No comments about From the Kitchen to the Parlor: Language and Becoming in African American Women's Hair Care.

5 comments about Plastic Handbags: Sculpture To Wear.

1. AGAIN I SAY DON'T BUY THIS NEW BOOK, if you have the original one with the same name - BECAUSE IT HAS THE SAME PHOTOS !!! and the prices are out of line - totally wrong -....the author did nothing but add prices that are not current - and made a carbon copy of her original book without any new SUPER LOOKING VINTAGE LUCITE - BAKELITE BAGS...that you can find on the internet .....without wasting your money - sorry - but the original is a great book - without prices....and the new one is a way of letting the new collector think they have a "new book" with a "price guide" that is up to date - unfortunate - want to buy my copy cheap? A Certain Style is a stunning book to own for Lucite-Bakelite collectors.....



2. Now in an updated second edition, Plastic Handbags: Sculpture To Wear by Kate E. Dooner is a visual guide to the handbag as an art form and as a collectible. Complete with an up-to-date price guide, this compendium of vintage plastic handbags that were originally introduced in the late 1920s and early 1930s, continued in popularity through the 1960s. The more than 300 handbags showcased are arranged by their manufactured. Plastic Handbags: Sculpture To Wear is a delight to browse through and an indispensable guide for professional dealers and dedicated collectors.



3. Although it's in no way as beautiful as "A Certain Style", this is a better than average reference book on plastic handbags, particularly for beginners. There are a few huge misidentification issues (eg: inclusion of the common and dreadful 1970s Merle Norman cosmetics giveaway as a legitimate 1950s handbag.) The price guide is out of touch with the market --- but what price guide isn't? Based on the sheer number of bags shown, it's definitely a must have for any lucite purse collector.



4. The photos may not be as large as those in "A Certain Style, the Art of the Plastic Handbag" (out of print now anyway), but there are many more bags featured and they are just as magnificent. The grouping of the bags according to manufacturer is helpful, too! The price guide is not perfect, but they never are, and this one still gives a good idea of which styles and features are more valuable. No lucite purse collecter can be without this book.



5. Not as glorious as "A Certain Style" is, but this one has more photos and is still a treat.

2 comments about The Woven Coverlets of Norway.

1. there are many publications about american coverlets, this one attracted me because it concerns coverlets from another weaving tradition.
   
   another reviewer has done a first rate job of detailing many of the books historical strengths. i am adding my review to include the patterns and designs.
   
   this is not, as the other reviewer noted, an instruction manual. but it is a superb design resource, for many other fiber arts as well as weaving.
   
   the photos are fantastic. the examples are inspiring--i'm mentally designing a color pattern sweater from one coverlet, and several beaded pr jects from others. some coverlet designs would translate very easily into several kinds of embroidery.
   
   the author notes the similarities in design among scandanavian, russion, other european and mid-eastern weavings. what i found interesting is the similarities between some of the coverlets and american patchwork quilts. all crafts borrowed freely from one another--lace patterns were made into embroidery, and vice versa, weaving patterns were used in knitting, etc., so finding simialr elements is common. but the designs of several coverlets in this selection could pass for patchwork in their arrangement. since morwegian settlers are credited wtih introding the log cabin to american in the colonial era, i wonder is they also influenced the design of 18th and 19th century quilts.
   
   this is a wonderful book, that would be of use and interest to norwegians and non-norwegians, anyone who designs for any textile craft, and the general reader who is interested in how our forbears lived.
   
   i can only hope that another edition will be brought out.



2. A Review in the December issue of the Norwegian-American newspaper, Døtre av Norge, a publication of the Daughters of Norway..

   Let me begin by saying that Katherine Larson is a member of Nina Grieg Lodge #40 of the Daughters of Norway in Poulsbo, Washington.

   Katherine worked with the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa, to develop a major exhibit on woven coverlets from major museums in Norway and the United States that was or will be shown as follows:

   * Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, Washington, September 13-November 11, 2001;
   * The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota, May 16-July 14, 2002;
   * West Vancouver Museum and Archives, West Vancouver, British Columbia, August-October, 2002.

   The first forty pages of Katherine Larson's book are a cultural history of Norway using weaving and coverlets as a unifying theme. Katherine writes extensively and well about the isolation and self sufficiency of rural life in Norway. Although the precise dates that many techniques and technologies arrived in Norway from abroad are not typically known, she does try to frame such introductions in terms of centuries. More importantly, she discusses why weaving was so important to the development of the culture.

   My favorite chapter in the first section of the book is titled, "More Than Just a Cover for the Bed," in which she describes the arrangement of farm households, the psychological boost from colorful additions during the long winter months and the cradle to grave use of coverlets, including baptisms and funerals.

   Katherine uses historical photographs of women and their equipment; color prints from paintings in the National Gallery and line art of plants used for dying wool, of weaving techniques and of weaving patterns. She presents about 130 high-quality color photographs of finished coverlets, either flat so you can see the entire design or a close up section or in use on a bed. In addition there are many, many black and white photographs of more whole coverlets. Some of the detail drawings would also be useful for embroidery and knitting.

   The later chapters of the book are devoted one each to the various types of Norwegian woven coverlets. Some of these are pan-Scandinavian and others even pan-European, but the essence always comes back to what Norwegian women had, wanted to have and were willing to create for their homes from roughly the middle ages to modern times.

   Each valley or district in the country had a favorite technique and pattern for its coverlets, providing a rich visual texture to the book. The weaving styles and techniques covered include tapestry/billedvev, square-weave/rutevev, bound-weave/krokbragd, other weft-faced styles, knotted pile/rye, (reversible) double-weave/dobeltvev, and overshot/tavlebragd or skillbragd.
   
   The appendices and closing words include a brief afterword about her family's immigration experience, a conversational and a literal table of equivalent of weaving terms among English, Norwegian and Swedish; notes; a glossary of textile terms in English; a bibliography; and a proper index.

   This book is NOT a beginner's how-to. It is a highly readable cultural reference book about weaving. It would be a useful addition for anyone making hand-woven textiles, anyone who likes to apply older techniques in modern textile settings (not just weaving), and anyone interested in the cultural history of Norway and for Norwegian-Americans. In short almost everyone interested in Norway.

   I was pleased to find my own family's two dominant weaving styles in the later chapters of the book: Danish weave, common in southeastern Norway, and overshot weave, mostly the Monk's Belt pattern. One of my maiden great, great aunts was a professional weaver and both my grandmother and aunt also wove.

No comments about New Image for Women.

5 comments about Hollywood Knits: Thirty Original Suss Designs.

1. THANKFULLY i got this from the library. i didn't cough up my own hard earned, non celebrity endorsed cash to pay for suss cousins' gloating.
   
   only two things i'd make in this book and both are cardigans. sadly, neither goes over a 36 inch chest and i'm a 44. there'd be major adjusting on my part to get them to fit and not look like i'm wearing a sweater from the juniors' department of Kohl's.
   
   that being said, you can buy most of this stuff AT Kohl's.
   
   it makes me sad that this Swedish woman comes from a region of the world that does AWESOME things with knitting (i say this with confidence since i learned to knit in Finland).
   
   bottom line, don't bother. find it online for free.
   
   ***on a side note, one reviewer mentioned that she doesn't like to borrow stuff from the library and photocopy. since knitting patterns and the such fall under the category of BEING ALLOWED to be photocopied (as long as it's for personal use and not mass production, including giving copies to your friends), i borrow things from the library, photocopy, make it, and THEN decide if i want to plunk down $20-35 for a book. saves me money in the long run from buying badly written books and wasting more yarn than i need to.***



2. I love this book because the designs are simple and allow the new fabulous yarn to shine. You don't have to knit very complicated patterns to make very stylish garments and this is one of the best books I have seen to make this statement. I have also ordered some of her yarn and it is wonderful.



3. The patterns are all so simplistic that it seems to imply that Hollywood types are all ADD-afflicted. There is a difference between a simple, timeless pattern that lets the beauty of the yarn shine, and a crude, poorly written one. Unfortunately the patterns of this book falls into the latter category.
   
   Too bad that I gave one of the patterns, the leather tie cardigan, the benefit of the doubt and started knitting it. The instructions omitted several rows at the top of the sleeve so that the finished piece measures 13" rather than the specified 17"! I looked for corrections on her website. Even on the corrections page, this glaring error was not corrected. How poorly written and edited can a book get?!
   
   The copy I use is a library copy. Even then, it is not worth the investment of my time.



4. I initially bought Suss Cousin's "Hollywood Knits:Style" and then purchased this, her first book. I was attracted to both of the books patterns and color combinations. The patterns are organized by difficulty level and the 'Cinchy for Starters' patterns really are quite easy to finish while the 'Hot Knitters' patterns definitely require more experience. I think my one of my favorites in this particular book is the Knit Knitting Bag...It's very fun and funky. Okay...so the reasons I only rated it three stars...
   I find the commentary and captions for the photos a bit self-aggrandizing for the author. After reading how she came up with this or that pattern for this or that actor or film got old after about the fifth reference. Also, the yarns she utilizes and recommends are, of course, ALL Suss yarns and there is no yarn weight indicated should you not want to use Suss yarns. Finally, there are fantastic knitting books coming out seemingly daily with similar patterns plus some really innovative patterns included that make a lot of the patterns in this book appear kind of commonplace. Overall, I gave it three stars...I like it alot but, the more I progress in my own knitting experience, the more I find myself searching for other sources of inspiration.



5. Incessent name dropping and unoriginal patterns loaded with mistake after mistake that only be made using "suss" yarn -- give me a break...don't bother with this one and save your money.

2 comments about Fashion (A Crash Course).

1. Not only can this be a very amusing and informative coffee table book, but you can sit down and read it like a novel. It goes through history (in a rather disorderly way) and writes about the different fashions of the times...different designers...and how time developed the current clothes we wear today. For the fashion victim or the fashionless...this is an adorable book.



2. This is a great little book about 20th century fashion trends and their cultural and historical influences. I loved the layout and style of the book. Every two pages are on a different topic, so the book can be read and enjoyed in short segments. Also, there is a timeline at the top of each page that helps put each trend in the proper historical perspective. The only problem is that the print is quite small, so have your reading glasses handy!

2 comments about Navajo Rug Designs (Look West Series).

1. This is a very little book with a cursory overview of the topic. It's deceptive in that it looks like a real book, but is just a cute little booklet.



2. Many a homeowner would incorporate a Navajo-style rug design into a home project without a second thought about its background history: what better guide for enlightenment or coffee table than the small Navajo Rug Designs by Susan Lowell, discussing color, patterns, and history of the Navajo rug. Anthropology and textile art blend in a discussion which includes both vintage photos and colorful rug images from more modern times. A lovely, detailed coverage.

1 comments about Fast-Folded Flower Quilts and Bags: 30 Projects for You and Your Home.

1. I'm having a blast making the projects in this book. These techniques are really fun and interesting. I just wish I could contact the author for the professionally made templates. I'm having trouble making them myself. The web site listed in the book isn't correct any more.

2 comments about Gianni Versace.

1. I think you all show read a little but more and pay attention to more than just the clothes in the books. Try to intepret what Gianni, Dona, Sonta, and Allegra were and are trying to bring out with their collezioni, couture, and black label. Aletier as well. They are not aficionados o aficianadas. It is not just a style as far as what is worn, it is a statement and impression of who you are, what you are made of, and what you stand for. Damn, now it is time to add some Sean John velour and sunglasses to my collection.
   
   Mr. Kevin J. McGee
   Bush Cheney '04 2003 Member Number : 702250368



2. This is an excellent photography book, but the clothing in here is mostly from the 80's and not my favorite era in terms of fashion. There is some wonderful clothes, and some terrible clothes. The information is great, tells of inspirations and what the particular piece was based on. The best parts of this book are the photography and the information accompanying the photographs. I lovev Gianni's work, but some of the stuff in here is just not worthy... but it was the 80's, And I suppose it was stylish then. I'd recommend for any die hard versace fans.

No comments about Royal Fashion and Beauty Secrets: An Intimate Look at How Princess Diana Achieves Her Radiance, Style, and Grace-Revealed for Women Everywhere.