"Quite simply the most fascinating record of a -[fashion] victim- one could hope for." The Spectator This captivating study reproduces arguably the most extraordinary primary source documents in fashion history. Providing a revealing window onto the Renaissance, it chronicles how style-conscious accountant Matth- Schwarz and his son Veit Konrad experienced life through clothes, and climbed the social ladder through fastidious management of self-image. These bourgeois dandies- agenda resonates as powerfully today as it did in the 16th century: one has to dress to impress, and dress to impress they did. The Schwarzes recorded their sartorial triumphs as well as failures in life in a series of portraits by illuminists over 60 years, which have been comprehensively reproduced in full color for the first time. These exquisite illustrations are accompanied by the Schwarzes- fashion-focussed yet at times deeply personal captions, which render the pair the world-s first fashion bloggers
