The New Dress Detective updates and expands this highly regarded practical guide to analysing fashion objects. Featuring seven completely new case studies – including an 18th-century gown, a man's 19th-century tailored jacket and pantaloons, a 19th-century boy's frock, a woman's Edo period uchikake , a 1927 homemade wedding dress, a Dior dress ensemble, and a mass-manufactured uniform of the 1970s – this invaluable guide has been revised throughout, to enhance its usefulness for readers and to reflect the state of the field. The New Dress Detective offers tools to unravel the hidden stories in garments with a carefully developed research methodology specific to dress, with easy-to-use checklists to guide the reader through the process. Beautifully illustrated, the varied case studies of fashionable western and non-western garments articulate the methodological framework for the process, illustrate the use of the checklists, and show how evidence from the garment itself can be used to corroborate theories of dress or to engage in alternative modes of interpretation such as making, wearing or other creative outputs. Written in plain language, this book provides a structured approach to conducting object-based research in fashion for anyone interested in fashion including students and practitioners of fashion or museum studies. “A beautiful and informative primer on why materiality matters. Both everyday and extraordinary fashions become legible under Ingrid Mida's guidance, opening new possibilities for research.” ― Annette Becker, Curator and Director of the Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas, US “Thought-provoking… engaging and accessible… I look forward to using this inspiring book when introducing students to the study of fashion objects.” ― Bethan Bide, Lecturer in Fashion History, University of York, UK “Teaches students to see the beauty in rips and stains, construction and cut. It takes us deep into the guts of garments, and guides students to tease out the tales our clothes can tell.” ― Serena Dyer, Associate Professor, History of Fashion and Material Culture, De Montfort University, UK and author of Material Lives “An invaluable resource for students and specialists and a timely addition to the canon of dress history.” ― Vicky Haddock, Project Assistant Curator, Historic Royal Palaces and Lecturer, University of Brighton, UK Ingrid E. Mida is an art and dress historian with a PhD in Art History and Visual Culture. She has acted as a consultant to museums and private collectors in helping date and interpret photographs, artworks, and dress artifacts and has lectured in universities and museums in North America, Europe, and the UK.