le Costume historique (The Costume History), an illustrated sartorial tour throughout world history. This six-volume work, with 500 detailed color illustrations, spanned millennia, from the ancient Egyptians' plumed headdresses to bedazzled medieval crowns to the felt leggings of 19th-century Russian peasants. To this day, the book remains the most thorough and intricately illustrated study of global fashions ever attempted.

Now, this "Bible of Costume," as French newspaper Le Figaro called it, has been reprinted in its colorful entirety by Taschen. The publishing house had previously printed a compilation of Racinet's plates, but the newest version is arranged according to his original organization by culture and subject, and presents his witty commentary alongside the illustrations. It's an accessible, elaborate visual history of all the weird, uncomfortable clothes people thought looked good, from massive, powdered wigs to feathered war helmets. Contemporary artists, designers, illustrators, and historians will find no shortage of inspiration in its pages.

Thanks to globalization, the hyper-specific traditional clothing styles of individual cultures around the world are now in danger of extinction; they're increasingly being replaced by the mass-manufactured contemporary uniform of T-shirts and jeans. France's styles are no longer as distinct from England's as they were in the 18th century; clothing no longer signifies social status as obviously as it did in ages of bejeweled royalty lording over peasantry. In this context, The Costume History is a documentary treasure trove, compactly preserving outmoded styles all in one place. "For the 21st-century reader, [The Costume History] offers a chance to reconstruct ancient times, an exercise of memory and imagination that has its own charms," writes Francoise Tetart-Vittu in the book's introduction.

That doesn't mean The Costume History is without its problems. "Let there be no mistake, this work dates from the period when the West dreamed of establishing an indefinite reign over the entire world," Tetart-Vittu writes. Racinet's 19th-century colonialist bias comes through in his book's Eurocentrism; for example, he devotes a mere 15 illustrations to the clothing and ornament of the African continent, as opposed to dozens of illustrations and pages of text on the fashions of his native France. "The wide range of authors that Racinet consulted when undertaking his panorama of national and ethnic customs included very disparate sources, such as Latin writers and the narratives of explorers now forgotten. But the sources that he synthesizes with such brio were almost invariably European."

Still, Tetart-Vittu argues that "When we read Racinet attentively, we cannot but perceive his openness of mind. The notion of constituting a sort of general archive of costume, including in a single work all times, places, epochs, forms and tastes — the very idea of demonstrating the eclecticism of the world's cultures — takes its place in a vast project tending to emphasize the extraordinary diversity of humankind."

11 iconic Miss Universe National Costumes

During the early years of the Miss Universe Pageant, the national costumes were mostly wearable traditional dresses that highlighted the countries' rich history and culture.

As the pageant grew bigger and the competition, stiffer, the national costumes became more extravagant as a way to be noticed. But it wasn't until 1962 that the Best in National Costume Award was given. The first recipient was Miss England 1962, Kim Carlton, who wore a sexy, mini version of a Beefeater uniform. Little did she know that decades later, popular Halloween costumes would be the ultra-sexy version of almost any uniform or profession.

Thailand

The most successful continent is Asia with a total number of 21 wins. Thailand leads the pack with 6 wins (1969, 1988, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2015). Thai costumes exude a sense of royalty and are inherently rich and luxurious with the use of gold, embroidery, and silk. But the inspirations are quite varied and unique with only the 1969 and 1988 versions depicting the more traditional form.

In 2015, Thailand's Aniporn Chalermburanawong chose to wear a tuk-tuk inspired costume. It was made of chromium and featured working headlights. Hirankrit Paipibulkul designed this now iconic take on the iconic tuk tuk.

Paraguay

Before there were Victoria's Secret Angels, there were the jaw-dropping costumes from South America. This continent has scored a total of 16 wins. Most are the various depictions of pre-Columbian themes, featuring ancient civilizations and their deities. Expect a plethora of plummage, sequins, ornate headdresses, and dramatic wing pieces.

Although Colombia has the most wins with 6 (1968,1985,1990, 1991, 1997, 2002), the most memorable has to be that of Pamela Zarza, Miss Paraguay 1992. She wore what is believed to be the biggest (12 feet tall) and heaviest costume of all time. It was so enormous that she could barely move around on the stage and covered all the delegates behind her. Makes you wonder how she managed to transport this from Paraguay to Bangkok, Thailand.

Philippines

The Philippines won the Best in National Costume Award in 1994 when the pageant was held in Manila. Charlene Gonzalez wore a Pitoy Moreno creation inspired by the Bagobo and Higanon native dresses. The costume used native t'nalak materials with an authentic Bagobo belt and Higanon headdress. Charlene ended up among the Top 6 finalists.

Japan

Miss Japan 2006 Kurara Chibana is credited for popularizing the powerful female warrior national costume trend. She wore an ultra sexy, fierce, red samurai costume complete with a samurai sword. Shin guards never looked more sexy when paired with high heels. Kurara slayed the competition and won Best in National Costume. She showed that an empowered, strong woman doesn't have to act like a man. Her strength lies simply in being a woman.

Although she was the crowd favorite, Kurara settled for first runner-up to Puerto Rico's Zuleyka Rivera.

China

Miss Universe China 2012, Ji Dan Xu, looked exquisite in her white and blue gown inspired by a Chien Dynasty-styled vase from ancient China with a huge fan headdress accented with two very long tassles for more drama. This was created by Chinese designer, Guo Pei, and was featured in her Spring/Summer 2010 Haute Couture Collection. Luxury, class, and elegance are personified in this amazing costume. A perfect blend of costume, couture, and pageantry. It was very refreshing to see haute couture instead of the garish and outlandish costumes we are used to seeing on the Miss Universe stage.

Miss Universe winners who won Best in National Costume

The National Costume Competition is not part of the scoring that determines the semi-finalists and winner in Miss Universe. However, it is a great way to stand out from the rest of the candidates. There have been 3 instances where the Best in National Costume eventually won Miss Universe.

1988 – Thailand

Porntip Nakhirunkhanok wore a traditional Thai dress. By today's standards, this costume seems to be very simple, lacking the stage drama of previous winning costumes. She went on to win Thailand's second Miss Universe crown.

1998 – Trinidad/Tobago

Wendy Fitzwilliam, in a very sexy, sequined, gold two piece Carnivale creation by Harts Carnival with very long pheasant feathers, perfectly complemented Wendy's golden complexion and 6' frame. Wendy convincingly won Trinidad and Tobago's second crown.

2003 – Dominican Republic

Amelia Vega wore this colorful, fantasy interpretation of the Carribean sea with corals, seahorses, and starfish. She is the tallest Miss Universe standing at 6'2". It's no wonder she could pull off this very heavily embellished costume and win the Dominican Republic's first-ever Miss Universe crown.

It would be interesting to see if the candidates will continue the empowered female warrior costumes; stick to the fantasy, Las Vegas, carnivale-inspired costumes; or go back to the wearable, native, traditional dresses of the past.

With dolls and costumes, Hakka people celebrate ancient history

LOOKING like living dress-up dolls, elaborately costumed children are paraded through an eastern China village as firecrackers roar, commemorating the end of barbaric child sacrifices hundreds of years ago.

It's an annual event in the village of Tufang in coastal Fujian Province, where China's Hakka community is concentrated and marks its unique history with a range of colorful festivals.

Nearly 700 years ago, people in the area sacrificed children to ward off local demons.

But a pair of now-legendary figures, Tu Dalang and Lai Balang, left their homes to establish Tufang as a new village free of the barbaric practise.

They are said to have later traveled to mountains deeper in China's interior.

There, they learnt magic powers they could use to slay demons, eventually returning to Tufang.

The pair are now revered as god-like figures able to influence weather and bestow blessings.

To honor them, Tufang villagers bore palanquins upon which young children stood, arrayed in colorful ancient Chinese dress along with exaggerated make-up and elaborate head-dresses.

Residents set up outdoor tables of incense and candles to welcome them as firecrackers thundered, showering the streets with their shredded red wrappings while security personnel in protective gear stood guard against fires.

The ceremonies accompanied the Lantern Festival, which officially fell this year on last Saturday, but whose run-up and aftermath are marked by Hakka observances in Fujian.

The Hakka, which means "guest," are Chinese who speak their own eponymous dialect and have a history as wanderers that has given birth to a number of singular cultural rituals.

A similar observance took place in the Fujian village of Luofang, where 14 children were dressed in traditional attire to represent the seven dominant local families.

They were carried in pairs — one child on top representing a local hero and another below portraying his bodyguard.

A designated pair occupies the lead spot while the others gently jockeying behind to avoid being last.

The procession also is intended to represent seven Chinese virtues including loyalty, honesty, mercy and peace.

It was accompanied by fireworks, the aroma of incense and locals praying for a good harvest.

Costumes for Animated Films Like 'Kubo and the Two Strings' Gain Recognition

For the first time, an animated feature has been nominated for a prize at the Costume Designers Guild Awards, to be presented Feb. 21 at the Beverly Hilton.

Designer Deborah Cook used her talents to bring to life ancient Japanese characters for the stop-motion film "Kubo and the Two Strings," created by Oregon's Laika Studios and distributed by Focus Features and UPI.

Although Cook didn't receive Oscar love when Academy nominations were announced (the movie is up for best animated feature), her recognition by the guild represents a breakthrough for costume design — and a realization that serious sartorial arts belong in the realm of cartoons as well as live action.

Indeed, even producers of CG animation, such as Disney, are paying greater attention to the realism and authenticity of costumes, as exemplified by "Moana," which is also Oscar-nominated for best animated film.

In earlier days, audiences for animation paid little attention to what characters wore. However, over the past two decades, with technical advances in both CG and stop-motion animation, costumes and character design have developed as animated art forms — much to the appreciation of viewers.

Costume construction "used to be one of the last things to be considered in animation," says Cook, who previously designed the costumes for Laika's "Coraline" and has worked on the company's "ParaNorman" and "The Boxtrolls."

As technology advances, more real-looking costumes appear on the screen, and that "appeals to people," Cook maintains.

To design the costumes seen in "Kubo," she went to Japan to get a sense of how the modern population dresses, including what elements of cultural history are retained and adapted to the present.

"I collected fabrics from vintage clothing stores with authentic colors and surface work and threads, and studied how they were constructed," says Cook, who originally took instruction in fine-art sculpture and learned upholstery techniques, metalworking, silicon casting, and mold making. She went on to apply her skills in theater, television, and film.

Cook also referenced historical Japanese costumes from the Jomon, Heian, Edo, and Meiji periods — basically everything from 300 BC to the present day. As she researched, she picked up looks that would inform the film's characters and lend them a sense of authenticity.

"We weren't representing one particular era," she explains. "We were taking bits and pieces of those things and putting them into the finished product."

While CG animation requires some assembly (the costumes are often designed and constructed in real life for maximum authenticity and then adapted to the computer in a virtual format), stop-motion lives entirely in reality. Yet, it's not like dressing a human, where the movement of an arm will spur the natural movement of the fabric. In stop-motion, the fabrics need to be engineered in such a way that they replicate reality even though they exist in a miniature world.

"[Live-action] costume designers can create fabrics from scratch, and many do," explains Cook. "There are also many existing fabrics they can rely on. But we have to engineer all of it. Our puppets are still, and they're moved externally by an animator and shot at 24 frames a second. For each of those frames, the puppets and their clothing must be rigid enough to stay in that exact position yet also flexible enough to move into their next position."

At Laika, animation work is often hybrid: Lead characters are physically built, but some secondary characters are created in CG to fit within the stop-motion world.

At Walt Disney Animation Studios, the methodology is different. While the Disney animators pay an equal amount of attention to historic accuracy and details, their characters and costumes are mostly CG creations. Animators, as opposed to costume designers, create the costume looks.

Neysa Bove was a visual development artist on "Moana." "With newer technology, we're achieving more details texturally in a [CG] film," she says. "And the feel — or simulation, rather — of cloth is made to resemble real fabric more closely."

Bove worked her way up from a costume-design internship at Disney World to graphic and apparel designer at Disney Consumer Products, then to designing costumes for Barbie at Mattel. Now back at Disney, she's putting her skills to good use. Even in CG, she says, "we're actually making real clothing patterns and draping them on the character, so it speeds up the process to have someone there who understands garment construction and draping."

Roman fashion still on trend more than 2,000 years later

This week sees the release of Paramount Pictures’ new adaptation of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. This epic tale is guaranteed to set pulses racing – not least for the sight of Jack Huston at the reins of a chariot. The ancient world has, however, inspired some equally epic fashion so take your cue from our favourite Greco-Roman influenced looks and prepare to do battle for tickets.

The sandal

What were you wearing on your feet in the summer of 2015? It may well have been a gladiator sandal. The catwalks of Milan and Paris saw to that. French designer Isabel Marant sent out earthy warriors in tightly pleated minis paired with buckled ankle height sandals while Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli offered a more romantic take, with finely braided knee-high versions teamed with macramé woven dresses resembling delicate armour. Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton, however, created structured affairs with platform soles – showing them with tunics that had the appearance of designer breastplates.

The tunic

The Boho movement of the Noughties provided ample opportunity for channelling ancient civilisations. And spearheading the decade’s aesthetic were supermodel Kate Moss and actor Sienna Miller who made the look their own, taking it from music festival to the city streets. Remember Kate in that supersized coin belt slung around a khaki shift and Sienna Miller at Glastonbury working the battle-scarred centurion look with studded belt and distressed tunic? Halle Berry went a step further in a white dress by Rachel Roy cinched with a rope tie. Just the thing for a trip to the agora in Ancient Athens.

The MET Gala

The MET Gala, the celebrity-packed ball held annually in New York to benefit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is ever an eminently stylish affair, with the red carpet becoming an unofficial runway for celebrities wearing designer gowns. This year pop sensation Taylor Swift donned bespoke Louis Vuitton – a fierce silver tunic with sandals that laced up to the knee while actor Emma Stone opted for a metallic harness worn atop a flowing white Grecian style gown by Miuccia Prada.

The ancient world also proved inspirational for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley who chose a Balmain tunic of pleated leather and leopard print calf hair (above) for the event’s 2014 incarnation.

The armour

Jean Paul Gaultier’s SS10 tribal-inspired collection featured one look particularly worthy of a gladiatorial contest in the Colosseum with asymmetric body jewellery worn with a blue Grecian-inspired gown. Nicolas Ghesquière’s grommeted epaulettes of Resort 16 had the look of armour and Valentino’s SS16 collection saw leather breastplates that would make your fellow charioteers green with envy.

The boys

Rather more sober of late, there were a couple of seasons where Donatella Versace’s menswear collections were utterly immersed in the Greco-Roman zone. SS13 represented peak phalanx with her contemporary pugilists giving more than a nod to their ancient forebears, while SS15’s beach-ready boys sported towels in the manner of togas (below).

The (amphi) theatre

The American Superbowl of 2012 provided the perfect forum for a sartorial trip back in time to the ancient world. Madonna let rip in custom-made Givenchy worthy of a warrior queen while MIA’s look resembled that of a bellicose Cleopatra. In other news, Beyoncé prefers to leave historical costume to her backing dancers.