From Library Journal
The authors, curators in the Department of Textiles and Dress in London's Victoria & Albert Museum, have compiled a glorious array of color photographs and period illustrations of rare bags and shoes from the museum. An informed and fascinating account of the development of shoes and purses since the Middle Ages results. Bags traces the development of this accessory from 14th-century girdle bags to 20th-century purses exhibiting the creative use of leather or manufactured materials. Shoes track decorative shoes, with varying heel heights, from medieval flats to modern lucite heels. Both books discuss men's and women's accessories but picture more of the latter, since more examples have survived.
