Laver was a professional in the field, of course, so he was generally at a somewhat higher level than Murray or Poole; but Laver tended to adopt a smugly arrogant sneering-and-jeering tone, and in his eagerness to dash off little bon mots and quips (quips that weren't necessarily as funny and clever as he thought they were), he sometimes made broad sweeping generalizations that weren't entirely strictly accurate.

For example, I love the pic included below -- but due to Laver's seeming carelessness, I'm still somewhat in doubt as to its true nature. It shows an English couple visiting France in 1814-1815, and the French are snickering and pointing at their clothes, while the picture caricatures the French people's own clothes. Now Laver would have us believe that this picture is a French caricature, but I find this rather hard to believe...

One fashion book that do I find very interesting (partly because it has an attitude opposite to Laver's in many respects) is On Human Finery by Quentin Bell (2nd. edition of 1976). It doesn't include too much details on the styles of any one particular period, but as far as a broad historical overview and an approach to a general philosphy of style, Bell beats Laver all hollow (despite the fact that Bell was not a professional expert in the field while Laver was). You can see my own personal condensed interpretation of some of the main points of the Bell book at http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/fashcycl.html

Here's the 1814 illustration whose provenance Laver leaves somewhat confusing: