This 2-volume set marks ABC-CLIO’s entry into the field of world dress and costume studies. While the publisher’s Greenwood imprint offers numerous reference works onfashion throughout history, including the 3-volume Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing through World History, this newest work studies traditional clothing as an expression of cultural, social, and ethnic identity. Editor Jill Condra emphasizes the timeliness of studying national dress as a form of historic preservation, especially during a period of increased homogenization and globalization of social, cultural, and ethnic traditions.

The Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World features entries by 46 contributing scholars and curators worldwide. (A brief biographical entry for each author is provided at the end of volume 2.) More than 130 nations and ethnic regions are represented in approximately 80 entries, and the organizational structure is standardized throughout the set. Each entry contains an overview of historical and geographical background, as well as in depth discussions of clothing and people in each country and region, including sections on materials and techniques of clothing and textile production.

A complete “Entry Guide” is provided at the beginning of each volume indicating the beginning page of each entry, but it is puzzling that volume numbers are omitted from these entries. For example, to locate entries for Greece or China one must first thumb through the entire set to locate the appropriate page range. However, volume 2 includes a lengthy bibliography, an index, and a useful list of “Museums with National Dress and Textile Collections.” Entries vary in length from 8 to 12 pages and end with a “Further Reading and Resources” section containing recommended print and electronic resources. Entries on China, Japan, Ethiopia, the Caribbean Islands, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Mexico provide clear and concise overviews of traditional dress, decorative accessories, as well as sections on contemporary culture. Michelle Hardy, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Nickle Arts Museum in Calgary, Alberta, contributes an entry on the history and diversity of traditional clothing in India, including sections on materials and techniques, jewelry, body paint and body modifications, as well as contemporary use of ethnic dress. In addition, Hardy includes an important section on India’s innovations in textile dyes and design and the impact of these designs on the European textile trade during the 17th through 19th centuries.

In the “Introduction” to the Encyclopedia of National Dress, Condra acknowledges the historic and contemporary intersections between fashion and art, noting that clothing can often be viewed as works of art and “Great beauty can be seen in the designs of particular garments, their material, and how they drape the human form” (1:xi). It is therefore disappointing that the illustrations in these volumes are few and far between and of such poor resolution that readers may not appreciate the fine design motifs, textile patterns, textures, and beadwork described in the well written and researched entries. Readers may instead need to refer to Eicher and Ross’s Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion (Oxford University Press, 2010). This 9-volume set offers students and researchers numerous illustrations and photographs of textiles, national clothing, and accessories worldwide and throughout history. Nevertheless, the compact, concise format of Encyclopedia of National Dress provides an easy to read introduction to the history of world dress and ethnic traditions. This reference work is recommended for public, high school, and community college collections.