No comments about Fashion Illustrations: Ladies, Men & Children.

No comments about French Fashion Plates in Full Color from Gazette Du Bon Ton (1912-1925: Illustrations of Styles By Paul Poiret, North, Paquin, and Others).

1 comments about Black and Beautiful: How Women of Color Changed the Fashion Industry.

1. I found this book so interesting and needed to reflect the wonderful work black women have made as objects of beauty. I was suprised to know that women like Daphne Maxwell-Reid was a cover model. This book is a definate reference manual for black history.

No comments about Garb: A Fashion and Culture Reader.

1 comments about Fashioning Fiction In Photography Since 1990.

1. What a great book. I was a little hesitant over how I would receive and enjoy this book at first, but after having leafed through its pages several times now I realize that this is exactly what is cool about narrative art today. This book does not contain the fine artists Crewdson, Garfield, Wall, or the young Yale ladies, instead it surveys in many ways the influence these artists, and the movements they are following, are having on fashion photography. And vice versa. What I have to say is that many of the photographers I did not know of before opening this book are just as good as anyone out their.
   Philip Lorca diCorcia and Nan Goldin are well known artists in their own right and you will see them in this book. DiCorcia's work is interesting in that this is not what I would expect to see in a gallery judging from his earlier work. But it is pretty interesting and a new avenue for the guy. The better showings by artists here are those I had never heard of. There is some twisted stuff here. Not violent, but subversive 1950's post modern irony.
   Hey, this is a great book. You will find yourself pulled back again and again. And the best thing is that it is easy to enjoy. Much more so than many other recent surveys that tackle the fine arts.

1 comments about F**K FASHION: The Erotic Photography of Ben Westwood.

1. Page after page of in-your-face photos of sexy models in hot fetish attire. Some are a little more tasteful and restrained while others probably cross the line into what some would label as porn, but there's no question that this book makes an impact on the viewer. It's hot, fun, sometimes playful, but never boring. I like photos that grab you by the balls and force you to look at them, and this one's got the shots that do just that.

No comments about Fashion: An Illustrated Historical Overview (Crash Course Series).

5 comments about Bathing in Public in the Roman World.

1. Provided valuable information for research on communal bathing in ancient Rome.



2. I took a chance with this book because of a positive review I heard about it on CSPAN. The title of the book fairly accurately describes the substance of the book, the cultural significance of the baths in the Roman society. The book is full of very interesting facts about the actual buildings themselves, the customs involved in the process, the people you would encounter and more. The author does a good job of writing the book, she keeps out of the "I'm a professor and you are not" type of writing where you feel about a foot tall after the first chapter. She tells a story in a way that the general reader can follow along. With all that said, I still did not overly enjoy this book and the reason for that is really that I am only marginally interested in the Roman world. I tried to force a book on myself because the reviews were good. If you are interested in the Roman world I am sure you will enjoy this book, if you are like me and this is a passing phase then you may be suited with something else.



3. Half of this 437-page book is dedicated to bibliography, epigraphic samples and the like; what remains is not only educational, but highly entertaining. All aspects of ancient roman bathing are covered with great panache and the bawdy commentary of the bathers themselves (particularly Martial) will elicit surprise and laughter.

   Men and women often bathed together. They came to socialize, to ogle and comment on various body parts, and to solicit sexual favors while partaking of erotic frescoes and lewd graffiti. They snacked on odd combinations like fish, eggs, and lettuce, sometimes drank until wildly inebriated, and often pandered shamelessly for dinner invitations.

   Thievery was a common complaint so many paid to have their clothing guarded. Ironically, bathing was unsanitary; the customers lathered liberally with oil and then scraped off the resulting mess with metal instruments called strigils. Some of the baths used water recycled from the "public troughs". Those who entered the baths with a slight open wound might subsequently develop grangrene! In addition smoke from the heating furnaces could seep into the rooms spoiling the gaiety of the occupants.

   It's all here-everything you want to know about the ancient bathing experience including 24 pages of b&w photos and bath plans. Breeze through the 220 or so pages of readable text and then scan the footnotes for other enlightening tidbits. Great stuff, but steer clear of this book if you do not enjoy a highly-detailed, scholarly presentation.




4. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's full of anecdotes from people of the time (particularly memorable was the complaint about how noisy the baths were from the calls of the sausage vendor to the man in love with his own singing voice...) as well as archaelogical finds.

   It *is* a scholarly book. I expected it to be full of footnotes and appendices -- and it is. But I found the text engaging and the facts fascinating -- and the subject thoroughly covered. I come away from the book with a clear idea of the who the bathers were, how they bathed, what else they did in the baths and the importance of bathing in their society. Other books I;ve looked at on this subject focus mainly on architecture and aquaducts, but this book answers the questions about ancient baths that I'm interested in -- the people-related questions, and does so with intelligence and a dose of dry humor.




5. This book makes me remember why I chose not to go to graduate school! Every page is filled to the brim with footnotes and the appendixes, index and bibliography, etc. are as long as the book is itself! The author hems and haws so much and is so hesitant to commit himself to a definitive statement that I wanted to grab him by his lapels and give him a good shaking! The middle section of this already brief book (220 pages of actual reading material....but don't forget those footnotes that sometimes take up 1/2 a page) is mind numbingly boring and almost enough to totally ruin the book. This section deals with who actually decided to build or repair the baths and is full of statistics that I'm sure make Mr. Fagan's colleagues happy but will not endear him to the public. You might be asking yourself at this point, "So why is this vituperative joker giving this book 3 stars?". Good question! The answer is because the first and last thirds of the book are quite interesting and well-written! You learn who went to the baths and why. You get a lot of fascinating material concerning the social aspects of bathing. Some people would go to the baths and spend all of their time trying to wangle a dinner invitation out of somebody. Vendors would set up stalls outside of the baths selling light snacks to the bathers. Some people would go the baths looking for sex or just hoping to get a good look at some nude men or women. People would bathe because they thought it was good for their health, but when Mr. Fagan explains that in some baths the sick could bathe with the healthy and that people would commonly oil themselves up and then scrape off dirt and oil into the communal bathwater, you wonder just how healthy the whole thing could have been! So, overall I found this book worth reading although next time around I hope a good editor gets ahold of Mr. Fagan.

2 comments about Edith Head's Hollywood.

1. Though she was born Edith Claire Posener (in 1897), the tiny powerhouse of a woman we have come to know and admire as Edith Head was no poser. No, not at all. She was the real thing. And now she has written a book. All about her life as a costume designer in Tinsel Town (AKA Hollywood). Check it out. She herself had a odd haircut and didn't dress all that well. But she made excellent movie clothes for all of the best female actors in Hollywoodland. With her peculiar dutch boy haircut and her thick impenetrable glasses, it is rumored that the cartoon character Marcie from "Peanuts" was based on our dear Edith - as Peppermint Patty was based on her long time friend, actress Anne Baxter. But that is neither here nor there. Enjoy her book.



2. "Edith Head's Hollywood" goes where "The Dress Doctor" failed to by giving readers a more in depth look into the woman behind the enigmatic designer. This book also dispells various rumors about Edith and gets behind the truth to several false claims and accusations (some by Edith herself). Very well researched and put together with an extensive listing of the films Edith worked on over her successful 50 year career as Hollywoods most proclaimed costume designer.

No comments about Floral Frocks: A Celebration of the Floral Printed Dress from 1900 to Today.