No comments about Dysfashional.

5 comments about Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein.

1. A fascinating look into the nooks and cranies of the man, his associates and his world. A fun and fast read.



2. Yikes! No wonder why Calvin Klein tried to stop this book, it doesn't let up. The best parts were the kidnapping chapters and all the business stuff. I felt like I was inside the fashion industry--and didn't like it. This book isn't for the squeamish.



3. It's such a shame when writers decide to slander/libel/sling mug at their subjects rather than provide the reader with an objective chronology and review of a celebrity's life. I guess it makes the book "juicier" and more "saleable" to some non-discerning readers. But this is nothing better than one of those groery-store tabloids.



4. This was a fascinating book in how complete and in-depth is was. I got to understand the entire fashion and advertising industry, and the chapters about perfumes and cosmetics were terrific. The personal stuff about Calvin Klein was a little less amusing, but the chapter on his daughter's kidnapping was better than in any suspense book I ever read. No wonder why Klein tried to stop this book.



5. Let's face it, the term "fashion genius" is a contradiction in terms; an oxymoron. But this book is fun in that it has juicey gossip, and shows how much luck was involved in this success story.

No comments about Sweaters: 28 Contemporary Designs in the Norwegian Tradition.

No comments about Dress Pattern Designing (Classic Edition): The Basic Principles of Cut and Fit.

No comments about Fashion Dictionary.

3 comments about The Great T-Shirt Book: Make Your Own Spectacular, One-Of-A-Kind Designs.

1. If you have a bored teenager on your hands, this is the book to get. Some supplies from the craft store, and you're ready to unleash your creativity and wear it to school...



2. This a nice simple book on how to start decorating your T-shirts. The instructions are simple but I would have had the sample pictures near the instructions instead of at the end. Nevertheless, I highly recommend it for beginners, it inspires you to give is a go.



3. Interested in designing your own T-shirts but can't decide between techniques? This is a fun book --providing basic techniques for tie-dye, marbling, batik, stamping, and more. The illustrations are wonderful and inspiring. The instructions are really simple. Within days of purchasing this book I was dyeing and painting a handful of hand-me-down baby clothes. Serious fun!

5 comments about The Sewing Machine Guide: Tips on Choosing, Buying, and Refurbishing.

1. I don't need a book that only talks about how to justify your sewing machine purchase - and wastes numerous pages with ways to know whether you should or should not "splurge" when you visit your local sewing machine store.
   I was hoping this book would get into discussing the different features of various manufacturers - and the pros and cons of different machine types, but this info was sorely lacking.
   If you're looking for a home, computer machine and need someone to hold your hand before you feel okay to buy one, then you'll love this book.



2. O.K., so some of the information may be outdated, but in the main this is an excellent overview of sewing machines, what they are, what they should do, what you might want when purchasing one, and how to go about shopping for, purchasing, then maintaining your own sewing machine. In a breezy style which doesn't even pretend to be void of judgement, the author manages to convey his own love of the sewing machine, and his enthusiasm for the care and feeding of same. I am enjoying this book so very much, and whatever is factually outdated is probably the website listing, and the other sorts of timely material he includes. I for one love this book and hope it undergoes a revision at some time. The very fact that he has opinions and is willing to share them makes this book very different in the general "how-to" milieu, where quite frankly there is far too much generalization to find useful where products are concerned. I would rather have his opinions, then sift them with a few others to come up with something useful. BUY this - you will enjoy it, especially if you are like me - one who appreciates sewing machines for who they are, and who likes the machines better than the sewing!



3. This is an ok book for TIPS here and there, but really lame in every other way. My favorite silly piece of advice is when he says to go ahead and rub perfume on your machine to make it smell pretty. Sewing temperment? Insulting, and a waste of paper. I really tried to like the book.



4. Certainly the prior reviews have not lacked in force of opinion. It is foolish, in my estimation, to expect a book in this price range and size to go into "restoring" sewing machines. Common sense should rule that out. It is also no primer in the heavy-duty repair of machines; the author rightly directs the reader to a dealer for that. What remains in an excellent guide for the average person in doing minor maintenance on a machine. As an owner and sewer for nearly thirty years, I wouldn't dream of taking apart my computer Bernina machines but had a good time dissembling some old Singer machines--and the advice worked! I saw nothing wrong with the author's advice on shopping and buying machines, though this might vary with geography and local dealers. Though I was already aware of it, I thought his section on who owns who in the sewing world, and where machines come from, was interesting. This was not meant to be investigative writing, and no doubt the author did not wish to injure independent dealers. I found his recommendations for how to shop for machines by price to be spot on, though of course prices do go obsolete. I particularly enjoyed the full-color photos of the steps involved in minor cleaning of the machines.
   
   For this price, this is a great first book on sewing machines and their workings.



5. Some chapters of this book weren't worth the time to read them.

   The pricing guides obviously become obsolete right away. He indicates you couldn't possibly get a good sewing machine for under $150 even buying used, and that the only place to get a good used sewing machine is at a dealer, I disagree.

   The section about finding your "Sewing Tempermant" was contradictory and just wacky.

   Perhaps it's my fault for assuming that "refurbishing" would be about restoring a neglected machine to top condition, but it's actually about taking your old well-cared for machine, and cleaning, oiling and shining it up a bit.

   "How to Modernize an Old Machine" is really just a collection of tips about changing your sewing habits. Mostly very interesting tips, but not really about changing your old machine.

   Despite all of those complaints, I enjoyed the book and learned a lot. I especially liked the information on the brands, who made what when, and who's making it now, etc.

   The chapter "Setting Up Your Sewing Space" is reason enough to read this book, and certainly isn't just for novices.

No comments about Fashion Under the Occupation.

3 comments about In and Out of Vogue.

1. Regardless of how you feel about fashion or Vogue, it is an interesting character study of a woman of that time, bucking the expectations of her family, her chosen industry, and of society in general as she married very late in life and never had children.
   
   I admire Mirabella for refusing to allow cigarette ads in Mirabella and for being so independant. No, she didn't try to please anyone but herself, but what an amazing feat that was considering that Oprah has built her dynasty on teaching women how to do just that.
   
   Not the greatest book in the world, but worth reading for the viewpoint. I would also recommend reading Katharine Graham's autobiography. That will roll your socks up and down.
   
   Disclaimer: I worked for Mirabella magazine's Chicago office for the last nine months before it was sold to the publisher's of Elle magazine and was then hired by said company to work for another recent acquistion, Premiere. I met her "Grace" once and only to shake her hand and stand aside. She was pleasant, though.



2. Mirabella's scathing account of her time at Vogue reads like a bleeding heart story of how she was wronged. What her one-sided account leaves out intentionally is what an amazing fashion editor Diana Vreeland was; at Harper's Bazaar, fashion editor at Vogue and finally, editor-in-chief at Vogue. Vreeland is the quintessential fashion editor which is why she's studied in fashion schools, has had exhibits of her work at the Met, countless books written on her. Mirabella tries to claim she made fashion more democratic, but Vreeland was the true originator; her use of ethnic models, the photographers she chose to work with( Avedon, Bailey), the content of the magazine took it from being a society-rag, to a more modern take of the world of fashion and style. Mirabella turns her acid tongue not just on Vreeland but on the wonderful photographer Helmut Lang, Avedon, fashion editor Polly Mellen and of course, Anna Wintour. Mirabella doesn't take credit for her own downfall; she was an editor at fashion magazine-they show fashion in all its outrageous, banal or causal air-what ever way the winds of fashion fall, the magazine has to reflect that. Her decade was the seventies. She reflected what was happening in fashion and the world at the time; she showcased American designers like Halston, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, Geoffrey Beene. She favored the tall, blued-eyed blondes Patti Hansen, Roseanne Vela, Lauren Hutton, Karen Graham with their "tiny noses and big white teeth...exotic, `interesting'-looking girls weren't for me. The word of the day was pretty." She admits her book. But the eighties was the complete opposite of the seventies, but she chose to stay firmly planted in the past instead of showing the fashions of the eighties; she despised Christian Lacroix's clothes choosing to ignore one of the hottest designers at the time while other fashion outlets(Bazaar, Women's Wear Daily, Elle, etc) where showing his popular designs. Is it no wonder than that Alex Liberman had to overrule her? Her ego is so over the top, she felt she was "saving" women from fashions she didn't care for. The irony of the situation is she was fired for the exact same reason Vreeland was: being out of touch with fashion.
   Her book is an interesting read in a person so detached from reality and how they ruined their own career. What of Mirabella's own magazine, the magazine for real women? It folded like a stack of cards. It goes to show you what women really want.



3. Grace Mirabella not only lets you in on her life and her rise throught the fashion world, but she also takes us you on a wonderful ride and adventure. She truly made VOGUE a wonderful magazine and when she was 'let go' she didn't pout instead she started her own successful magazine, MIRABELLA. Thank you Grace for writing your memoir and sharing your life with us all.

No comments about Developing and Branding the Fashion Merchandising Portfolio.