5 comments about Amy Butler's Midwest Modern: A Fresh Design Spirit for the Modern Lifestyle.

1. This book could stand alone as a coffee table book. There are many beautiful and inspiring pictures. If you like the Amy Butler look, this book will be inspirational.



2. If you have a "vintage-chic" aesthetic, this is the book for you! I am consumed with interior design and love mixing new and old for an interesting, eclectic look. I became interested in Amy Butler after purchasing "Found Style" which is an earlier book put together by Amy and her husband with many ideas of how to mix up interiors with flea market finds. Amy Butler's Midwest Modern is filled with pictures of Amy's current home and shows how she successfully complements each room with new pieces, old pieces and fabrics she designs. A small portion of the book is a portfolio of her textile designs which she uses generously in her home for pillows and upholstery. I find myself referring to this book often for inspiration.



3. A few publishers have finally begun to take heed of the desire of their reading public for books infused with lush photos, brilliant color, and elegant design, in addition to innovative writing that enchants and possibly compels us to try a little something new.
   There's luscious eye candy on every page. Amy Butler invites us into her home to examine her hip takes on art, craft, fashion, interior and garden design, even shopping. With photographs of every room in her house, various collections, the cat, a multitude of aprons, potted plants, and more, Midwest Modern is essentially a Design Lab encyclopedia. It's a lifestyle handbook, a 21st century version of Alicia Bay Laurel's artful 1971 classic, Living on the Earth.
   Today, when DIY is synonymous with cool and "I got it on Etsy" is heard at least as often as "I got it at the mall", artists and designers are blossoming and Amy Butler in full bloom. With a wholesome emphasis on recycling and reinventing, Midwest Modern overflows with exuberant patterns drawn from the natural world. In her epilogue, Amy writes, "Beauty is in the way you live. Enjoy your surroundings. Let them inspire you. Follow your own path, and approach everything you do with love in your heart."
   This book will make you want to get your Spring cleaning out of the way fast, so you can open the windows, crank up the music and make something pretty!



4. I don't know how anyone cannot love this book. No, it is not a project book. Yes, it is a nearly-shameless tool to market Amy Butler's designs and style. So what?? I feel like the absolutely gorgeous photography and approachable, down-to-earth prose more than make up for that. If you love Amy's designs, you should love this book. If you are searching for inspiration to help cultivate a funky, eclectic sense of style, this is a great book. Projects - no. Inspiration - enough to spare. Enjoy!



5. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I understood the book's intent by the description. It's a LIFESTYLE book - there are not many patterns to copy (buy Amy Butlers IN STITCHES, if that's what you are looking for) - but there is plenty of eye candy. I expected more personal fashion (less home decor) based on the cover - as one of her patterns take center stage - but there is much more home decor/style than you could hope for. The studio & decor pictures are great. Lots of great ideas - completely adaptable without using her fabrics - - - Note, you will be hit over the head with Amy's fabrics - so yes, it is a bit of self-promotion going on, but that's just what I would expect. Great book! Lots of ideas!

5 comments about Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.

1. Beautiful, informative, interesting. The famous queen comes to life, as well as her notorious wardrobe. Her ability to express her feelings through fashion and how it eventually lead to her downfall really makes you think about how much of a victim she was, especially from the jealous and arrogant courtiers of France. A must read for any Marie Antoinette fanatic or someone who just wants to know who she was.



2. Wonderful new viewpoint on the age old subject of Marie Antonette. She never really said "Let them eat cake..." but she did a lot of other interesting things!



3. I bought this upon reading the recommendations. I've read some of the other books mentioned and loved them. This one, not so much. For me, it seemed somewhat like a text book. I didn't finish it.



4. Webber explains as she only can why Marie Antoinette and her wardrobe continue to fascinate us in the 21st century.



5. I found queen of fashion to be not enough queen and not enough fashion. It pairs a less than adequate biography of Marie Antionette with a smattering of observations on how her fashion choices both represented her role as well as influenced events around her.
   
   What I found problematic was that the fashion highlights jumped around in terms of time periods. There would be a detailed explanation of a time, then a gap of several years before another touching base. I'm not sure if this was due to a lack of source material for the intervening period, but it made for very choppy reading.
   
   If you've read a lot on Marie Antionette, you can skim this to pick up the fashion pieces. If you haven't read a lot about her, pick up another biography first.
   
   This might have worked better as a series of essays than as an overall biography.
   
   Disappointing -- 2&1/2 stars.

5 comments about Calder Jewelry.

1. Great book, wonderful pictures. Calder art just unique. A good sample of quality and incredible price



2. This a great book by a great American sculptor. Most people know his mobiles and stabiles....his jewelry is a great secret and this book shows us another part of a wonderful artist.



3. a great book, a complete overvieuw of calders jewellery and a beuatifull extra to the book Calder intimeCalder Intime (Collection Maitres D'hier Et D'aujourd'hui). The comments of his grandchilderen makes it even more personal and intime as the book mentioned before. You can feel the joy of living and creating in the storys and in the images. A must have for every goldsmith or goldsmiths school.



4. Incredible exhibition catalogue of Calder's jewelry. Excellent photographs and descriptions of his unique and whimsical adornments.



5. This is an exquisite book filled with unbelieveably gorgeous photographs of Calder's creations. Even the quality of the paper is exceptional. Just a wonderful book that is a treat for the eyes and a deserving tribute to the genius of Alexander Calder.

5 comments about Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right.

1. I am a 3d professional artist for a long time, I have to say I have read hundreds of books, watched hours of training videos, read pages of internet tutorials anything related to 3d animation. No other training material comes even close to things I have learned reading this book. It is a treasure that you have to keep somewhere close to your desk as a reference, whether you are modeling a character head, building blend shapes or rigging . I have used the techniques successfully in many projects. I thank Jason Osipa for writing this book and for teaching me how to build superior 3D characters. This is my second SS book, I also have the first edition. This 2nd edition is a lot different then the first.



2. Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done RightThis book is a very good resource for computer animators.



3. Have you ever worked with a facial rig that was based on a set of sliders in the viewport? Many of the most popular free rigs use that method these days. Well guess what -- it's sometimes called "the Osipa method," and it was popularized by the first edition of this book.
   
   As a novice character rigger, this book opened my eyes to an entirely new way of looking at facial modeling, rigging, and animation. I can not recommend it highly enough. These days when I create a character, I always have two books within quick reach: The Art of Rigging (by CG Toolkit, only available from their website) and Stop Staring.



4. I hate to say this, but didn't learn much more than which I had already been able to get from online tutorials and forums.



5. I am a professional 3D character artist and I own a previos version of this book.
   I am using Jason Osipa's method of facial set-up for all my characters, for animated film and games. Not only it is the system that's easy to use and understand, but it produces very attractive and believable facial expressions. I would recommend this book to anyone who ever touches digital characters, but especially to 3D modelers and riggers.

5 comments about The Science of Sexy: Dress to Fit Your Unique Figure with the Style System That Works for Every Shapeand Size.

1. This is a very well written and illustrated book. It is easy to understand your figure type and the illustrations are very helpful in choosing correct styles and silhouettes for yourself. I bought the book for my daughter. I read it myself and have shared it with friends. I have also recommended that our school librarian purchase several copies for our high school students.



2. This book is a gold mine of great information. Bradley knows how to dress a woman - of any size! His formula and fitting rooms are invaluable tools. I'll be taking it with me every time I go shopping!



3. Exteremly informative. Must read for anybody wanting to dress their particular body and look amazing. Not sexy but Great.



4. This book is fantastic in helping anyone dress there body type. It really helps you look as sexy as you want to be by choosing things that are most flattering to you. Highly recommend.



5. The book has great word-of-mouth, but unfortunately there is very little in usable material. Only about four pages are actually devoted to my shape and body type, so I felt ripped off having to purchase the entire book.

5 comments about The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947 - 1957.

1. I attended the Golden Age of Couture display at the Victoria & Albert Museum last October. It was sensational, but as I was travelling back to Australia was unable to purchase the book at the time. The book is exquisitely presented and provides images and words to almost transport one there. I highly recommend it to any fashionistas.



2. Haute couture and fashion enthusiasts have had a very bad time try to get hold of this wonderful book, but I have to say it's worth the wait for those of you impatient and desirous of owning your own copy. This 224 page book has color photographs, black and white illustrations and in depth descriptions of what exactly the New Look was, how it was created and how it was developed. Aside from Dior and Balenciaga, Jean Desses, Jacques Fath, and Norman Hartnell (and a section dedicated to London couture) are also discussed and beautiful photographs of their work are displayed.
   
   This is a must have for New Look enthusiasts and fashionistas alike.



3. I own this lovely book. The photography is stunning and the oversize format allows one to see the details of the exquisite clothing from this iconic era.



4. This marvelous book, which was reviewed December 2, 2007 in the New York Times Book Review, is, according to Amazon, already out of print, though it was just published in September 2007. What on earth are the publishers thinking to pull it just three months after it went on sale and before Christmas? It's incredibly stupid of Abrams, the New York Times, and, frankly, Amazon, to be pushing something that can't be bought for love or money. A singular corporate screw up for all concerned.
   
   UPDATE DECEMBER 13 2007
   
   Both Abrams and the New York Times have emailed to tell me the book is not out of print. Then why doesn't Amazon indicate that on this page? There is nothing here to suggest the publisher is temporarily out of stock, or that the book will be available again. I'd be happy to hear from anyone with information on the real status of this book.



5. At the 60-year mark since the great Christian Dior upended the fashion world with his immortal "New Look", at last comes this gorgeous coffee-table retrospective of what may be the loveliest decade in 20th-century fashion (though the Belle Epoque of 1900-1914 is right up there with the New Look in my opinion). This book, released in tandem with the Victoria and Albert Museum's 2007-08 exhibit of the same name, is more of an overview than an in-depth examination, which would probably require a book at least three times as long and as many times heavier than the current volume. It's not as widely known as it should be that London also had a major haute-couture movement going during this decade, and the British designes like Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell get full coverage in this book. All the great designers of the period are touched upon and the various trends and details discussed (there are chapters devoted to textile manufacturing and to Cecil Beaton, the best-known fashion photographer of the period), and the photographs, in color and black-and-white alike, are worth the price of purchase alone. I really can't think of a better Christmas present for somebody interested in classic fashion!

5 comments about New Fashion Figure Templates: Over 250 Templates.

1. i love to draw and some times drawing figuers is time consuming and they have great templates for a fashion design and i love and body in fashion design and in collge for this its a great book a must buy



2. This book is ok. I agree with the other reviewer that it is best for entry level drawing. The croquis are decent minus the stringy hair, broad shoulders, and large, manly necks, but those are things you can fix. The color is horrible and many of the drawings just look downright strange and very much like strippers. I highly suggest to use this book as a starting point, no more.



3. This book has mostly everything I need. I can't draw male figures to save my life. And in this type of industry, I need to learn a lot more and do a lot more. This book gives me a lil boost up on different figure positions in a fashion design prospect. I recommend it to any level entry who wants to design or get into a fashion illustration field.



4. I was looking for a book that had fashion croquis and poses. I like most of the poses in this book, but it's not on a "high fashion" level. It's great for a entry level illustrations.



5. This book is a great resource with multiple poses for various fashion forms. It really helps you to generate sketches that better display your designs in poses you may not have thought of. Highly recommend it.

3 comments about Sports Illustrated: In the Paint.

1. Who would have believed that body-painting could so realistically depict actual swim-suits, etc. Outstanding!



2. SI's annual swimsuit issue is a highly anticipated delight for many afficionados of the female form.
   
   This collection of photos of some of the most beautiful women on the planet features the body painting genius of Joanne Gair. These bountiful babes sure look like they are wearing some nifty swimsuits. NOT!
   
   They are all as naked as the day they were born. Wow! I wish I had this to read back when I was in my teen years! Still enjoyable, even now.
   
   The perfect gift for that straight male you know, aged teen to octagenarian. He will appreciate your exquisite taste.



3. A beautiful gift for any SI fan, photographer or artist... the book is well put together and done with class. It goes through each year SI has featured the "painted" models with additional, never seen before photos and model comments. Gorgeous color. Great holiday gift.

5 comments about Bag Style: 20 Inspirational Handbags, Totes, and Carry-alls to Knit and Crochet (Style series).

1. If you are looking for something to make in the latest knitting trend, well here is a nice selection of knitted bags. There are bags knitted with cotton to felted wool. I especeially like the cover bag and can't wait to knit it. Nice addition to my knitting library collection.



2. This book is full of super cute and trendy bag/purse projects. Out of all the knitting books dedicated to handbags, this by far is the best one I've found yet. I can sincerely say I like just about every single pattern. I made one of the bags for my best friend and she said she gets compliments all the time. One note: I'm in my twenties and think these are adorable. Granted if you are older or just simply have more traditional taste, you may not like some of these patterns but I find them all to be just the right mix of trendy, sophisticated and classic.



3. I am a huge fan of Scarf Style; it truly has a scarf for everyone (I've made for 3 different people already, and have others in the works). So I was very excited to order Bag Style, and pretty disapointed when I finally got to thumb through it. Out of the patterns, there are only 2 I remotely liked, the one on the cover (but it turns out you have to felt it, which I can't stand doing) and a cute little purse that incorporates a wooden knitting needle. The other patterns were just too kitschy or too far from current fashion trends for me to consider. I would have liked to see a few more "classic" styles, as well as some more realistic trendy selections, to round the collection out.



4. Great bags. I'm making the cover bag now and it's knitting up quite well. So far I haven't run into any issues with the pattern.



5. I know I'm addicted to knitting handbags, especially felted ones, but I have to say that this book has some of the loveliest bag patterns I've seen yet. I can't wait to get started!

5 comments about Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion.

1. This book is actually a must have for the true gentleman, it has all the knowledge that a men need to know to be in perfect shape for every ocassion, from the shaving, the hair, the beard, all of the clothing, the shoes, and a perfect explanation and some recomendations for every item, the only little problem is perhaps that because the author is from England, many of the brands mentioned are in fact from England and in some parts of the US maybe a little hardto find, but definitly are worth the trouble to look for them, all are really very high and luxury brands worth every penny paid for it.



2. This is a nice book if you're looking for a history of men's clothing and why certain clothing styles are the way they are. It is not a "how to" guide to building a wardrobe. The book is a nice adition to a library that already has other men's style guides....but don't let it be your only one.



3. I should say that this is first and foremost a coffee table book.
   
   The main contention seems to be whether this or Flusser's book is the "quintessential" guide to men's style. It seems to me that this is a false dichotomy. Flusser (and might I recommend Antongiovanni's "The Suit") is a *guide to* men's style. "Gentleman" is a book *about* men's style. There is a subtle distinction here. I think it could best be described as the difference between a Time-Life book about WWII and "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". The one might be prettier, easier to read, and give you a decent overview of the subject, but if you want to get into the nitty gritty of numbers and details, you want to go with the "real" book.
   
   "Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion" is a great book to keep on your coffee table and flip open occasionally, but if you want real, useful information about men's style and tailored clothing, go with Flusser or Antongiovanni.



4. Compared to A.F.'s books, this guide to men's clothing is not very useful unless you have a lot of money. However, the photos and anecdotal information are great, and it is a fun book to browse. If you enjoy men's clothing, you won't regret owning it.



5. This is a lifestyle guide, which is sophisticated. Not at all like the Machiavelli Suit book where complicated writing styles and dodgy advice overtakes the look.
   
   The author helps you nurture a look.