No comments about Tigersprung: Fashion in Modernity.

No comments about The Medieval Horse and its Equipment, c.1150-1450 (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London).

2 comments about Fashion Drawing in Vogue.

1. The one other customer review connected with this book is incorrect - this is not a step by step drawing book - it is a history of fashion drawing in Vogue Magazine.



2. I am a graduating fashion design student in The Art Institute . I have searched for a complete drawing book throughout my education. And, I found this book very handy and useful, and decided to have it in my little library. This book starts with complete course of education on basic drawing of a figure, and gives you step by step instruction of how to end up a beautiful figure of your own, even though you are not sure about your drawing skills. Once you get your basic figure done, it shows you how to put the other items together, draw the details. It gives more than enough information and pictures about coloring and rendering which is the most important section to make your design come through. The section I liked most in this book was about drawing the hands and face which has given me trouble during my education. After reviewing the book and applying the techniques , I relaized how easy it is to do it my own, instead of swiping someone else's sketch.And also, the rendering techniques and information about it was very useful to finish up my sketches. I highly recommend this book to any person in any level of drawing skills, who is interested in drawing Fashion figures.I have had a big advantage of it , why shouldn't you?

1 comments about 50S Popular Fashions for Men, Women, Boys & Girls: With Price Guide (A Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This is a great book for reference of 50s fashions.It is full of color photos of clothing ads from the 50s and actual garments and accessories. It also includes a helpful glossary and index.I don't care for the look of the manequins the clothes are displayed on, otherwise I am very pleased with this book.

No comments about Wanamaker's New Hats & Bonnets 1891 Vintage Millinery Catalog.

2 comments about The Best of the Pirelli Calendar, 1964-2000.

1. Big time waste of money. Pix are bland, boring, old, and most of them are small. Don't waste your hard earned cash on this log to add to the fire! Good for....propping up your loose table leg.



2. Calendar art supported by a company has to draw attention or the money is wasted. Although the Pirelli calendar is no exploitive garage display, it is certainly not art book quality until the last few years. Since 1994, the work has been solid. The 2000 calendar by Annie Leibovitz is well worth your time. The book's essays are a brief overview of cultural events since 1964 when the calendar was begun. I found the essays added very little. Much of the "best" art in this book will have only historical value for evoking past culture for you, as its aesthetic appeal is limited.

   Before reading further, please realize that this book contains much female nudity of a sort that would earn it an "R" rating if it were a motion picture.

   The images are supposed to respond to a charter to capture "the beauty of the world." As portrayed here, this beauty is of gorgeous women, generally displaying more skin than clothing.

   A different artist is chosen for the commission each year. Since 1994, these photographers have been Herb Ritts (1994 and 1999), Richard Avedon (1995 and 1997), Peter Lindbergh (1996), Bruce Weber (1998), and Annie Leibovitz (2000). As you can see, this is about as good a group as you could draw upon for a calendar. Not surprisingly, most of the best images come from this period. I graded the book down for mostly having ordinary images before 1986.

   Here are my favorites from the book:

   Peter Knapp, January 1966; Harri Peccinotti, 1968 (page 51); Francis Giacobetti, 1971 (page 70); Sarah Moss, 1972 (pp. 71 and 75); Bert Stern, May 1986; Terence Donovan, March and September, 1987; Arthur Elgort, February and July, 1990; Clive Arrowsmith, September 1991; Herb Ritts, Cover and December 1994; Richard Avedon, April and August, 1995; and all twelve of Annie Leibovitz's images from 2000.

   Ms. Leibovitz's work focuses on portions of torsos for the most part, done in subtle lighting. It evokes a display of partially broken antique statuary from Greek and Roman times.

   I found some of the images in the book to be troubling. Perhaps the most unfortunate were a few that figuratively tied the women to the concept of a tire. Relizing that these images had a commercial purpose, it still seems wrong to turn people into products.

   Perhaps the best lesson from this book is to be sure that you get the Pirelli calendar sent to you each year in the future. If the company is going to continue sponsor such fine photographic art, this calendar will be well worth having.

   After you finish this book, think about ways that beauty should and should not be portrayed. How could Pirelli have presented this work in other formats to create more benefit for its viewers?

   Seek beauty in all of its forms, and use it to elevate your soul!

No comments about Hanae Mori Style.

5 comments about Vanitas: Designs.

1. "From the theatrical to the whimsical, Gianni Versace's designs have something for everyone. On these pages, his sketches and finished works of haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry, and opera and ballet costumes as well as artworks created by and for Versace are interpreted by top photographers such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Bruce Weber. The pictures are accompanied by three very different kinds of writing: commentary by Hamish Bowles, Style Editor of American Vogue; a new short story by Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti, an Italian journalist and award-winning novelist; and a text by Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman."



2. 
   Gianni Versace - just the name brings to mind visions of high fashion, haute couture, incredibly beautiful fabrics swishing by on colt-like mannequins with arched eyebrows and the highest cheekbones. Vanitas: Designs is glamour between covers as it presents the designs, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry and costumes by Versace.
   
   The almost 300 folio-size, full-page startlingly colorful picturers are accompanied by texts penned by Hamish Bowles, Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman, Andre Leon Talley, and Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti. Quotes by Versace enliven the already quick paced commentary.
   
   The section on embroidery, from buttonholes to ball gowns, features garments decorated with threads of gold and silver, bugle beads, all reflecting Versace's eye for the imaginatively stunning.
   
   Here is a beautiful, bold, sometimes brash collection of some of the most opulent designs in our world of fashion.
   
   - Gail Cooke



3. I am 14 years of age, and thought this book was excellent. Any Versace fan would love this. The book is so bright with beautiful Miami inspired colors, very artistic illustrations, and wonderful pictures of his great creative designs. Though this is only up to his 1994 designs, it shows many of his best of all time. In this book, there are pages of his designs, theater designs,and more. This book is great. You never get bored when either reading the few pages to read, or when you are looking at the pictures and illustrations. It is a must have for the fashion lover, especially for the Gianni fan.



4. I am 14 years of age, and thought this book was excellent. Any Versace fan would love this. The book is so bright with beautiful Miami inspired colors, very artistic illustrations, and wonderful pictures of his great creative designs. Though this is only up to his 1994 designs, it shows many of his best of all time. In this book, there are pages of his designs, theater designs,and more. This book is great. You never get bored when either reading the few pages to read, or when you are looking at the pictures and illustrations. It is a must have for the fashion lover, especially for the Gianni fan.



5. This is my favorite book on Gianni Versace! It does an excellent job of showing excellent examples of the beautiful embellishments that make Versace what it is...SPECTACULAR. The art work is beautiful and the full color pictures are why this book is on my cofee table. It sums up Versace's work wonderfully!

5 comments about Nylons: Girls next door in erotic.

1. If you are a lover of fully fashioned nylon stockings then you'll want to add this book to your collection. As you would expect from the title it contains sets of photographs of young ladies (the girls next door) in various states of undress, both indoors and out. Most are wearing stockings and suspenders, though a few hold-ups and tights (pantyhose) have crept in. The majority of the stockings featured are fully fashioned - the real things, with a "keyhole" at the top of a genuine seam! There are more than 440 photographs in total, in about 40 sets, and Uwe's passion for his subject matter shows through clearly. Not yet in the same league as Elmer Batters (see "Elmer Batters - from the tips of the toes to the top of the hose", and "Elmer Batters - legs that dance to Elmer's tune", both published by Taschen), Uwe Fülleborn has nevertheless produced some creditable pictures. My only criticisms are that the quality of a very small number of the photos leaves something to be desired, and that they are all in black and white. A number of Uwe's photographs in this book have already appeared in colour in the German leg art magazine "Laufmasche" (published by Verlag Ulrike Fülleborn), where they make a much bigger impact.



2. This stocking fetishist turned photographer has crammed a huge amount of black and white pictures into this saucy little gallery of nylon. If you like fully fashioned stockings then you'll love this book. As the title suggests, the models are "girls next door" types so don't expect to see top notch glamour girls in professionally lit scenarios. Having said that, most of the models are still very pretty and certainly aren't lacking in sex appeal. The style of photography is very similar to that of Elmer Batters but with better looking models and not so much emphasis on the feet. Some of the pictures could have done with a bit more care being taken on focussing whilst others seem to have been let down by poor printing. Mostly the photos are of a pretty decent standard though. This is just one man photographing the thing he loves most; girls in stockings. I would have awarded 5 stars but the author has seen fit to include a few pictures of girls in tights.



3. Pathetic quality of the pictures.
   This is a really poor work.
   Don't waiste your time and money.



4. As someone who has a devout stocking - leg fetish, this book is on my list of top 5 leg books. I find the amateurish photography highly erotic. This book is like finding a box of nude - fetish photos that have been hidden in the attic for only the photographer to see. I would rather look at photographs of this sort than the over glamorized photographs in many of the photo books you will find on the market today. The models are beautiful and real, flaws and all. Walking down the street I can't help but wonder if some of he girls I pass may have been in this book. Enjoy, you will feel as though you found a hidden treasure.



5. Don't bother with this book. The quality of the images are very poor. They are aesthetically weak and technically bad. You are better off buying Elmer Batters, or one of the Legs books by either carlton or Donna Karan.

   They shouldn't be charging for such amateurish work.

2 comments about Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style (Dress, Body, Culture).

1. Muggleton's biggest strength is that he tries to understand subjective experiences of subculturalists in their neverending conquest for differentiating themselves from the conventional. Unlike Birmingham scholars, Muggleton does not start with a pre given, dichotomous assumption about materially opressed subcultures against a totalizing dominant culture, but rather has a nominalist cultural orientation. So, if you are a materialist or structuralist, his perspective might put you off.
   
   This book is indispensable if you are studying subcultures/youth cultures/microcultures/etc. However I suggest you read Hebdige before this, because Muggleton builds most of his arguments against his. Otherwise, it is hard to see where all this comes from.
   
   Although it is a short text, it is quite dense and packed with references, so it might not be an enjoyable read if you are not very familiar with theories of culture.



2. Well i don't have much to say on this one. I ordered it as a help for my media assignment. Found it useful but a little long-winded and a little too specialised in terms of examples.
   I'd recommend Sarah Thornton's "Club Cluture" as a good partner to this book.