I had read several encouraging reviews and decided to purchase this book; and unfortunately, I feel that I wasted my money.
On the plus side, while the author says nothing new, she does a good job of going over social and fashion trends of the time; I will give her credit for a decent job of writing and research.
But for me, as for other vintage fashion enthusiasts, any book on historical garments must include lots, and I mean lots, of great illustrations, whether photographs or reprints from contemporary periodicals and catalogs. This is where "Victorian to Vamp" falls disappointingly short.
The reprints are of indifferent quality, a couple of them quite crude (the author couldn't get her hands on a better picture of Amelia Jenks Bloomer? Come on!). And for a book of this type, why oh why couldn't the editors have sprung for a couple of prints in color?
If the author would care to reissue this with the help of a better photo/print researcher, I might be tempted to revise my opinion.