5 comments about Wilhelmina Guide to Modeling.

1. Had the modeling industry edited this book it never would have gone to press as it is. It reveals the truth about agencies, the little ones, the big ones--and the obvious and not so obvious aspects of an industry that thrives off of young men and women with big dreams. The coverage of modeling in Italy is especially true to life. This book was used as evidence in a court case that changed the way agencies are allowed to treat models, what they are permitted to charge them for inclusion in agency books, for model cards, and even how much of a cut they are allowed to take from a model's earnings. Some agencies went under because of the secrets so innocently revealed in these pages. Lots of excellent practical advice too. Easily the best book in the business even if it is not so recent as some other books on the subject.



2. I am impressed with the amount of information this book gave. It really guides you step by step & made me realize that even though I'm short(5'2), I can still make it in beauty, print, petite & junior/teen modeling.



3. This book had no real advice. Most of it was just common sense advice any person shold know. Seemed geared for 15 year old girls only.



4. Essentially this book, with its large fonts and generous helpings of superfluous pictures, contained scant information about the modeling industry. The pages are just filled with very shallow and unsubstantiated statements such as, "Your agent will navigate your career, setting in motion a business and promotional plan geared to market fully your unique looks and talent", with no further elaboration. Take for example its chapter on "Ethinic Modeling". It glazes over the subject on how its such a promising area of the industry and tops it off with two short interviews with 2 female black models - 7 pages in all, with plenty of pictures might I add. The interviews themselves were just as disappointing with superficial statements of little substance that only glamorizes the modelling industry. Above all, the author insults the reader's intelligence by shamelessly pitching the Wilhelmina modeling agency almost every other page. In fact, the entire book's message boils down to - try to sign up with an model agency (no less the Wilhelmina) and expect a 20% commission rate. Those who have rated this book 5 stars are obviously the author or Wilhemlmina employees.



5. Like many models getting started in the business, I didn't know which way to turn. The hardest part is to qualify clients and to only work with those that will keep the image of you that you would like to promote in the market place. This book really doesn't outline this aspect of the industry. Good management is what got me a blossoming career in this business. Thanks to Digital White Boy Management, http://www.digitalwhiteboy.com , I've made it in this industry.

5 comments about Creating Romantic Purses: Patterns & Instructions for Unique Handbags.

1. Instead of repeating what others have said, I will summarize: 1) Great Designs and Patterns; 2) Incredible and Doable embellishments to make the purses/handbags attractive and desirable; 3) Romantic but also give a vintage-feel to the purses/handbags; and 4)GREAT Inspiration for all interested in fiber/fabric arts as these can be applied to other items, dresses, belts, scarves, hats, etc. IF you are so inclined. Compared to my other purse books, I will definitely refer to this one more frequently for inspiration than any other one, yet each purse design book does provide this to one degree or another. Enjoy!



2. Unless you've got a really nice collection of antique laces, trims and appliqués, these projects are going to be expensive, and probably not as scrumptious as if they were made out of original materials. When I'm in DIY mode, I'd rather not spend hundreds at a couple stores to make one purse, I want to use what I have on hand --and be able to make substitutions, even big leaps of substitution. This book tends to use the same materials (looped fringe for example), and if I don't have it for one handbag, I'm not going to have it for another either. So a special trip for all the materials in one handbag would be required.
   
   Yes, the purses are awesome while serving their purpose: holding your stuff. But know that your project will probably be very expensive, and if you don't bother to spare the expense, you're going to be highly disappointed (if you have good taste.) Also, these are all busy, frilly, Victorian handbags, so don't buy it thinking you'll get anything but.



3. Very rich book with great ideas! It needs some experience because does not explain step by step process, but it is worth enough to get it.



4. Very good tool for the handbag designer. Love all the detailed instructions and photos. Easy to follow patterns. Fun designs.



5. The book has beautiful photos of purses which would inspire even the least creatively challenged. There are detailed instructions, a material list, preparation, and construction instructions, and there are patterns in the back of the book(which you need to enlarge). There are at least 14 bags, all beautiful and distinct. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wants to create a lovely purse.

5 comments about Going Home to the Fifties.

1. "Going Home to the Fifties" is a delight for the eyes; especially for those Baby Boomers who were often referred to as the "luckiest generation" because of the post-war prosperity being enjoyed at the time.
   
   Mom wasn't home every day when we got home from school because she was a "career girl"; the only working mother I knew at the time. My parents were not Ward & June Cleaver, but I had a wonderful childhood!
   
   The house was always immaculate; even though there were four young boys living at home. We had a nanny who sat with us after school and she was my surrogate mother.



2. "Going Home to the Fifties" offers a very charming and engaging look back to the most prosperous decade in history. It's not a history book, but rather a "keen" review of the times and how the changes following WWII defined the era. I particularly like how the book starts off asking, "What were the Fifties?" and "When did the Fifties actually begin?" It also helps the reader understand that, while today the Fifties are criticized for being too conservative and suppressive, people living back then were quite privileged. Families were enjoying luxuries and amenities only dreamed of by previous generations, especially coming out of the '30s and '40s where Americans had to deal with the hardships of the depression and war. The Fifties really were simpler times and this book lets you experience its joys all over again, or for the very first time.



3. This book has some nice vintage advertsing art in it, but I must say the text is pretty light-duty and seems to be aimed at young readers. There are also several typos and some wrong information. The book definitely has merit, but there are books that cover aspects of the same subject with much greater depth, like Thomas Hine's "Populuxe", Lesley Jackson's "Contemporary", Michelle Gringeri-Brown's "Atomic Ranch" and, for the serious historian, David Halberstam's definitive tome "The Fifties." But as an introduction to the 1950's lifestyle for someone new to the subject, this book works just fine.



4. I've been fascinated with the 50's since I was a child. Almost everything I've read on the 50's has been clouded with cynicism. While reading this book, I really felt like I was transported back in time and into the minds of people who were living in this time. I felt it did a great job of explaining "materialism" and "housewives" (that had normally gotten such a bad reputation). I just don't think I can say enough good things about this book. I'm glad I bought it, and will hopefully share it with others who share my fascination and enthusiasm.



5. a book that celebrates that wonderful decade known as the 1950's and does so without irreverance, parody, or sarcasm. I came across the wonderful gem of a book quite by accident. For years, I had wished that someone would write a book that highlighted this time in American history and Bill Yenne does a SUPERB job.

   Not only is the text informative, but the wonderful pictures and illustrations, along with real advertisements, make this book a must-have for the serious afficianado. Unfortunately, you can find books out there about the fifties, but they are written by those who want to make fun of that time and use intellectual sophistication to castigate this era in America. How do I know it was such a good time?

   Well, I don't recall high school students shooting and knifing other students. Teen pregnancy numbers were quite low, movies had a point to them, drug abuse wasn't rampant, and some things were still honored and revered, such as church, country, and family. (No, I am not a Falwell/Robetrtson/Dobson right-wing fundamentalist.) But I am a moderate and I guess one of the many things I love about that time was its moderation and its optimism.

   Here we were right after a world war, eager to achieve and enjoy the promise of America and full of boundless optimism about our future. President Eisenhower led with a fatherly hand, and people grew and flourished. The malcontent and sociopath were the exception rather than what seems like the rule today. People seemed to have some reference to the whole rather than just an apathetic, "I don't give a damn" attitude. There were no violent gangsta rap songs flooding the airwaves with hate, and wonder of wonders, the music was really good-now considered classic.

   Yes, those halcyon days are gone now and we've "grown up." Just about anything goes and you don't have to look very far to find a social or psychic cesspool to wallow in. Being born in the late fifties, I know that my generation is the last to have enjoyed the fruitage of that great decade. But for a time, it was ours and it was sparkling, and it was the real deal.

   So get this book and spend an afternoon savoring each delicious memory and picture. You can't help but feel better after you put the book down and in fact, will find yourself returning there again and again.

2 comments about Bracelets, Buttons & Brooches: 20 Projects Using Innovative Beading Techniques.

1. I realize that beginners have to start somewhere, but 99% of the bead books available seem to cater to the newest of the new: people who can't thread a beading needle, or need to be told what a seed bead is. And frankly, as I read the first chapter of Bracelets, Buttons and Brooches, I thought it was another one of the same. That is, until I got to the projects:
   
   Yay! These projects are NOT for beginners, except for one or two at the beginning that appear to be put there so that an adavanced beginner who bought the wrong book won't take it back to the store. The rest of the instructions, while complete and thorough, don't assume that you can't tell a Delica from a Treasure or a Charlotte. And this book makes liberal use of all three, along with 11/0 beads, 15/0 seeds and 8/0 Delicas and seed beads.
   
   I love the new (to me) methods of surrounding a cabochon with beading on both sides at the same time. The method is ingenious, and I gave myself one of those "why didn't I think of that" smacks in the head when I saw Ms. Davis' clear and easy to understand diagram. I was also thrilled when I looked at the twenty projects and realized that they were merely the springboard for many, many more projects simply by adding some of the steps in other projects or subtracting an edging or a bit of netting that is too fancy for the cabochon or button that you're using for that particular project. You can also fancy up a project to your heart's content with netting, edging and pretty links to the other focal beads in your project.
   
   Ms. Davis assumes that the reader can follow a flat peyote pattern, knows netting, brick, ladder and peyote stitches (both flat and round), although she does give one of those one paragraph once overs at the beginning of the book. If you aren't familiar with all of these stitches, plus probably going from one stitch to another, you might want to wait before buying this book. But if you are an intermediate to "almost advanced" beader, you are going to leap for joy because there is finally a book with some new projects for the rest of us!
   
   (I say "almost advanced" because there are advanced beaders who do loomwork in 24/0 beads in twenty shades of yellow, or think nothing of encasing a kitchen chair in Aiko beads. Those people don't need books. They write them, unless they are busy making beaded clothing from handmade beads they got on their last bead-gathering trip to the Yucatan. I'm exaggerating slightly, but people who are that advanced know who they are)
   
   Most of all, the finished projects are pretty and can be finished in a weekend or less. Those are two big deal selling points to me, because I don't want to spend three months working on something that isn't mind-numbingly easy only to find out that using ten shades of taupe doesn't look so good. It also gives you a chance to use those cabochons that you bought because they were so beautiful then stored somewhere because beads without holes present challenges all their own. Or if you have a drawerful of beautiful buttons from your grandmother, and you'd like to make something beautiful that would remind you of her. If those things apply to you, then you will be very happy you spent the money on this book and will shriek at the spouse who says, "Another one of those freakin' books? I'm throwin' this out!" (Or maybe that's just me. I don't think a bookcase dedicated to beading books is too many, do you?) Just sayin'
   
   To sum it up, if you're sick of the average "here's how to make an odd numbered peyote watchband" project, then this book is for you. It's a happy medium between so simple you can bead in your sleep and so tough that you're scared to buy the beads. Best of all, it teaches some very clever techniques that can be adapted to even more projects and you'll refer to the book again and again.
   
   P.S.: The author mounts a lot of her cabochons on a backing, i.e., Lacy's Stiff Stuff/heavy interfacing/bonded felt. It would be a good idea to purchase a little bit of your favorite backing so you have it on hand when the book arrives. That way, you can jump right into beading your next masterpiece. You will also need a good quality white craft glue and a very good quality glue that dries clear and bonds anything to anything else.



2. A beautiful book of creative designs. Directions are detailed w/clear, colorful photos. Can't wait to start my own creation.

5 comments about Victorian Fashions Coloring Book (History of Fashion).

1. I loved the idea of a "Victorian" coloring book. The detail was terrific. It was a gift to a childhood friend who I used to sit and color with.



2. I just purchased these Dover COloring Books for my mother and she loves them. The detail is out of this world and the variety of colors you can use are only limited by your inagination. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!



3. This book contains 45 fashion illustrations from 1837 to 1877. Lots of ladies' evening wear, walking costumes, 10 outfits for children and even some dogs are included among many other.
   
   Some of the illustrations are really well done and detailed. However, many of them feels little bit too quickly drawn. Almost every fashion outfit has also some backround - like seashore, garden or room. I agree with the reviewer who thought this book would be better without. Many of these backrounds are really hastily made and actually make whole illustration to look quite chaotic.
   
   However, if you are into this period and you like coloring, I guess you would enjoy this book. It offers nice acitivity for hours.



4. My wife can hardly lay her coloring books down. She has this one on Victoreian fashions and several others, and I am sure she will be ordering more when these are completed.



5. This book is a great treat to anyone interested in Victorian fasion. Or fashion at all, for that matter. I loved coloring it and just imagining life in Victorian times, what with the whalebone corsets and all that! Couple drawbacks: 1)There are a number of pictures with a lot of black already in them. For example, men wearing black suits are already blacked out for you. If you don't mind that, ignore this drawback! 2)Each picture has some background, some more than others. Some of the backgrounds are so complex, the fasion seems almost secondary, which to me is a definite no-no since I bought the book for the fashions, not the landscape! Other than that, this is a fantastic coloring book, with hours of relaxing fun for the coloring and/or fashion enthusiast in your life.

5 comments about English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century: A Comprehensive Guide with 1,117 Illustrations.

1. This book covers costume by detailing each decade of the nineteenth century. You'll see examples of dresses, hats, fichus, mantles (jackets), trimmings, and undergarments. If you need very specific detailing of undergarments or sewing techniques, this book is general in nature and doesn't always give examples of every part of a woman's attire for each decade. Some decades emphasize particular parts of a woman's dress. But, in each decade, you'll see examples of the silhouette and popular dress styles. You can also find the contemporary price of yardage or accessories like stockings or gloves.
   
   In short, this is a handy reference, particularly when you have a quick question or if you want to see the difference in style from the 1840's versus the 1860's. It's great for me as a historical romance writer because I can quickly get a sense of the costume and layers of the garments. My only issue is that there is not enough detail about the intricacies of women's undergarments in the nineteenth century. There are illustrations of bustles and crinolines and corsets, but during the Victorian period, there were so many layers to women's underclothes that it can be confusing as a writer to remember all of the details.
   
   So, I would say that this book is a terrific place to start historical research because it explains each type of garment rather than just shows pictures or illustrations as some historical costume books do. But, if you need to research a particular undergarment or accessory, you may wish to supplement this book with other resources to get the finer details.



2. While this book was originally published in the 1930's, it has stood the test of time to become a definitive reference on the subject of 19th-century women's fashion, from the beginning of the Napoleonic/Regency era right into the early years of the Edwardian period. The text is exhaustive, delving into the smallest details (which can sometimes be the most important) of every feature of feminine costume from year to year, and features extensive sidebars on such things as underclothes and headgear. Since I run a website devoted to glove fashion and history, I particularly appreciated the attention given to gloves (which were so much a key - indeed, mandatory - accessory of women's clothing throughout the century that women would often even go to bed wearing gloves!). The hundreds of illustrations are a mix of first-class original work and authentic period illustrations. Since this is a reprint, there are no color illustrations (which are mentioned in the text), but this is a minor flaw. Anyone who has any interest at all in 19th-century women's clothing needs to make this book a basic part of their reference library.



3. I bought this book a few years ago and I found it very helpful. The information is presented in an interesting way.
   
   The photographs are period black and white photographs. Color photography did not exist at the time the photos were taken.
   
   The black and white drawings are detailed and beautiful.



4. This is an excellent book to give an accurate picture of clothing worn in the 19th century for a variety of occasions. Also very useful is the information on fabrics used, hat styles, hairstyles, etc. Easy to find the information for different decades. This is an excellent book for individuals trying to create authentic reproduction Victorian fashions.



5. I am not a costumer. I am simply a person who is interested in 19th century British history. This book is a fabulous reference and definitely worth the $20 I paid for it.

   I was disappointed at the lack of color. The photographs (recent ones only, of course) and fashion plates were in black and white.

   I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in women's 19th century British fashion.

4 comments about Costume Designer's Handbook: A Complete Guide for Amateur and Professional Costume Designers.

1. This book unfortunately was not what I wanted. However, this book is extremely detailed, and for somebody who is interested in stage or theatre costumes, very helpful in pointing the steps required to design the types of costumes for specific productions.
   
   I wanted a book to help me create costumes ie more of a pattern book.
   
   Amazon very difficult to deal with if not in Amercia



2. I bought this book because of the ratings and was disappointed. Yes it does give chronological information on planning and basics on drawing and a lot of info on working therater designs and with others. Great, but not what I needed. It also has a great reference section for doing the research you need to do but, I already had most of this info from other sources. I have a history and arts background and i needed inspiration. It did give me an inspiration to reorganize my art supplies!Don't waste your money if you are not theater oriented. AND I do mean theater.



3. I'd been assisting designers for quite some time, even designed some of my own shows, without an education in costume design. I have lots of great experience but I'm sure nothing can compete with a costume design education (mine is in fashion design), which I'd like to pursue when I have the time. I'm so glad I found out about this book! Every aspect of the process you need to know about is in here. It is essential! I can't believe I survived as long as I did without it.



4. This is a great resource for the design process. I especially use these guidelines for analysis of a play and characters whenever I design a show. A must have for anyone interested in designing shows!!

1 comments about Ralph Rucci: The Art of Weightlessness.

1. Terrific. I've bought his clothes for years and love his timeless works. Looks as if he has been discovered which is great for him and costly for me.

No comments about New Shoes: Contemporary Footwear Design: Contemporary Footwear Design.

4 comments about Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide.

1. nice little book, detailing ways to change existing 20th century clothes into period costumes for theatre.



2. I received this book as a gift, and I am grateful for it. It does have some good ideas, some that I hadn't thought about, some different ways of doing things. It helps to think in different ways, do some brain-exercising.



3. What I like about this book is that it foregoes any esoterica and costuming theory in favor of good old fashioned practicality. The reader doesn't have to sift through the excruciating snobby details, but instead is given the real lowdown as if visiting with a best friend who happens to be a costume mistress.

   This book focuses mainly on costuming for low-budget productions (such as community theatre or a school play), providing useful information and advice on making good-looking costumes from already existing garments and/or thrift store offerings. Information abounds about time period, costume cuts & styles, ways to splurge or skimp on your costumes and still have them look fabulous, as well as details that an inexperienced costumer might overlook (such as using velcro instead of buttons for ease in costume changes).

   I would highly recommend this to anyone who is involved in costuming for a production, or anyone who simply loves costumes and loves to recycle old clothes into great new ones. I love this book and have read through it several times just for inspiration.




4. An excellent book of ideas and help for someone wanting to learn to costume for community theatre. It contains excellent examples of her own work that is easy to follow. It does not overload your brain with useless information. A good starting out book, that aids a person in organizing the information , and research problems needed to suceeded in this field. Also a good read for veterans of the design buisness to give fresh ideas and back up what they have done . After 35 years finally I have found someone who appreciates the use of thrift stores , goodwill and lace curtains for stage costumes. Thank you Shirley for putting it into words and pictures.