The 1950s were the golden years of haute couture, captured by iconic images of glamorous models wearing dramatic clothes. Yet the real women who wore these clothes adapted them to suit their own tastes, altered them to extend their life, and often could not bear to part with them long after the dresses had outlived their use. This gorgeously illustrated book demonstrates why so many of these designs are still in existence and why we are fascinated by them fifty years later.

Alexandra Palmer is the fashion and costume curator at the Royal Ontario Museum and an adjunct professor in the graduate program in art history at York University and the art history department at the University of Toronto.

Alexandra Palmer's profile page

• Short-listed, Raymond Klibansky Prize, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Science
• Short-listed, Millia Davenport Award, Costume Society of America
• Winner, Clio Award (Ontario), Canadian Historical Association
• Winner, Tom Fairley Award, Editor’s Association of Canada
• Runner-up, Alcuin Citation for excellence in book design in Canada, Alcuin Society