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.

4 comments about Easy Knitted Socks: Fun and Fashionable Designs for the Novice Knitter.

1. I have knitted two patterns from the book: The Textured Bootees and the PomPom Bobby Socks; both patterns were easy to knit and fast. The instructions were clear and the pictures of the How-Tos helped whenever I got stuck.



2. I started out great. Made a whole sock, tossed it in the wash (washable sock yarn), pulled it out, only to find a big honkin hole in the toe! I later found out that the standard grafting instructions in the book are incorrect. I must now start over. I have been knitting for years, but never socks. Silly me, I always expect the basic directions to be acurate, even if sometimes the pattern itself may have an error from time to time.



3. When I picked up this book I really thought everything looked easy. The first pattern I tried was the "Love Heart Slippers". Well I got around the second part and found an error in the pattern after asking many advanced knitters for help. As I'm new to slippers and socks I'm not very good at tweaking patterns.
   
   Hopefully not all the patterns are like this. I'll give it one more shot on another pattern.



4. Instructions are included for using double-pointed needles or magic loop technique on one long circular needles.
   
   Projects include: baby bootees, toddler slippers, felted baby slippers, felted adult slippers, socks knit flat and seamed up, basic tubular socks on 3 needles, spiral socks with no heel to turn, ballerina style slippers, lace knee socks held up by ribbons, striped lace socks knit on 3 needles (shown on cover), beaded leg warmers, mock cable socks, actual fair isle socks (not faked with patterned yarn!) and several other lace or textured patterns.
   
   One drawback, perhaps, is that in including so many forms of sock-knitting, there aren't actually very many patterns of actual socks knit in traditional styles. And while it claims to be for "novice knitters" it may intimidate real novices. On the other hand, there is something for everyone here.

No comments about Visionaire No. 53: Sound.

5 comments about Vampires and Vampirism : Legends from Around the World (Classics of Preternatural History).

1. This was a cool read even though the book is originally pretty old. I like how the author seriously relates some folktales and stories about vampirism around the world; some I had read before but a lot were new to me. Worth the price!



2. Vampires & Vampirism was first published in 1914. While the style of writing might be a tad outdated and it even talks about the Kaiser's dominions this just adds flavor to this collection of stories and folklore from Europe, Asia, Middle East and even Great Britain. There is even a chapter on vampires in literature which is a great source for early vampire novels. Over 200 pages of great fun.



3. Vampires and Vampirism : Legends from Around the World (Classics of Preternatural History) by Dudley Wright is a book that will forever remain on my bookshelf.

   Wright has compiled the legends of the vampire worldwide from the beginning of recorded word until the early 20th century. While slightly dated in language usage (this was first written in 19l4), the book is a throughly good read.

   It is a must have for anyone interested in the vampire legend - whether you are just curious or an author looking for a new twist on the vampire myth.

   As you read, you have to wonder how many of these stories Bram Stoker heard before he wrote his famous "Dracula". While not necessarily in historical order, all the stories are tied by region. Some are so silly as to be humorous, others will just make you wonder.

   I would recommend this book to anyone who even has a passing interest in how the legends began.




4. I remember discovering monster movies, bag in the days when 50 cents got you into the Saturday show with a bag of popcorn as well. After watching all the ghoulishness on the screen I would search the used book stores for scary stories, and anything that said mummy or vampire in the title. Back in those days books like "Vampires & Vampirism" were making their last rounds - worn volumes on the dusty shelves in the back of the store.

   Written first in 1914, and reprinted in 1924, "Vampires & Vampirism" is a classic example of its type. The author, a folklorist and specialist in ancient religions and occult beliefs has compiled out of obscure references and records a huge number of legends about vampire behavior. The book is a confection of such stories, compiled and retold, with the author providing the bare bones framework needed to organize the material and ensure an orderly progression from one to another.

   Dudley Wright organizes his reports primarily by country or region. One gets to read of the ancient vampires of Babylonia and Greece, then the scene shifts to Britain, Germany, Hungary, the Balkans, Russia, and the Oriental realms. He even comes up with some modern material in the U.S. Wright is less well organized from a historical viewpoint, but his material covers a period from several millennia B.C. to 1923. Additional chapters discuss the power of excommunication (which is apparently how Vlad the Impaler became Dracula the vampire), living vampires, literary references and a somewhat tedious discussion of whether (or how) vampires existed.

   While not a great academic study, the book is more like a compost heap of imaginings waiting for the delectation of the curious, or to feed the fertile imaginations of both readers and authors alike. In digesting it one must keep in mind that, up to the period in which this book was written, vampire literature was still quite scarce. Whether Dudley Wright and his kind are responsible for the resurgence of the vampire tale as an entire genre I cannot say, but it is a tempting to draw that conclusion. "Vampires & Vampirism" is full of interesting little facts and twists and is easy, pleasant reading. For the vampirophile this is one of those volumes without which one's library would be incomplete. In other words, great fun.




5. I'm a huge fan of vampire fiction and movies and found this book listed on some websites. When I sat down to read it, I discovered it was a reprint of one of the first serious books on vampirism, so the style and type is old fashioned. Still, it's definitely worth the read. After all, vampires are the most fascinating of all creatures in folklore. I think that it is a very good book for first time vampire readers, and will help dispel the misconception that vampires are all from Central Europe. It was cool to read about British fiends and Persian ghouls.

2 comments about Red Carpet: 20 Years of Fame and Fashion.

1. the book is very well done in photography but the pages began ripping after first looking through it. also the cover was partly damaged.
   good pictures.
   bad product.



2. This is a fun book, with beautiful pictures. Just wish it had gone further back to the sixties and seventies.

3 comments about Fashions of the Gilded Age, Volume 2: Evening, Bridal, Sports, Outerwear, Accessories, and Dressmaking 1877-1882.

1. Frances Grimble shares her meticulous vision with us once again. A great two book series full of facinating information and patterns galore. I cannot wait to clothe many a pretty lady using them. Not for the faint of heart. The patterns are period correct and I would advise an advanced skill level, or a great deal of patience. Always do a mock up. Remember these are patterns of the age. So start at the skin and work your way out to a glorious new costume.
   Enjoy.



2. This is a great book, but you should know that it is not a second edition of Fashions of the Gilded Age, Volume 1. It is the second volume of the anthology, and a different book with all different patterns. The title is actually Fashions of the Gilded Age, Volume 2: Evening, Bridal, Sports, Outerwear, Accessories, and Dressmaking 1877-1882. It's just as good as Volume 1, none of the information is the same except the intro on how to use the patterns, and the dressmaking manual is really unique.
   
   I heard both volumes were published but it took me awhile to find the second one on Amazon because it was mislisted. So I thought I'd warn other people.



3. I just reviewed Volume 1, where I said the book contains a huge selection of patterns. Volume 2 focuses on patterns for evening dresses, bridal wear, sports wear, and outer wear. The chapters on accessories and trimmings contain some needlework patterns, embroidery and so on. I figure if I don't do the handwork I'll still have learned a lot about buying appropriate materials.
   
   I bought both volumes, but they are organized so you can use them separately. Both contain the instructions for using the book and the special rulers that allow you to draft patterns to fit you. They also both have a big glossary, a bibliography, and two indexes.
   
   Volume 2 has something really special though--a dressmaking manual. The book says it was rewritten from numerous rare original sources that are listed in the bibliography. But it's been rewritten so it doesn't read that way; you can't tell where any source begins or ends. That makes the manual a lot easier to use. And it's so long it could have been published as a book by itself. I'm glad to have it, because I've never been able to find a comprehensive sewing manual for this period. It even has corset-making instructions (the corset patterns are in Volume 1).
   
   Both volumes are very well edited and produced. This is not a cheap printing job.
   
   Anyone who does Old West reenactment or Victorian teas would love these books!

5 comments about A Dedicated Follower of Fashion.

1. I ordered the books for my boss, so I didn't actually read it. I did however meet the author!



2. Brubach's reporting on fashion is cultural as well as critical, making it some of the most intriguing writing in either the New Yorker, Atlantic, or New York Times in the last decade or more. This elegantly designed but engrossingly readable book is witty, scholarly and insightful, but still the best reason for buying this book is that it's a grand read if if you don't care about fashion as a daily fan. Like all additions to a home library, this illuminates a world from an intelligent, learned perspective. It will become a classic collection of essays.



3. Brubach does little to convince me that fashion is not, in fact, shallow and dismissable. She comes close to an epiphany of meaning in an essay about the French and the social reading of personal appearance, then loses her ground totally in an article about large size fashions, exposing her own biases without self-awareness. I only struggled my way through this because I'd both looked forward to it based on advance press (fished in!) and spent good money on it. I don't think I'll keep it; off to Half-Price Books for Holly.



4. Reader beware: if you buy this book expecting to find a fun, entertaining read about clothes, you'll be disappointed. However, if what you want is a book that provides insight into how fashion is a business, and the factors that influence the success of that business, then this may be the book for you. Another caution: although the print date is listed as 1999, the articles and examples were written much earlier.



5. Holly Brubach writes with intelligence and wit about a subject that most people dismiss. She understands the thoughtful, artistic aspect of fashion design as well as its more ludicrous side. Designers themselves should be happy with her writing because she takes them seriously, distinguishing art from hype. But it seems that some of them have banned her from their shows for not regurgitating their self-valuations. Brubach's writing compares very favorably to current art criticism and social commentary. But the best thing of all is that she is funny and entertaining, and you don't need to be a fashion insider to enjoy this book.

3 comments about American Victorian Costume in Early Photographs.

1. The arrangement of the book is refreshingly neat. It is firstly chronological, and then subdivided into men, women and children. The text is brief. No deep history lessons, more of a broad overview of each decade. The pictures are wonderful though. So it's a good "look book". If you can't or don't collect antique photos to reference, this is a good alternative.



2. This book contains useful illustrations representing all ages and classes of American society. Ms Dalrymple wins my approval by basing some of her conclusions on dated photographs; in other words, she uses photographs as documentary evidence, not just as illustrations.
   
   -- But important source information, ie. the format of the photograph, the photographer's name and geographical location, etc. has been moved to the endnotes, and the captions consist of stating the obvious; ie. "man in patterned trousers". With a few exceptions, the captions do not explain why the photographs were selected for the book and do not enhance the illustration. In her well-written chapter introductions, the author demonstrates her knowledge of the field and uses interesting and significant quotations from primary sources. (I like the footnotes.) So I wonder... was there an editorial decision made to "dumb-down" a potentially useful piece of work?
   
   Finally, reproduction of the photographs is adequate, but not exciting. It is sometimes difficult to see costume detail.



3. The Victorians put their (mostly) best foot forward in this collection of period photographs. Most of the photos are obviously studio pieces and catch our ancestors at what they considered their best, but a few, like the picture of the little girl missing a coat button, seem unplanned.

   The photos are grouped by decade and show men, women and children of all ages and social classes. The editor's notes are conveniently placed near the photos and contain clear and interesting details about the costumes. Together the notes and the photos provide a useful resource and fun browse for all those interested in Victorian costume and manners.

5 comments about The End of Fashion: The Mass Marketing Of The Clothing Business.

1. This is an interesting and well written business book about the fashion industry and some of its most important designers. The author describes the growth and changes in the fashion industry and the changing role of the customer and the designers. The books material is mainly focused on the US marketplace and the different stand-offs between ex. Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, the growth of Armani and the Italian designers, and the decline of the French. The main thing is that it nowadays more comes down to great marketing and expensive ad budgets to stay successful, that great design techniques. Overall great insight into an industry mostly concerned on hype and over inflated egos.



2. I love clothes and I consider myself a smart shopper...I don't buy labels and the most famous brand names. I shop for the best prices and clothes that are flattering on me. I follow Vogue and all the magazines, and I thought I knew what was going on. But this book really did open my eyes. The fashion business is really dog-eat-dog and all those big designers don't seem to really understand that real people don't spend $1000 on a dress, or as the author writes in the book, that the consumer is king. No wonder so many fashions don't sell. And those Paris designers, after reading this book I see that they really are not what they appear to be. They are so clueless and overrated. I also finally understood about the stock market and why Donna Karan's DKNY doesn't appeal to women like me anymore. The stories in this book were funny and factual and read really fast. I finished it over a few days. I highly recommend it.



3. The End of Fashion was an enjoyable read, with an amusing view into the belly of the fashion beast, but ultimately it did not tie together the major points it uncovered.

   Agins writes about various the various forces that have fundamentally changed fashion -- societal shifts, the changing retail landscape, impatient public markets, licenscing mania and so on. However, it is frustrating that she does not explain how these forces fit together, or extrapolate them into a view of the future of fashion.

   We do get good dose of fashion one-liners, such as Zoran's "give diamonds and jewelry to housekeeper", but the aftertaste of mediocre analysis persists.




4. This book was very well written with an interesting perspective on the changes in society and the effect it has had on the fashion industry. The author has chosen a variety of examples to demonstrate her point on the direction fashion has taken and seems to be headed for the future.



5. Interesting, business-view of fashion, that shows the indulgences of vain, shallow designers like Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan and Mossimo, whose idiocy was their downfall, and the more business-minded, but nonetheless creative, designers that flourish. Shallow, as only fashion can be, but interesting, too.

5 comments about So Far, So Goude.

1. In the fashion photography scene sometimes it's easy to forget, that before it exists the visual flamboyance of Lachapelle there were french photographers like Guy Bordin or precisely Jean Paul Goude.
   
   Starting in the pre photoshop times, if only to see how he was completly free to transform in any way his images through scissors, tape and spray, the book would be completly worth the price. Plus you can see his artistic approaches from conception to the actual photograph, his talent in drawing, painting, and retouch.
   
   Besides being the creative force behind Grace Jones imaginery he is also the creator of so well known ads like the Chanel campaing for Coco with Vanessa Paradis or the building with the screaming ladies in each balcony claiming: Egoistee!. the DVD included has all of this in a very good quality and goes around 40 minutes, so I am not clear why somebody here complains about it. Check what is available in youtube to have an idea.
   
   Much further than advertising or even the fashion scene he created, the book goes directly into the ART land, and is absolutly a must for anyone into photography, fashion or contemporary culture. How he is able to create a completly different universe of his own, full of a distinctive iconography full of sense of humor and chic make him a full and interesting creator. One must wonder how is it possible he is not better known outside France.



2. One of the best books showcasing a terrific artist's work! Just a complaint: the DVD included would have been much better with sound...



3. This book Is a Must Have for all FASHIONISTAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   Great PICTURES. Comesa with a DVD, which is EXCELLENT



4. This beautifuly produced book is a must for all advertising creatives.
   Includeed CD contains Goude's famous TV spots, but unfortunatelly not full lenght.



5. JP Goude is known for his amazing photos of Grace Jones, but this book is full of many great shots, advertisements, graphics. A must for creative people. This book is "So Goude"!!!