The Met Store FASHION IS…* Fashion|Met Publications

This engaging book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers nearly two hundred illustrated definitions of fashion, all presented as simple, concise observations and reactions: A Givenchy gown is made to order, a Diane von Furstenberg dress is ready-to-wear. A Rodarte dress is punk, an Anne Fogarty day dress and coat is polite. An eighteenth-century court dress is opulent, a Calvin Klein ensemble is unadorned.

Reaching across time and form, from ancient Greek vases to nineteenth-century paintings to contemporary costumes, the selected works represent the Metropolitan Museum’s vast collection and are sure to inspire both novice and seasonal costume lovers to create their own definitions of fashion.