No comments about Karl Lagerfeld: You Can Leave Your Hat On.

5 comments about 70s Fashion Fiascos: Studio 54 to Saturday Night Fever.

1. The 70s were a decade of flamboyant styles and fashion statements influenced by the hippie era, and 70S FASHION FIASCOS captures them all, with full-page color photos capturing styles accompanied by notes on designers, objectives, and culture. Any collection interested in contemporary fashion trends will love the attention to flashy detail of the 70s, offering plenty of whimsical, fun moments.



2. This book is much smaller than I expected it to be looking at it on the computer screen when I ordered it. However, it does have lots of great photos and resources and I'd say its worth getting for your collection or it would make a great gift. I wish it would have gone by year, rather than style. Also I hoped that by the name "fashion fiascos" we would see more extreme styles of platform boots and shoes and other stereotypically 70's styles. Don't get me wrong, there are some, but not nearly as many as I'd thought and most of the book focuses on the "Marsha Brady" era of clothes, more so than the later 70's when you had a totally different style that was more 80's than 60's. The style of hair worn by somebody like Pam Dawber on Mork and Mindy in 1979 was radically different than the hard, sculpted styles of the earlier 70's. Clothes changed as radically as music did in the 70's. Even the sound of disco between the early stuff like "That's the Way I like it" was radically different from the later Disco sounds, such as Donna Summer and that change took place within only 5 years. Perhaps the author would do a Fashion Fiascos Vol 2 to include the onset of Disco to the end of the 1970s. This book doesn't even feature a John Travolta white suit. Still, aside from everything, it is a nice book for my collection and reference for those who sew period clothing.



3. Very funny fashion overview of the 70s fashion fiascos.



4. This is a fantastic, high quality book in full color (wouldn't get the effect if it was in black & white, that's for sure!). It brings back memories of when I was a kid in the 70's. It's like looking through the old photo albums and making fun of what mom and dad were wearing. The color pictures, the ads, the history, the little tidbits of info.. what fun! Sure to bring back memories for anyone who was around in the 70's, and some of the fashions will.. well.. make you cringe. :) The book even gives some shopping resources on where to find some of these vintage 70's fashions if you'd want to dress like that. Overall, a very fun book! I love it! I hope Maureen Valdes Marsh comes up with an 80's fashion book.



5. When first 70s Fashion Fiascos: Studio 54 to Saturday Night Fever by Maureen Valdes Marsh crossed my desk, I admit, I screamed in horror. The caftan on the book cover alone was enough to put me in a swoon. But a pleading letter came with it, begging me to give this book my imprimatur.
   
   Look it up.
   
   Little did I know that I would be swept up by its contents: a blend of American social history, wit, and truly hideous clothes! Ms. Marsh is a marvelous writer, with a knack for the mot juste. Of leisure suits, she writes, "Color became the key to individuality, and no shade was too effeminate for the 1970s man to wear."
   
   Since the youth of today has taken a great interest in the clothing of the decade, Ms. Marsh has even provided an up-to-date Shopping Resource Guide in the back.
   
   - excerpt from my review in my blog, "Diary of a Mad Fashionista" at blogspot dot com.
   [...]

No comments about Material Matters: The Art and Culture of Contemporary Textiles.

1 comments about Faberge Flowers.

1. Just about a year ago, I went to a special exhibition in Newark, New Jersey that had artifacts from the private domain of Russia's last Tsar and his family. As I strolled among the clothing and photographs and paintings, there was one object that stood in solitary splendour in a glass case, occupying a place of honor.
   
   The object was a bouquet of lilies of the valley, arranged in a beautifully woven basket, nestled in moss. But unlike real flowers, this was all crafted in gold, pearls and diamonds, and jade. It's so carefully made that you can see the veining in the leaves, the delicate strands of moss, and so vivid that if there was a breeze, you would swear that the arrangement would quiver.
   
   Presented to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna as a coronation gift, it sat on her desk until the Revolution. But it wasn't the only object that she owned that was crafted by Faberge. Every well-to-do and aristocratic home had frames, silver, and other designs created by Faberge and his firm in their homes. One of the most popular of these were the small floral arrangements, usually just one or two sprigs of a particular flower in a vase of rock crystal.
   
   In Faberge Flowers, Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey explores these tiny treasures. Most are only a few inches high at the most, and delightful to look at. With other researchers and others that have fallen under the spell of Faberge's work, she takes a look at the works of this craftsman. Each essay is accompanied by splendid photographs of the flowers -- and a few of the famous Imperial Eggs -- which made the book worth purchasing.
   
   One of the top researchers on Faberge, Alexander von Solodkoff, writes the first essay, cleverly disguised as the introduction, where he talks about the fondness of Russians for flowers, and the cultural significance of them, especially with their associations with spring and Easter. He also talks about the varied collectors of Faberge, both before the Russian Revolution and after.
   
   "A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Foever:" The Faberge Flowers, by the editor of the book, Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey, goes into the history of these little objects of art. Known as "flower studies," these were also the rarest of the various objects d'art that the firm crafted. Only a hundred or so of these fragile objects are known to have survived to now, and when they rarely come to the open market, they fetch astronomical prices. Swezey discusses the materials used -- most remarkable is the actual dandelion fluff used to create the dandelion flowers, each held in place with minute wires -- along with the Art Noveau style which drew inspiration from nature. For the Russian court, it was a breath of fresh air, and reaction to the at times overbearing magnificence of the most wealthy court in Europe. Also covere are the various exhibitions that were held of the Faberge flowers as well.
   
   An Astonishing Discovery by Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm
   discusses how the fall of the Soviet regime in Russia has led to the discovery of the original designs and notes that were made in the creation of the flowers. She shows the finished object side by side with the designer's notes, and the details on both are what takes my breath away when I look at them. The author also goes into the decision making process and the steps in crafting the finished product, from the selection of the stones to the making of the rock crystal vases that formed the base of many of the flowers.
   
   "His Greatest Patroness:" Queen Alexandra and Faberge's Flowers by Caroline de Guitaut talks about the largest collection of Faberge outside of Russia, and the woman who started it. The elder sister of Empress Marie, Queen Alexandra was very familiar with Faberge's work, collecting small hardstone animals as well as more than twenty-three of the floral studies. There are also notes about the others who have added to the Faberge objects in the Royal Collection today.
   
   Faberge's London Branch and the London Ledgers by Tatiana Faberge is the shortest of the essays, just covering how Faberge opened the London branch of the firm, and how the surviving business ledgers have proved to be valuable in tracking down where many of the objects are today.
   
   In Search of Faberge's Flowers in Russia by Valentin V. Skurlov is translated by Dudley Hagen, and talks about the collectors in Russia before the Revolution. Not only discussing the various collectors, he also mentions that having a knowledge of flowers was a sign of being educated, and that the flowers were quite an acceptable present when a piece of jewelry would be 'awkward.' Many of these objects vanished in the confusion of the Revolution, and their whereabouts are unknown. Another tidbit is that Skurlov talks about the various floral firms that supplied many of the hothouse flowers for the aristocracy -- and as models for Faberge's artisans. Using notes and ledgers, Skurlov gives a list of the various flowers purchased or given by the Romanovs, and among the photographs can be seen one creation nestled in the original case.
   
   Faberge's Flowers: Science in the Service of Art by Mark A. Schaffer talks about his own love of Faberge (his firm A La Vieille Russe sells jewelry and often Faberge objects in New York City) and the little touches and detail that Faberge put into his designs, showing fruits and flowers in every stage.
   
   Every photograph is annotated, and the essays have plenty of notes attached. There is an extensive index and while the book is not cheap -- the cover price is over 30$US -- it is worth it to add to any collector who is interested in Russian art, Faberge, or who simply delights in beautiful things. This is one of the best books about the Faberge workshops, and gives plenty of information that hasn't been revealed before. The photographs are what make this worth looking at -- they are very sharp, clear and evocative, each one a serene portrait of nature caught in time and craftsmanship.

No comments about Jean Moss Designer Knits Collection.

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No comments about Rico Puhlmann a Fashion Legacy: Photographs and Illustrations 1955-1996.

No comments about Gilding the Market: Luxury and Fashion in Fourteenth-Century Italy (The Middle Ages Series).

No comments about Jean-Paul Hevin: Chocolatier (Memoirs).

No comments about Dandies: Fashion and Finesse in Art and Culture.