The Devil's Cloth: A History of Stripes

This book is for a friend who makes clothing and adores fabric. So, no, I did not read it, but I'm giving it 5 stars because of the vibrant, inviting cover art and quality of the book making itself. It is somewhat thin, so a quick read, no doubt. She is a snowbird who even sews on their boat, so this is a Welcome Home surprise.

Great insight into the historic canon, iconography, and symbolism of strips throughout the years. This book was fascinating, and well written.

Adequate condition. Pencil underlinings in text not mentioned by seller

A perfectly splendid look as an important aspect of Medieval dress and how it was perceived during it's time and in later centuries. Scholarlarly, erudite, informative and full of surprises. Highly recommended.

Not enough images and pictures inside. I though it would be much more illustrated and that photos would be in color...unfortunately no color and several images only

Limited to European history of cloth.

Glad that when i needed this book it was available for a reasonable price and is in GREAT condition! I just wish it came a little sooner, but still very happy with it!

Michel Pastoureau's The Devil's Cloth: A History of Stripes is an intriguing book in that what it relates - the role of stripes and their meaning in western culture over the centuries - is fascinating. But at the same time the book ends up frustrating the reader with its two-fold incompleteness: a paucity of illustrations and a lack of proper exploration of the questions it raises as to why stripes were viewed as they were at various times in history.The failure to provide appropriate illustrations in inexplicable. There are a total of ten illustrations provided, but due to the nature of the subject matter, a hundred or more would be needed for the reader to truly understand what the author is talking about. This is one of those cases where a picture is worth more than a thousand words and the lack of a picture is seriously crippling.To its credit, the book does present a lot of interesting background on how stripes were viewed and used over the centuries and how the views and usages could and did change from time to time. In the medieval period, stripes were used to mark those of questionable or lower social status, from fools and servants to prostitutes and hangmen. Later still, in 18th century America and France, stripes were used as symbols of revolutionary spirit. Particularly intruiging was the chapter on stripes and hygiene where stripes became closely associated with things close to the body, like undergarments, socks, swimwear, sleepwear and even sheets and mattresses.But Pastoreau never adequately follows up on what he presents. He shows, convincingly, that a certain attitude towards or usage of stripes was prevalent at a particular place and time, but beyond an occasional speculation, he never really provides an adequate background to answer the fundamental question of why this was so.Overall, the book is worth reading as it covers, however inadequately, a very interesting bit of cultural, social and even artistic history. But one hopes that someone else either has done or will someday do a proper book on the subject that will give it the attention it deserves.

Zustand des Buches so wie beschrieben, schnelle und problemlose Lieferung

This is a must read for anybody interested in fabric, history, and social symbolism. Absolutely thrilled to find such a well researched and lovingly written book on such an esoteric topic.