5 comments about The Edwardian Modiste: 85 Authentic Patterns With Instructions, Fashion Plates, and Period Sewing Techniques.

1. This book is exactually what I need for my costuming information. The book is excelent in illiustrations and patterns.



2. As a director this was an excellant resource book, however my seamstresses found it next to impossible to figure out the patterns. It would take someone quite comfortable in making patterns. The directions are there and could be worked out with enough effort and trial. Still, as a resource it's great and was quite useful. The designs and details alone are worth the price.
   
   Cary Riggs
   Thomasville, GA



3. Good book for creating fashions of the era .And the price for each pattern was a price I could not pass up.I love the patterns and clothes of days gone past and this is no exception.



4. This book features patterns for dresses, skirts, shirts, jackets, underclothing (etc.) for the years 1905 and 1907-1909.
   It contains:
   20 (patterns) from 1905
   22 from 1907
   21 from 1908
   23 from 1909
   
   This is a good book, well up to Frances Grimble's high standards. It contains many patterns but can also double as a sourcebook, since it contains many pictures of clothes from fashion plates. I would recommend buying it, but make sure to research these years to find out if you really want it. Remember, this is mid-late edwardian.



5. Being a costumer, I'm frustrated that there aren't enough "authentic" patterns, with the fine details that they had, being produced out there, except for the "Halloween-type" costumes. This is a great resource for patterns that have the look and period-correct construction techniques. Ms. Grimble has chosen some truly beautiful ones from real vintage patterns to include in her book. I haven't had a chance to learn how to scale the patterns up yet, but look forward to it.

5 comments about Fashion in Costume 1200-2000, Revised.

1. Es un libro de mucha ayuda para consultar sobre los diseños de los diferentes períodos de la historia, lo mejor es que no sólo tiene dibujos de la vestimenta de hombres y mujeres , sino que incluye además la de los niños en varias época, lo que es muy educativo.



2. While the text and drawings are separately very detailed and fairly descriptive, there is very little correlation between the text and drawings. At times it is unclear as to what kind of dress the author is talking about, making it useful that the picture of the dress should be right next to the text. The short descriptions of the costumes included with the drawings are also difficult to read due to the text they're written in. I also found that the sections for clothes from about 1930-2000 did not really cover the full scope of styles and fashions worn in that period of time.
   
   However, despite these small difficulties, this is a great book, with abundant information and fairly detailed drawings. I've only had the book a week, and it has already been immensely helpful to me. :)



3. Throughout history, clothes have been worn not only for warmth but also, with constant variety and innovation, to convey status, wealth, occupation, personality and social and more values. Joan Nunn's detailed survey of costume in the western world over the past eight centuries not only gives the reader a vivid visual impression of the clothes themselves, but also out lines the historical and social background and the changes in manufacturing techniques the way costume has developed and the manner in which it has been worn. Each of the nine chapters covers a certain period, with an introductory section followed by descriptions of the underwear, outer garments, hats, footwear, hairstyles, accessories, jewelry, fabrics and colours worn by men, women and children. There are over 800 line drawings, specially made by the author from contemporary sources (carvings, paintings, portraits, fashion plates and photographs). This is an invaluable, copiously illustrated reference book for students of costume, social history and the visual arts and for those concerned with designing costumes for the theatre. It is also a fascinating book for general reader interested in fashion and the art of dress.



4. Fashion in Costume 1200-2000 is an old classic catalog of western costume updated to 2000 in this paperback second edition. This detailed fashion survey contains a wealth of information valuable to costume researchers and designers and illustrators, and theatre workers and fashion historians. Over 800 line drawings illustrate the nine chapters which each cover a historical period. Incredible detailed information about underwear, accessories, jewelry, shoes, and hairstyles is included. An example of the 1980's-90's fashion era is a series of sketches of Diana, Princess of Wales in several outfits (p. 249). As in the previous edition, all is meticulously researched and presented. This reviewer has made good use of the previous edition in a second career as community theatre costume designer. I look forward to using this valuable and much needed updating of a classic costume reference.

   Nancy Lorraine Reviewer




5. This book covers the largest time period in fashion history available today. Although the author limited herself to one book, the amount of information that is packed into this book is absolutely wonderful for anyone interested in costuming. Not only is politcal history covered, trival facts and those who influenced fashion are described in concise detail. Most helpful are the sketches on nearly every other page, which show details of full outfits and variations of certain garments. Diagrams of how to tie men's ties and special period collars are extremely useful. Men, women, children, underwear, shoes, accessories - this book covers it all.

3 comments about Stylemakers : Inside Fashion.

1. oh my god marcia sherill is so cool, i even wrote a song about her and those folks over at pentagram! it's at www.freqnyc.com Did you know she's working on a TV pilot called Coolhunters? i hope she makes lots of money off this work of art, she's a genius!



2. I read Stlylemakers:inside fashion. I found the book fascinating in that I never knew there are so many people and personalities involved in a fashion company and its brand. The book is one of the most informative books I have read. It is a great guide for students going to fashion schools or entering the industry. Also, it is a fun book to read!!!



3. This book was a gift to me from someone who knows I love fashion. But loving fashion does not automatically mean understanding the creation of fashion--as I learned from this book. The book educated me to the great complexity beyond just designing and marketing. (And I thought I knew...)
   The vignettes, bio's and photographs were exciting and fun.
   This is a great book for anyone who loves fashion. And a great book for anyone who wants to peer into the hip & fast world of stylists, forecasters, editors, etc. The visuals of the book are beautiful. It now sits on my coffee table--and always gets comments.

No comments about The Stephen Sprouse Book.

5 comments about Front Row: Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief.

1. I agree with much of what the previous reviewer,Lee Mellott,said. I too stopped reading VOGUE years ago (personally, I much prefer VANITY FAIR).
   
   Like many reviewers of this Oppenheimer book, I was enthralled to read more about Anna Wintour's life and so I picked up this book. And I was not disappointed!
   
   Oppenheimer has taken task to interview so many people that have known Anna,(many many) and with those interviews, he was able to write a very interesting book.
   
   Granted , the book is Oppenheimer's point of view on Anna. However, if even HALF of what Oppenheimer has discovered about Anna is true (via his research), OMG, the woman sounds like a manipulative, menacing, ruthless, and highly interesting person!
   
   You may ask how a woman (ie:Anna) who is so menacing can also be interesting? Well, if you were to read this book, you'd know just why I stated this point.
   
   The first half of the book is about Anna's past and how she climbed her way to the "top". I found this sooo interesting,from start to finish!
   
   Basically, Anna knows how to use her money , her family status, and her sexual personna to manipulate people in order to get what she wants. As ANDREA, the main character in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA would say:
   "...had Miranda [ie: Anna] been a man, Miranda would be a typical assertive executive male, using everything in his power to climb to the top.But because Miranda [Anna] is a woman,then she is seen as a B****".
   
   Yes, Anna Wintour (or Miranda) is not a MAN, and therefore society deems her as a "devil",... or a self-serving "status climber". Is that totally fair to Anna Wintour? Well, when you read this book, you can decide for yourself.
   
   The second half of the book deals with Anna Wintour's rise to the top. This part of the book goes deeply into what makes Anna tick. What turns her on (and off). What Anna Wintour will do to get what she wants is carefully explained.
   
   In this book , Anna is often portrayed as a woman that was/is selfish and cold, and as a woman that will sleep her way to the top, whether she loves the man or not. She married for status, as the book reflects. She used/uses people then basically throws them away when she is done with them. She is portrayed as a woman that was (& is) eager to please her Dad, and was (& is) willing to do anything to win that approval. What I get, from the book, is that once her Dad died, Anna's ruthless personality was so deeply embedded,...so much so that it has been difficult for Anna to turn back.
   
   For a while, when Anna was having an affair with "the Texan", Anna seemed to be softening a bit. However, since the book stops at 2004, heaven only knows if she is still with "the Texan" or not.
   
   Once again, this is Oppenheimer's take on Anna. Is it true, or is Oppenheimer's view of Anna a bit far fetched?
   The only way for the reader to decide this point, is to read the book and decide for themself.
   
   My opinion (& this is only my opinion) is that Anna is very much like what Oppenheimer's research portrayed in this book. But I'm sure that there is much more to Anna that the reader will never know.
   
   Anna Wintour is a chamelion, and also, she is a mystery to many, ---and primarily since she rarely lets her guard down.



2. Give me a break. Jerry Oppenheimer is one of those "unauthorized" biographers who extrapolates and dramatizes, adding his own skewed agenda all along the way. I couldn't stand his writing (especially his creating thoughts for Ms. Wintour as a child!) and wish there was an actual, trustworthy and unbiased biography of this visionary, if demanding, stylemaker.



3. Not that Anna Wintour is such an interesting person, but the author writes a nice biography. He does a good job, interesting details. However, I probably expected more "glitz". I recommend the book.



4. This book is slightly boring. If you want to read about a spoiled neurotic woman, this book is for you! I had trouble finishing it.



5. I just finished read two smashing books on Diana Vreeland, so I was interested to read Front Row. I had high hopes, not knowing a lot about Wintour, that this would be a great read. Wintour's life is not that intriguing. And compared to Vreeland, her moral compass is a bit off. She seems to be, as my grandmother would say, a bit of a harlot. Wintour may know style, and I love Vogue, but if this is what Wintour is like, she doesn't have a lot of depth. In fact, I got the impression more than once that this is a person who doesn't read--not like real readers do. I'll take Vreeland's outlandish description of "The Night of the Long Knives" in her biography over this "street smart" clothes horse. But then again maybe high school drop outs are OK if they come from a tony British background and rise to the top of Fashion's bible. Oppenheimer does his best with a subject who may "sparkle" at the galas--but is, sadly, just made out of paste.

1 comments about Carried Away: All About Bags.

1. There are reasons I like this book and reasons that I am disappointed. The reason that I am disappointed is that I thought that this book was going to have lots of pictures of purses from different eras. The reason I like this book is because it is more than just a book with pictures of purses. "Hmmmm..." you might be thinking. "Whatever does she mean?"
   
   I love looking at bags in fashion magazines. I thought this book was going to be like that...only longer. Instead, it contains the history of bags, the relationship between bags and culture, the psychological meaning of different bags, and dare I say it, the philosophical perspective of bags. Lest you think I am being sarcastic, I really think the author Chenoune does a good job covering these issues in a tongue in cheek manner. "Carried Away" shows the bag as more than just a fashion trend. Although the book does show examples of the bag as woman's fashion accessory, such as the ubiquitous Hermes bag, the book is more of an art book.
   
   "Carried Away" is divided into several sections. My favorite section is about purses in the movies. The author chose still pictures from certain movies. Then, Chenoune explains how the choice of the purse by the costume designer relates to the characters in the movie. Basically, what does the purse say about the psychology of the character and the mood in the scene? I also like the section that shows pictures of different bags and their uses in history, like the painter's bag.
   
   I think for many people this is going to be a book that they pick up in the book store and browse, but not buy. However, I think that other people intested in the bag as an art form, a cultural indicator, or a historical benchmark will find this book interesting enough to read. Therefore, I would not recommend buying it sight unseen, but it is definitely worth a look.

5 comments about Halloween: A Grown-Up's Guide to Creative Costumes, Devilish Decor & Fabulous Festivities.

1. Although I agree with some other reviewers that I wouldn't want to wear all of the costumes pictured in this book, I found it very inspiring, partly because of the stylish photography/graphic design and humorous text, and partly because it shows how everyday items can be easily transformed. The book is a sampler of Halloween ideas--a bit on costumes, a bit on decor, and a bit on culture. (It's true that the cultural section could have been improved in terms of accuracy.) I thought the decor section of the book was loaded with good ideas--I have tons of Victorian clip art, yet I never thought to blow up the images to make a mantelpiece graveyard or a party invitation, and I had never seen turnip jack-o-lanterns. Maybe other reviewers have more knowledge of these things--if you can recommend other decor books, let us know! It sounds like some people are looking for the definitive Halloween book, and I'm not sure it exists. (Publishers? Are you listening?) Also, I thought it was odd that people complained that the costume ideas shown here weren't perfect. I have yet to find any idea in a costume book that I have followed exactly, and I think the authors' intention was to create items the average person could easily make, not to show something high-end. (One reviewer's advice to look at a costume book before you buy it applies, though.) As far as getting a springboard for your own ideas, this book is useful. It includes some valuable instructions for making objects such as horns and masks, which you can incorporate into other designs. I'm currently making a pair of horns for a stage production using the instructions given here, and so far they're turning out really well, so I will forever be grateful to this book's authors.



2. After reading some of the less-than-great reviews, I was a bit leery about reading this book, but I'm that I glad I did. The costumes and accessories were quite clever, and on the whole, everything seemed to have an almost elegant tone. If you like the Martha Stewart style of decorating, you'll probably like this. I really liked the garden tool and vine scarecrow - spare and eerie.



3. Every knows Halloween has become big business over the past 20 years or so and second only to Christmas in terms of dollars spent decorating. Much like Christmas Halloween has become an entire season with stores dedicated to selling Halloween items popping up every year around the beginning of September and people decorating their homes at the beginning of October. If anything, Halloween may be even more elaborate and more expensive with complex animated items and realistic tombstones and other such displays. And the costumes...one can spend upwards of a hundred dollars or more on a good costume. That's where this wonderful book by Joanne O'Sullivan comes in handy. The book concentrates mainly on costumes and accessories, showing you step-by-step how you can make some fantastic costumes at home, often with materials you may already have or that can be purchased inexpensively at fabric or hardware stores.
   
   Each costume comes with a full color photograph and each has a well done materials list and directions which clearly illustrate how to make the costume. Now if you're slant is to the ghoulish and gory, this won't be the book for you. The costumes here slant towards the traditional such as a gladiator, Knight, and Witch, to the rather sublime such as dressing as a Jackson Pollock abstract painting. The designs all show marvelous creativity and shows what you can do with a little imagination. How about making an English Judge's wig out of rolls of bathroom tissue, or a Geisha Girl costume made with old bed sheets. The costumes are all aimed at adults and the materials list reflects making these for an adult wearer, as opposed to children.
   
   There's a nice section on creating medieval weaponry on stuff cheaply found at a hardware or home improvement store. One of my favorite items in the book was a Medusa's wig that looks just spectacular. Get yourself some cheap rubber snakes from the local dollar store, a swim cap, and a few other ingredients and you've got a very unique and terrifying accessory to a costume or outdoor display. There are also a variety of other wigs, capes, hands, and feet that can be made. The decorating section is a bit sparse but contains some nice information on pumpkin carving, decorating alternatives, and making such items as voodoo and hex dolls.
   
   Finally, there is some great tips on throwing themed Halloween parties such as a New Orleans Voodoo Cocktail party or a Day of the Dead dinner party, both with invitations, décor, libations and food, all matching the theme. While it may be a tame for some peoples tastes, "Halloween: A Grown-Up's Guide to Creative Costumes, Devilish Decor & Fabulous Festivities" is still a great book with many interesting and imaginative ideas. The wonderful color photography is among the best I have ever seen in a book of this type.



4. My opinions are divided about this book. I give it five stars for the assortment highly original, great-looking, easy costumes. The styrofoam hooves and horns were great ideas, the bug costumes actually looked pretty good, and so on. I especially loved the Monet costume, which was of watery blue cloth and bedecked in water-lilies, with a garden bridge on the hat. Many of the costumes and decorations are very artistic. Even some of the no-sew costumes made me say "Oooh, cool!"
   
   I give it one star for the several infuriatingly innaccurate Asian-inspired costumes and decor. The "samurai" armor was just a joke and perhaps could be said to have its own peculiar charm, and the Yuki Ona costume (which is supposed to be spelled Yuki Onna, it's pronounced differently) was quirky and didn't look even remotely Japanese or even Asian (actually, it looked like the Snow Queen) and the bedsheet kimono was actually pretty good and began to look authentic in comparison to the other things, but when it had flat paper masks from the "Kabuki, or CHINESE opera"...! Ooh, that makes me SO MAD! Aargh! If they'd just stopped at one horribly innaccurate Japanese costume, I would have shrugged and skipped over it, but when they kept doing it, one after another... grr. It's not racist, just not researched enough.
   
   Something similar happens when it talks about using a voodoo-doll motif for a Halloween party. It then tells you a bit about the religions of Vodoun and Santeria, from which the "voodoo dolls" come. This raises the question of why it's using very serious religious symbols as fun party decor.
   
   The book has historical information about Halloween, monsters, and other cultural things. For example, after the instructions for the Green Man costume, it has two pages telling what is known (and not known) about the Green Man's history. With the fairy costume, it tells about different kinds of fairies, and how some kinds of fairies are more dangerous than cute.
   
   However, after having seen how innaccurate this book was when it came to Japan, I'm highly suspicious of its educational value and authenticity in other areas of history and culture. It's clear the book *tried,* since it does at least include historical information for everything it can, but I'm not going to use it as history reference. Enjoy, but take with a grain of salt.
   
   The section about the Mexican Day of the Dead seems considerably more accurate than the others, and fairly true to the spirit of that holiday and culture, but I still feel a bit suspicious about its authenticity.
   
   Sorry if I seem grouchy about the book- I really did enjoy its originality of design. It's a relieving change of pace from the "country charm" Halloween craft books where you've seen everything before. None of those hokey books had scarecrows like the one in this book, which is a terrifying art statue with broken garden implements for claws, a faceless pumpkin head,and a metal wire body wrapped in dead vines! That's probably the scariest thing in the whole book, and genuinely scary at that. Not all of the things in it try to be adult or scary, mind you; there's plenty of light-hearted Halloween silliness too. I am going to have to try some of the things in here!



5. The book title caught my attention as the word "Grown Up" jumped out at me. I am big fan of everything Halloween so I had to have this book. I should have borrowed it at the library first! I read other reviews on Amazon.com about how wonderful this book was so I purchased it solely based on the reviews.

   DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER:

   The cover threw me off. It had pictures of a paper mache skull with horns, a pumpkin with star holes, floating candles in a bucket filled with flowers and mini pumpkins and a picture of hand-made crepe paper witch hats on the front door. I was thinking: all right! A cool book on how to decorate and cool crafts to make!

   What they should have put on the front page was a picture of a man in spider costume, a picture of a woman in a poodle outfit, a picture of a man wearing a bird beak..you get the picture.

   COSTUME 101

   The first 107 pages out of 173 pages were all about costumes only. Here's a sampling: black spider, poodle, bees, really ugly paint spattered thing...

   The good thing about this book - you can make most of the costumes listed here because they are items that are readily available.

   The bad thing about this book - it really shows.

   Many of the costumes just require you to take your old dress/shirt/gown and throw paint all over it or sew a few things on it here and there. There was even an outfit called "Dancing Queen" and can you guess what you are supposed to do? Slap used CD's all over yourself. You are supposed to look like a dancing queen...isn't that what being covered in CD's is all about?

   The Queen bee outfit looks...anemic. I thought bees were supposed to be fat. In this case the Queen bee stands in skin tight clothing with what looks like black chicken wire around her waist (I think its supposed to be black netting).

   The "Mother Nature and Green Man" costume I find hilarious. Just looking at the picture you'd think they were hippies covered in vegetation and/or mossy stuff. On the next page there is an entire page on "Who is The Green Man?" I figure if you have to go around explaining who the heck you are it takes the fun out of it after the 500th time. "No...I'm NOT the moss man or the hippy man covered in vegetation...I am the Green Man (insert expletives and other cuss words here)...!"

   I must admit there are a few neat outfits: the shimmery mermaid outfit, the gladiator and the bedsheet geisha, but not much else going for it. For every one male costume there are about 3 or 4 women's costumes (mainly old dresses with things sewn onto them).

   The second part of the costumes section take you step-by-step on how to make things like birds beaks, hairy legs (I am not making this up), thundering hooves, walrus tusks (WALRUS? where's the matching costume for this tusk?). There's one page on how to make an outfit for your dog.

   The third part of the costume section teaches you how to paint your face (3 pages of really boring stuff), how to make a hat, how to make paper bags LOOK like a face. Are you sleeping yet? The only thing remotely fresh that I saw in this section was the medusa wig. You get a bunch of plastic snakes and pin it to your swim cap covered in black tulle.

   FINALLY...THE DECOR SECTION:

   The first ten pages in this section covers pumpking carving basics, how to add a "nose" to a pumpkin simply by turning it over so the stem acts like a nose, how to make a pumpkin look like a "bushy head" by sticking twigs and leaves out of its head, how to carve squares into a pumpkin to make it look geometric, how to....urgh.

   The next five pages are all about making dolls. Voodoo dolls, corn "dollys" and hex dolls which are nothing more than twigs hanging eerily off some dead branches. Phhhhfft.

   Then..get this...another craft article on how to make a GIANT 6 FOOT SPIDER! That's right...in your very own back yard! How did the craft section go from tying together twigs and corn to make faceless dolls to a gigantic, humongous, insanely huge spider? I take that back, the spider is 6 feet in diameter, which means its actually bigger.

   FOOD SECTION:

   There are differently themed parties throught this book: the New Orleans voodoo cocktail party, the Day of the Dead dinner party and the Masked Ball party. Not many recipes. Just a lot of nice pretty pictures, I do give this book some credit!

   MY RATING:

   I give it a ho-hum bummed out "2" on my scale of 1 (don't bother) to 6 (excellent).

   Try Martha Stewart's Halloween for better decorating ideas.

5 comments about Silken Threads: A History of Embroidery in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

1. I discovered this book at the library, renewed it several times, and then decided I just had to have it. I love fiber arts. The work from the countries of Asia stupefies the mind with its intricacy, delicacy, and sheer beauty. The book explains the meanings of many of the designs and weaves history with aesthetics. The author is an accomplished needle artist herself.



2. I splurged and ordered this book, and am I glad that I did. It was a jaw-dropping feast for the eyes, and well-worth ever penny spent on it.
   
   The photographs are absolutely amazing, the details are brought to light
   exceptionally well, and the text illuminates this Asian craft world just
   perfectly.
   
   One of the best features of this volume is that one can readily SEE in detail the various works of the needleworker's arts from each timeper-
   iod, providing as an added bonus, inspiration for one's own embroidery.
   
   I highly recommend this book, for needleworkers and designers and for
   the aficionado of handwork arts.



3. This comprehensive account of East Asian embroidery is a must for any textile collector. Beautifully illustrated throughout and wonderfully informative it educates and feasts the eye. The photographic details are very clear and provide a good indication of the different textures. There is also a useful, fully comprehensive bibliography encouraging further exploration of this fascinating subject.



4. Silken Threads leads the reader through a wonderful journey charting the evolution of the embroidery of the East Asian region.
   
   Dr. Chung apart from being a Master Embroiderer, and probably the only women in the word who has had a Museum named after her in her native Korea, is also a well respected Art Historian. This is not a "how to" book but a serious study of the history and art as it relates to the embroidery of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
   
   It is well illustrated and reflects the many years of study that Dr. Chung has spent researching this absorbing area of study.



5. Silken Threads is real winner ! Collectors, Asian Art scholars ,and Costume designers ,both fashion and theater,will find this book an indispensable reference work in the field of East Asian embroidered textile and costume. What this book is NOT is a "how-to" on embroidery.
   
   Dr.Chung gives a comprehensive history of the evolution of East Asian embroidery and the significant contributions it has made to the cultural history of the region. The influence of China and the dissemination of Chinese techniques , motifs and artistic convention on other regions in East Asia are thoroughly discussed. The author examines in depth a wide variety of embroidered costume ,accessories,household furnishings and religious textiles.
   
   Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this book,and there are many,is its pioneering effort in the field of Vietnamese textiles and
   costume,a subject largely ignored before this publication .
   
   Silken Threads is a exemplary production of scholarship,beautifully illustrated and completely documented .Dr.Chung's grasp of her subject represents the culmination of many years of extensive research by a leading authority on East Asian embroidered textiles .

No comments about Visionaire No. 52: Private (Visionaire).

No comments about Shoes: 2009 Mini Wall Calendar.