The book covers every kind of high-fashion male and female accessory for both day and evening wear: hats and caps; shoes, boots, slippers, and sandals; bags and purses; umbrellas and parasols; jewelry; scarves, stoles, and capes; gloves and belts; cravats, ties, and bow-ties. It includes a wide range of streetwear and sportswear, from baseball caps to plastic sandals, and every variety of the ubiquitous late-century sports shoe. All the century's archetypal accessories are identified, from the luxurious ostrich-feather and flower-bedecked hat of the 1910s and the cloche and pearl necklace of the 1920s, to the velvet scarf and mini-backpack of the 1990s.

A final reference section contains a comprehensive bibliography and a chart that shows at a glance how accessories have evolved since 1900. There are biographies of the century's most influential accessories designers, from Salvatore Ferragamo and Manolo Blahnik to Patrick Cox and Georgina von Etzdorf, plus short histories of companies and firms that have played an important role in accessory design. For fashion enthusiasts, historians, and collectors, as well as designers working in the performing arts, this book will be the definitive reference work on twentieth-century accessories.