American Style and Spirit: Fashions and Lives of the Roddis Family, 1850-1995

Winner of the 2017 Milia Davenport Publication Award given by the Costume Society of America. Brought to life for the first time outside the attic in which they were stored for generations, here are more than 300 garments and accessories, beautifully preserved and complemented by archival objects, family photographs, and letters. The book is packed with evocative descriptions of whom the garments belonged to, when they were made or bought, and even where they were worn-all by members of the Roddis family of Marshfield, Wisconsin. Author Jane Bradbury describes the joy of discovering the clothes when her aunt, Augusta Denton Roddis, showed her the astonishing collection. A remarkable resource, the book presents the garments and their designers in the context of the various eras in which they were created, from the turn of the 20th century, spanning the 1920s and The Depression, through to the late 1990s. Beautifully designed, this is a must-have for every fashion enthusiast.