ABOUT THIS BOOK: Furs for Men (Twentieth Century Histories of Fashion) Hardcover ? April 1, 1997 by Anna Municchi (Author). History confirms that the first garment used by man after the proverbial fig-leaf was the fur, which immediately became a form of "social dress". And so the history of furs as used for clothing follows the development of human society itself, often very clearly, and sometimes adding special insights. Inventories of the High Middle Ages tell us how men with even the minimum social standing to defend never left the house without at least a trimming or a small cape-collar in fur. Sumptuary laws have been in existence since the earliest times to prevent the unrestrained spread of the use of furs, to the detriment of the privileged classes. The privilege of wearing the choicest items was naturally reserved for the powerful, the rich and sometimes to special groups within the army, whose image had to reflect the status of their commander. Men's furs in the Twentieth Century followed a series of phases, with one or two pauses in the dolldrums succeeded by upward trends leading to the breaking out of the unrestrained use of furs of all kinds after the 1950s. During this period all the fashion operators let themselves go in the wildest of fur creations. These were real flashes of creative extravagance, extraordinary and amusing. Then the damper was applied again. Do men's furs have a future? Time will tell. Condition: Good. Packed in a BOX with padding. Click on Photo to see actual item. Same or next day shipping (weekdays and Saturdays)! Ships from California. Pages: not written on, clean, bright, blindstamp (owner seal, not ink) on intro page, odor free, fine edges. Dust Jacket: clean, bright, label on back bottom, edges - light rubbing and bumping to parts of edges.