Accessorize! 250 Objects of Fashion & Desire Bianca du Mortier, Ninke Bloemberg

From purses to parasols, spectacles to slippers, wigs to walking sticks, the Rijksmuseum has a superb collection of fashion accessories that also includes a rich array of more familiar items: hats, gloves, and shoes for both men and women. Ranging from the fifteenth to the twenty-first centuries, the objects in this stylish book are grouped by colour, allowing intriguing juxtapositions of period, material, and type.

Many of these accessories were originally received as gifts on all kinds of occasions and for all kinds of reasons: a souvenir from a distant country sent to the family back home; a pair of gloves or a purse embroidered with symbols of marriage and the couple's initials; an ivory fan commissioned in Canton, carved with the initials of a lover or inscribed with an amorous allusion; an embroidered cap from a wife to a husband to mark the birth of a child; a fan for a daughter from her grateful parents for her loyal obedience; or a gift for wedding guests to take home.

Superb photography and award-winning design make this an exceptionally desirable book for every follower of fashion with a sense of history.

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This book accompanies a collection at the Rijksmuseum, which can be viewed online here.

Bianca du Mortier is curator of costumes at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Ninke Bloemberg is fashion and costume project curator at the Centraal Museum, Utrecht.

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