2 comments about Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Fashions: Transform Everyday Garments into Designer Originals.

1. I love to embroider. I look around for blanks all the time, and embroider them to death. So I have drooled over this book for a while. I finally bought it, and was hugely disappointed. The first few pages are a refresher course on embroidery. It talks about stabilizer, threads, even machines. It shows how to hoop, and basically is a short course in how to get set to embroider. Then you get to the projects. Each project shows you a blank (an piece of clothing that has no embroidery or designs on it already), and it shows you how to dress it up. There is probably something for everyone in the book. There is a sweater, a top, jeans, a few dresses, and much more. Some of the ideas are very unique and original. However, what I really wanted the book for was the designs. What a mistake! The designs are pretty boring, absolutely nothing special. I am very surprised, as Eileen Roche has such beautiful designs through Amazing Designs. Anyway, it was my error to get the book without seeing all the designs first.
   
   One thing that was really excellent about the book is how the placement of the designs was explained. If you have a hard time knowing where to put designs, this is a good book for that. Just don't think you are getting a bunch of gorgeous designs.



2. Eileen Roche is the founding editor of 'Designs in Machine Embroidery' and so brings a special expertise to "Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Fashions: Transform Everyday Garments Into Designer Originals". Enhanced with a profusion of colorful illustrations, as well as the inclusion of a bonus CD offering 30 original designs, "Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Fashions" focuses upon fashion embroidery using the sewing machine. Needlecraft enthusiasts are provided with twenty projects with their step-by-step instructions and coordinating outfit ideas; techniques and tips for selecting and using blanks, notions, designs, templates, stabilizers, hoops and machines; as well as invaluable information on embroidering tops and bottoms, necklines, collars, cuffs, pockets, and trim. A thoroughly 'user friendly' manual of projects and concepts, "Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Fashions" will prove a welcome and even inspiring addition to needlecraft reference collections.

1 comments about Very Vintage: The Guide to Vintage Patterns and Clothing.

1. I can't recommend this book, as there are many superior offerings out there.
   It is full of errors, both gramatical/spelling and factual. For example:
   Charles Dana Gibson is refered to as Charles Dane, and Edith Head is credited as the designer of Princess Grace's wedding dress when it was in fact Helen Rose. These are just 2 examples of many, hardly a page passes without some error.
   Also, the book spends a lot of time discussing events of post 1990- which is hardly vintage in my opinion.
   Don't waste your time or money!

No comments about Hairstyles and Fashion: A Hairdresser's History of Paris, 1910-1920 (Dress, Body, Culture).

No comments about Student Activity Guide for The World of Fashion Merchandising.

3 comments about Posing a Threat: Flappers, Chorus Girls, and Other Brazen Performers of the American 1920s.

1. I got this book and I have to say that I read the introduction off of Amazon and wanted to read more stories such as that of the author's Grandmother. The book was WAY too dry and academic which is not necessarily a problem but the author seems to have lost focus. By the closing of the book, the author seemed not to be sure just how to tie up the book. While some aspects of the book were interesting with very good illustrations within, other aspects such as the end chapters dealing with the bathing suit controversies and the chorus girl criticism seemed overwrought with angry feminist analysis from the author. It seemed as if one was trying to figure out if this was the author's own personal opinion or one based off of careful research into the topic. The author was trying to make the case that the 1920s was not an age of hedonistic freedom that is sometimes presented in other books on that time the fact is that from much of her illustrations and footnotes it can clearly be seen that in contrast to the age previous (the Edwardian) age the 20s was in fact an age of Hedonism which has of course been exposited in other books only to come to an end with the economic crash of the 30s. The author failed also to actually analyze the biographies of actual "flappers", chorus girls and others to actually posit her thesis which really failed miserably. Her analysis was simplistic.



2. This book reads like a dissertation. It's a great topic, and the cover and title promise much more than it delivers. I strongly suspect this was the author's dissertation project. That's fine because it's well-researched, and the author definitely is an expert on women in the 1920s. But it's a wet subject, and the auther serves it up dry. There's good information in here, but it'll be slow going. On the positive side, there are many great black-and-white illustrations.



3. The author's basic premise is that in the 1920s, women used display to resist, while at times seeming to conform to, those who would have squeezed them into the molds of how society would have them appear. In the first few chapters, she does a good job of this. Especially insightful is the example of her own grandmother, who as a young woman in this time period, disguised both her bobbed hair and her married state so that she could continue in her chosen profession as teacher.
   
   However, in the latter two chapters of the book, the author seems to focus more on the exploitation of women by the theatre industry and it's effects. In this, she seems to stray too far from her theme. It would have been better if she had had more examples like that of her grandmother which supported her theme, rather than diverging off of the topic.
   
   I really do recommend this book at least for the initial chapters, which are an interesting look at the attitudes of an era that has been very much stereotyped. It gives you an idea of the some of the restrictions that would have been felt by a woman who was, not a Gretta Garbo or Clara Bow, but an average person trying to live from day to day....

No comments about Fashion Brand Graphics.

No comments about Clothing Matters: Dress and Identity in India.

1 comments about It's a Matter of Packaging.

1. Index book is by far an editorial that specializes in making your head spin. They are hard to reach but they are worth every penny. I received this book as a gift through my request, i hadnt looked at it too much but i knew it would be good considering it was Index book and that it was about Packaging. Its content is very nice, theres a good variety in format and style, a few examples i had already seen in other books, and for that i did not give it full stars, but if you are not in so deep into packaging, you will find this book very amusing, definately a must have if you want to dive into fresh ideas considering this subject. The book also provides a few interviews with its designers (something extra) The interior is also well designed and the cover has an extra sleeve where it displays every imput the book contains, all in nice colours of green, silver foil and white.

No comments about Fashion Production Terms (Language of Fashion Series).

5 comments about The Beauty of Fetish: Volume 2.

1. As a long time fan of Mr. Goedde, I looked forward to his new book, and WOW!
   If you were a fan of his stuff before, this book will blow you AWAY!
   
   It is amazing that he does all this work only with availiable lighting. He is a true genius and look forward to more of his work.



2. I have been a fan of Mr. Goedde's work for sometime. I purchased this book almost as soon as it came out. I am a photographer, which can hope that one day I may be close to being as good as him. The work is inspiring and you never know what is coming out of those pages. He truly has an ability to capture the best in people and situations. I wish there were more photographers that were artistic as Steve is. Art is interpreted in many different ways, but a lot of times when I look at his work, even in this book, I feel like it is a dream. Some of the photographs to me are a dark dream. There is nothing bad or scary to the photographs, just a bit of darkness with a hint of light. I personally love it. Since, I too take a lot of pictures of people; I love the scenarios they are placed in for the shot. You can see the serious and the quirky side to him and it makes you feel that you are seeing him through is work, on a personal level. I think that this is a real collector item for anyone that is interested in photography that is more on the artistic side. I give this book 5 stars!



3. The Beauty of Fetish Vol.2 takes Fetish Photography to a new level. The photos have an intimate quality, but unlike allot of photographers Steve isn't afraid to show humor in his photographs as well as beauty. I love this book!



4. i've never seen anyone capture the eroticism of fetish-wear the way steve goedde does. if you already have the first beauty of fetish collection, you MUST buy volume 2. he has grown artistically. this is needed in your photography book collection.

   it's true! it's possible to create real art in los angeles. here's the proof.




5. An exceptionally exquistite book that combines both colour and black and white on such beautifully glossy pages. Steve's images always have a habit of sticking in my brain, continually exciting me wherever I go and dream. Very stylish and intelligent and not the typical "in your face" imagery that everyone else seems to do. Like they say, he is a master of powerful yet subtle eroticism. Both of his books will stay on my shelves and in my mind for many years to come.