No comments about Canine Couture: 25 Projects: Fashion and Lifestyle Accessories for Designer Dogs.

No comments about The Lure of Perfection: Fashion and Ballet, 1780-1830.

No comments about Braun & Schneider's Historic Costume CD-ROM and Book.

1 comments about Surfers Soulies Skinheads and Skaters: Subcultural Style from the Forties to the Nineties.

1. This beautifully produced coffee-table book arose from a fashion exhibit held by the Victoria & Albert Museum in the early 1990s. I can't say enough about the layout, photography, and amazing color throughout the book. While the exhibit curators obviously labored mightily to put the exhibit together, the book manages to catalog it all in an enthralling way. A bit expensive for people like me, but you should definitely find a copy to browse through if nothing else.

No comments about A Fashionable History Of: the Shoe (A Fashionable History of).

4 comments about Cyclops.

1. If you're looking for a book of a photographer who single-mindedly captures fashion, portraiture, landscape and still life flawlessly with his unique style, Albert Watson's Cyclops is the book for you. Included in the book is a brief overview of Watson the man who since birth has had only sight in one eye and has been given the gift of dazzling every other eye known to man. In the interior you can indulge yourself with black and white photographs that can instantly give rise to a feeling of sensuality, pain and pleasure. Whether it be celebrities or artifacts Watson manipulates the subject to create a vision only he can see and we can enjoy and recognize as his signature style. The book is a bit small but beautifully made.



2. When I first saw the book, I was transfixed. I must have spent quite a number of hours going through the pages, standing up, the world dissolving around me. My particular favorite is one picture of Gary Oldman lying in a coffin. It captured him perfectly. I don't know much about photography, but the beauty of his works is that it can be understood and loved by anyone - there is a human association within every shot. For a while I was reluctant to buy it - the price was a bit too much for me, but I kept on returning to the bookstore to see it, taking a half an hour bus ride each time at the other side of the city. I grew restless when I didn't take the ritual visit. Eventually I did get it - and I finally feel complete. He captured perfection.



3. Albert Watson's images in this book are quite simply some of the best images of Black & White photography in any book! They are technically perfect and arrestingly beautiful. His images are powerful, moving, creative, and always well composed. Furthermore, the printing in this book is one of the best I've ever seen.

   If you appriciate masterful black & white images you would probably be happy with this book even if you had paid 5 times what this costs!

   This book is truly a must-have for anyone who appriciates great photography




4. Cyclops is more than a vision, but some of the most emotionally moving frames one will ever look upon. He is a genius and can capture beauty, pain, anger, and delight all in one single image.

5 comments about Sweetie : Tantalizing Tips from a Furry Fashionista.

1. The idea of a dog venturing forth from humble beginnings (about as humble as they come) into the spotlight - who doesn't love a rags to riches story? The illustrations are as charming as the story she tells; Sweetie's insights into the fashion world are original (a dog's point of view, of course!) - as are many of her beauty tips. A very entertaining and enjoyable read.



2. From pet-lovers to fashion-lovers to anyone who loves a good laugh, Sweetie charms them all. Her voice is brought to life by Mark Welsh's wonderfully witty and insightful writing, while Rubin Toledo's drawings sing with color and pizzazz!
   I read the book with my daughter first, and then had to keep picking it up in the evenings for more. (When do we get to see "Sweetie...The Movie?!")
   Sweetie is a truly engaging character. I, for one, will be buying a copy for everyone on my gift list this holiday!



3. Very clever ,very New York. Wonderful little snippets of wisdom from our little sister...Of a girl we can all relate to...a sweet little broad navigating the perils of the beyond, beyond NY glam scene..A little bottom line for all us nervous femmes in these terrible times...good giggle is what we all can do with. Universally humorous..Some calssic lines I intend to steal..My French friends love her..



4. I literally stole this book from an 8 year old! This book was so darn cute I couldn't stop laughing and reading passages aloud to my husband. I will buy several copies and of course return the one to the little girl.
   I would love to have a steak and martini with Sweetie.
   I will keep up with Mark Welsh's work from now on.
   Sweetie, you go girl!



5. Sweetie is the funniest book that I have ever read about the fashion industry! Sweetie tells all there is to know about being a huge star, like the importance of wearing clanky jewelry so that you fans will know when you are arriving. Sweetie even lets you read the steamy details of her past love affairs, not to mention and insider view of her dressing rooms around the globe! She's a busy dog alright , and dont go looking for any deep meaningful writing but Sweeetie's book is sure to give you a double dose of all the fun, fabulous, hyjinx and hysterics that fashion industry has to offer!

1 comments about Stepping Out: Three Centuries of Shoes (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music).

1. This is a slim but beautiful catalog of part of the collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Australia. The shoes themselves are all in color and clearly photographed, the pictures ranging from a couple of inches to an entire page. A few of the smaller ones were a trifle hard to see and would have benefited from being enlarged.
   
   There are also a number of historic photographs, mostly black and white, as well as color reproductions of paintings and advertisements to add historical context.
   
   The introductory matter explains the history of the collection and gives an explanation of shoe-making. The shoes are mainly arranged chronologically with a few introductory paragraphs relative to the period. All the shoes are labelled, but details are give in a Shoe-List section in the back. Of particular interest is the section on Australian shoes which is a valuable supplement to more general histories of shoes. There is also a list of further reading.

3 comments about English Costume from the Early Middle Ages Through the Sixteenth Century.

1. This book is pretty good to get a basic idea of shapes for each given period, but that's about it. Unfortunately there are no seams shown, and while it's a very small detail, there weren't cod pieces in most places where there should have been. Small, but very important, detail. None of the illustrations are original (photos or reasonably accurate drawings of sculptures, rubbings of engravings, etc.) and all have a sort of 1940s feeling to them which kind of detracts from the accuracy. The text part is pretty decent though, and if you use it for ideas in conjunction with a more construction-oriented book, you'll have a pretty good chance of making something accurate. Of course, if you're just looking for ideas on how to clothe a character in a book, it's great.



2. I have fond memories of checking out the original printing of these books from my local public library as a child. They placed these books in the children's section- for readers 8 and up. And I checked out those hardcover books over and over. Those books may have helped spark my lifelong interest in historical costume. Ms. Brooke's rendering of the costumes are very clear, and often they are presented in groups as if you were looking into a scene in a story or play. Excellent books for older children and young teens interested in costume history.



3. This is probably a great book for the beginner, but if you are looking for either a serious study of medieval costume or a how-to, you will probably be disappointed.

   This book goes into a lot of detail about medieval costume with little documentation to back it up. There are no tips on construction and no actual pictures. Instead, the author relies on romanticized line drawings of people in costume with the emphasis apparently on the people, rather than the costume.

   Once again, however, if you are an absolute beginner with little to no knowledge of medieval costuming, this book is an economical way to catch-up. It has a very wide scope. I did not note anything blatantly wrong, and the drawings, unhelpful as they are from a construction viewpoint, do show the costumes in context and as they would actually appear on the (idealized) human form.

No comments about The Edina Ronay knitwear collection.