No comments about Clotheslines: A Collection of Poetry and Art.

No comments about The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer.

No comments about Ancient Greek Female Costume.

3 comments about Nail Style: Beautiful Nails for Every Occasion.

1. This is the first book I've ever read on the topic of nail decoration, so I'm not as well qualified to assess the techniques and designs as a professional manicurist. Nevertheless, it struck me as a fun book. It showcased a variety of techniques and the photos and instructions looked easy to follow.
   
   The photos are on the sloppy side, though, with lots of issues like nail polish either not fully covering the model's nails or flowing over onto the model's skin. To be fair, the nails are depicted at several times life size, so any mistakes are going to be easier to see.
   
   The nice thing about the photos in this book is that if you're an amateur, you can look at them and feel reasonably comfortable that your work is going to look at least that good. You can go forth, have fun, and not obsess over perfection.
   
   If professional nail artists or manicurists have a better book to suggest, it would be nice to hear what it is.



2. Oh my goodness. This could be the ugliest book on Earth. Not only are the base coats of almost every nail in the book so frightfully sloppy, but all of the designs put on top of these disasters are *so* 1983. Maybe your blind grandmother would find these nail designs appealing, anyone with any sort of style or clear eyesight, really, should run from this book and never look back.



3. I am a professional manicurist and was looking for new nail art ideas. The ideas in this book are ok but the presenation was not very good. Pictures of nail art were done sloppy and unprofessional. This is an ok book to start with but plan to become much better on your clients.

No comments about Navy Scouts Paper Doll.

No comments about The World of Coco Chanel.

5 comments about Erwin Blumenfeld (Phaidon 55's).

1. It is estimated that over 90% of the world's buildings were constructed without the services of an architect. Most of these buildings are owner or commuity constructed using traditional building technologies. They are part of a building tradition known as "vernacular" architecture.
   
   There are hundreds of millions of these traditional dwellings throughout the world and as Westerners we have a need to better understand these buildings by breaking them up into discrete and easily understood categories. There is probably no one in the world more knowledgeable about vernacular architecture than Professor Paul Oliver of Oxford and "Dwelings" is his attempt to classify these buildings into better understood categories.
   
   The strength of this book is in the many interesting photographs of vernacular buildings througout the world. They show the wide array of ingenious solutions people have come up with to shelter themselves from the elements. Of further value is Paul Oliver's broad categories into which he groups vernacular buildings. Unfortunately, in order to justify his categories, Paul Oliver turns to summarizing numerous academic articles on vernacular architecture. This need to summarize other people's work turns the text into an episodic and sometimes tedious narrative. "Dwellings" is a good jumping off point for the study of vernacular architecture. However, in depth knowledge of vernacular architecture will have to be found somewhere else.



2. A lot of text but of very good quality and wonderful pictures ! highly commandable together with Built by Hand from Steen(s)& komatsu(s) (almost only pictures of the highest quality) and Home Work from Lloyd Kahn, You get the best to study dwellings all over the world and maybe built with more simplicity healthy powerful and sacred places as all dwellings should be !



3. when we are looking for a new perspective to see architecture. this book is the one.
   paul oliver offers an inclusive, and balance view to see architecture. no more from western point of view.
   i think, this is in tune with rudofsky's 'architecture without architect'.
   i recommend those books to my coleagues as great and a must be read book!



4. I was really impressed by this careful selection of photographs by one of the most inventive photographers of the twentieth century. These beautifully printed images lead us through the life of Erwin Blumenfeld, from Holland, to Paris, to the United States. The photographs lead us through Blumenfeld's endless creativity from striking political photos (of Hitler in 1933) to pure beauty , and on to fashion in the fifties. Many of the interesting captions are taken from Blumenfeld's autobiography Eye to I which I had read with great interest a few years ago. The photographs (55) color and Black and white are placed in chronological order and some of them had not been published before.
   The variety of techniques and darkroom magic displayed here is a stunning lesson in photography and this book can be as well considered as a first approach to Erwin Blumenfeld's work as a more in-depth perception, thanks also to the excellent introduction by Michel Métayer.



5. Paul Oliver is a scholar with soul. In the early '70s, he published Shelter and Society, a wonderful book on indigenous building. He was formerly head of the Graduate School at the Architectural Association in London and is now Chair of the Master's Course in International Studies in Vernacular Architecture at Oxford Brookes University in Devon, England. Dwellings is about handmade buildings by indigenous people of the world, some of whom still thrive, others whose traditional ways of life are threatened. The photos, mostly by the author, are terrific, and the accompanying text is perceptive and informative.

1 comments about Blanket Weaving in the Southwest.

1. Every now and again a book is destined to become a classic. This is such a book. To describe this reference book as monumental is not using too strong a word. This is indeed a singular effort to provide scholars, collectors and interested readers with a must-have resource to understanding the origins and intricacies of some sought-after works of art.
   For centuries collectors have coveted the hand-woven blankets, sarapes and ponchos of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish American artists of the Southwest.
   Indeed, the popularity of these objects is increasing, as evidenced by the long line of cars and attendant crowds gathering in the high school auditorium in Crownpoint,N.M., on the third Friday of every month.
   Collectors, buyers and speculators meet at the school to examine hundreds of handmade rugs created by native artists. These would-be buyers vie for the sought-after items in a high-speed auction. These monthly sales are testimony to the never-ending popularity of Southwestern textiles.
   As for this book, where to begin?
   The author became the first curator of anthropology at the University of Colorado Museum in 1953. He remained at that post until his retirement in 1986, and later became interested in the history of Southwestern textile development.
   His exhaustive research led him to visit dozens of museums and painstakingly study thousands of 19th century textiles. He supervised chemical tests of dyes from hundreds of yarns and spent years conducting research in both renowned and obscure archives in an effort to document the material and basis for textile development.
   His work resulted in a classification scheme for Southwestern textiles that established a baseline for understanding, identifying and dating items of unknown origin. This book is the result of that research and will be the standard by which all future efforts will be judged.
   The book contains 115 black and white figures, line drawings that demonstrate weaving techniques, edge finishes and corner tassels as well as 191 gorgeous color plates that enable the reader to visually determine the distinct traits of the three textile traditions of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Spanish-American blanket weaving art.
   There are chapters dealing with fibers, yarns, dyes, fabric structure, tools, weaves and finishing techniques as well as 97 pages of appendix, chapter notes and an index.
   This is a monunmental work that will appeal to scholars, collectors and general readers with an interest in the history of this Southwestern art form.

4 comments about The Jeweled Menagerie: A World of Animals in Gems.

1. This book had exactly what I was looking for. Many beautiful designs of animals from simple to really extravagant. I highly recommend this book to anyone in the jewelry business or who has an interest in gems.



2. This is a wonderful resource for high end, modern animal jewelry pieces. These are not designs you will find at your local jewelers, and it is probably of limited use to crafts people, but as eye candy it can't be beat.
   
   While brief mention is made of historical pieces, this is really a book about Victorian jewelry to the present. It is a shame that there is not more information about the wonderful animal jewelry of antiquity, but perhaps that will come in another volume.
   
   If you are interested in contemporary and 19th-20th century jewelry design, this book is a steal at the Amazon price.



3. I FIRST SAW THIS BOOK @ MY LOCAL LIBRARY & BOUGHT IT THE SAME DAY. FULL OF ORIGINAL & MASTERFULLY CRAFTED JEWELRY THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES ORIGINALITY & ARTISTRY IN JEWELRY DESIGN. I WOULD HAVE PAID MORE FOR IT!



4. This book is crammed with page after page after page of the most breathtaking animal jewelry by the world's elite designers, such as Verdura. It is amazing to me that the book, printed on high quality paper, retails [at a low price]. The authors have compiled a comprehensive review of jewelry history and photos and if you are a fan of whimsical but elegant design, you'll love this book.

1 comments about 20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment.

1. Probably the best book published on the history of costume. It should be on the shelf of every costume designer. Fabulous research and wonderful use of artwork (paintings) to show the historical fashions by date. It is the most comprehensive bible of fashion history in print today. Can't recommend it more highly. My Costume Design professor wants all her design students to invest in this book, as it is invaluable in researching historical dress. She's owned it for over a decade and uses it in the classroom with her students for practically every project.