No comments about On the Edge: Images from 100 Years of VOGUE.

3 comments about Dressing Smart for Women: 101 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make...and How to Avoid Them (Career Savvy).

1. The author gives some good tips on color, basic items to buy and styles but the photos are terrible. They are extremely outdated - who wears denim jeans with animal print and belts printed on them? Or jeans splattered with paint that look like a bad spinart project. The few photos that are in the book are very outdated. The author also trys to pair a scarf with everything. Maybe I'm too young for this book but I was trying to find something that would show me how to put together a professional look. I'm still looking.



2. This book is worth over $5600. That's how much I paid for my Color 1 Associate training from Joanna Nicholson in 1990.

   This book contains all that I learned and more. I have saved myself and others thousands of dollars of fashion mistakes by using her approach to color and style.

   Buy the book if you are interested in easy to understand, accurate information about how to look great everyday using your best colors and styles.

   Joanna's color system is not seasonal and she believes everyone can wear every color as long as the shade,and clarity are flattering.

   There is so much great information in this book that you might feel a little overwhelmed. In that case it might be worthwhile to slowly read the book and highlight parts that pertain to you.

   If you have diffulty determining your color type you may want to contact your nearest Color 1 Associate who can quickly shorten your learning curve about your best colors and styles. Then you can use this book as a reference.




3. JoAnna Nicholson is brillant! She goes over complete head to toe looks for dressing smart and elegant in any situation. Starting with color which is essential in looking great, to shoes, belts, purses, hairstyles .... everything for the finished, polished look. She also makes you very aware of all the myths and bad advice we have received throughout the years. The color pictures in the book are very helpful. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

1 comments about Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications).

1. Published to accompany last year's exhibition at the Met in NYC, this is a wonderful artbook, replete with luxurious full-color illustrations and close-ups of the tapestries exhibited, most of which come from European museums (Madrid and Vienna in particular). The text is highly informative (on weaving techniques, on the artists involved, on the patrons, on the significance of the depicted scenes, etc), almost encyclopedic on this form of art long considered as minor and justly rehabilitated with this collector's piece of a book.

1 comments about Concepts of Pattern Grading: Techniques for Manual and Computer Grading.

1. I have been looking for a book that really helps me understand the "grading" process to paper patterns. I have found the book. I bought this book on accident, and I have still not been sad about it yet. It is a wonderful book filled with great ideas, and lots of illustrations to help you understand the process.
   This book is not going to teach you how to pattern a costume, but this helps you adjust your design to different sizes for mass production. So if you are looking how to make patterns this is not the book, it is for someone with some training, or understanding of paper pattern drafting.

5 comments about A Dedicated Follower of Fashion.

1. I ordered the books for my boss, so I didn't actually read it. I did however meet the author!



2. Brubach's reporting on fashion is cultural as well as critical, making it some of the most intriguing writing in either the New Yorker, Atlantic, or New York Times in the last decade or more. This elegantly designed but engrossingly readable book is witty, scholarly and insightful, but still the best reason for buying this book is that it's a grand read if if you don't care about fashion as a daily fan. Like all additions to a home library, this illuminates a world from an intelligent, learned perspective. It will become a classic collection of essays.



3. Brubach does little to convince me that fashion is not, in fact, shallow and dismissable. She comes close to an epiphany of meaning in an essay about the French and the social reading of personal appearance, then loses her ground totally in an article about large size fashions, exposing her own biases without self-awareness. I only struggled my way through this because I'd both looked forward to it based on advance press (fished in!) and spent good money on it. I don't think I'll keep it; off to Half-Price Books for Holly.



4. Reader beware: if you buy this book expecting to find a fun, entertaining read about clothes, you'll be disappointed. However, if what you want is a book that provides insight into how fashion is a business, and the factors that influence the success of that business, then this may be the book for you. Another caution: although the print date is listed as 1999, the articles and examples were written much earlier.



5. Holly Brubach writes with intelligence and wit about a subject that most people dismiss. She understands the thoughtful, artistic aspect of fashion design as well as its more ludicrous side. Designers themselves should be happy with her writing because she takes them seriously, distinguishing art from hype. But it seems that some of them have banned her from their shows for not regurgitating their self-valuations. Brubach's writing compares very favorably to current art criticism and social commentary. But the best thing of all is that she is funny and entertaining, and you don't need to be a fashion insider to enjoy this book.

4 comments about Feeding The Eye : Essays.

1. As much fun as sitting in your accountant's office with your lap full of tax receipts. Of course, there are worse things in life, but please, remind me of what they are. Better yet, don't remind me!



2. This woman knows how to write a book review! Most book reviews are rehashes of the book itself--a book report not a book review. Ann Hollander possesses a dazzling storehouse of knowledge about visual art and is able to bring far ranging comparisons to her reviews. Her style is a bit dry but always smooth and even both in praise and reproof. Her references and in-depth knowledge of her subjects caused me to purchase three more more books. Feeding the Eye is not always scintillating reading but is a book that need not be read all at once. Hollander's historical perception of dance, fashion, music and art makes one thirst for more from her. She is a woman that is well versed on many subjects. I would love to sit next to her at a dinner party and regale me with the stories of Coco Chanel and the little black dress....



3. This woman knows how to write a book review! Most book reviews are rehashes of the book itself--a book report not a book review. Ann Hollander possesses a dazzling storehouse of knowledge about visual art and is able to bring far ranging comparisons to her reviews. Her style is a bit dry but always smooth and even both in praise and reproof. Her references and in-depth knowledge of her subjects caused me to purchase three more more books. Feeding the Eye is not always scintlating reading but is a book that need not be read all at once. Hollander's historical perception of dance, fashion, music and art makes one thirst for more from her. She is a woman that is well versed on many subjects. I would love to sit next to her at a dinner party and regale me with the stories of Coco Chanel and the little black dress....



4. The art of seeing and the persistent human need for visual stimulation are the subjects of this group of book reviews and essays. Collections of articles are sometimes difficult to read straight through. These, however, are unified by Hollander's conviction that dance, film and fashion are the most distinctive art forms of the 20th century. Anyone interested in those subjects will find this book ideal. Again and again I found myself eager to explore the books that the author was discussing. As a book about books, this volume is a great success. A critic who can discuss art, fashion, film, dance and literature and offer creative comparisons betweem them is a national treasure in an age when most writers can only cover their own restricted turf.

2 comments about Marion Foale's Classic Knitwear: A Beautiful Collection of 30 Original Patterns.

1. If you love the look of sweaters of the 40's and 50's, this classic by Marion Foale will be an essential part of your knitting library.
   
   There are vests, long cardigans, short bust-hugging "jumpers", kids sets, tennis sweaters. All with that long line and subtle knit-purl engraved patterning typical of the restrained era of knit design. One sweater is beaded. I've seen sweaters like these in vintage knitting books from World War II.
   
   This is a great work for costumers, and for fashion students who are looking for classic lines in design. Also fun for knitters who want to make vintage-looking knits. Beautiful book.



2. If you're anything like me, you see Marion Foale's extraordinary sweaters at stores like Barney's and think, "I could knit that $500 sweater, if only I had a pattern."

   Well, this ISN'T the book for you. Perhaps the 1985 copyright date should have tipped me off, but these are true classics, not chic little body-hugging numbers with exquisite finish. Patterns include a couple of traditional cardigans, a sleeveless vest that's like a long tunic, and a number of pullovers. They have some of her terrific details -- for example, one of the pullovers has a garter stitch collar. But I wasn't looking for yarn-over eyelets in a diamond shape.

   A nit: the book advertises something like 30 patterns, but many of them are variants -- ie, the same basic idea will be done as a cardi, a vest, and a v-neck pullover.

   If Classics are your thing, you may like this book. If you're looking for fashion, pass.

   PS -- if you find truly outstanding patterns for body-hugging sweaters that can take the place of jackets (rather than looking tarty) please let me know!

No comments about Shoe Design.

1 comments about Shanghai Girl Gets All Dressed Up.

1. This is quite simply one of the most engaging, charming, and informative books I've ever read. It is facile enough to draw in the casual reader but informatie enough to cover a bit of history little-covered up until now, even to historians. Lovely illustrations, carefully researched. Every theatrical costumer or theater dept should have a copy on hand, and lovers of vintage Chinese (Asian) clothing will appreciate it. Great treatment of life in Manchu china: footbinding, nightclubs, prostitution, etc. Highly recommended.

1 comments about Everybody Cosplay Volume 1.

1. The book cover says it all. Jan Kurotaki, cosplayer, Newtype USA columnist, manga author, video game designer, and fashion model, has been cosplaying for ten years. In this book is many of the photos and columns from Newstype USA. Each section has a few pages of photos of the same costume and two paragraphs, one explaining the costume and one explaining the characters. She gives tips of keeping down the costs, what material to use and how to wear the outfits. Note: Some outfits you don't want to move too fast in, you may flash somebody. Some of the outfits are cute, some are sexy, some she is even crossplaying - cosplaying as a male character. Some of the outfits she wears JUST for fun. A must for any manga, cosplay, anime library.