Fashion Books

I have not read this book entirely, but what I've read so far is interesting. There are a lot of recipies that are easy to follow, such as the Hot Honey Facial and Protein(gelatin)Wave And Nail Set. Although this book list natural ingredients for the recipies, I feel certain it would not be for the vegetarian types and animal rights activists. The author prescribes mink oil often and sometimes lanolin throughout this book. I will be using replacements for the above ingredience although she does not recommend alternatives for them.

She covers everything about about facial and body treatments that include face creams and masks, hair jells, lip gloss, deodarants, shampoos etc. in a very basic, easy - to - read format. This book is very informative and useful.

This is a great book for budding art, design, and fashion students. I used this as my reference in my design classes in college. Very detailed and full of information. Even if you are not a natural fashion designer, you will be able to develop your skill if you have a good guide such as this.

This is a very thorough and well-researched introduction to tattoos. If you are considering your first tattoo or want to be a little better educated before you choose your next tattoo, I highly recommend this book.

I read The Complete Style Guide Frome Color Me Beautiful Oraganisation and I really liked it. It was then that I thought that I could be an image consultant. I have not been able to find a book like that one that gave such details on color analysis. The description it gave on how to determine one's color pallette is easy enough to understand.I mean everything you want to know about image is right there in the book. It is just a fantastic book! Mary Spillane did a great job!

This book opens with a case study of a buyer's squabble about over whose territory it is to buy a certain dress. Then we get the solution and action plan about the squabble. Who in retail has not experienced this. Yet it is refreshing to hear the solution, and to read the rest of the excellent case studies in the book.

My retail business is not a department store, yet every case study in this book was relevent to my business. The authors cover display, direct import, vendor relationships, budgets, purchasing and pricing strategies, marketing, hiring practices, and everything pertinant to retail today.

It is difficult to find a good book on retail strategies. There are hundreds of books on marketing, but only a few that cover the purchasing side of retailing. This is the best purchasing book I have found.

I really like the book a lot . I am currently a textil design student. The book helps a lot to look
at the styles of the 50th.
I also purchased . " Fabulous Fabrics of the 50s and Forties Fabrics. I can recomend all three books.

What a christmas/Chanukah gift! Teenagers will fall in love with this book and notch up their self-esteem 100 points, as they read and experiment. Vincent is the best and he understands teen girls and their hair better than anyone else in the world!

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Cooper has always managed to stand out from the crowd. Maybe it's her long, flowing, flame-red tresses, her large, appealing eyes, her incredible fashion, or, perhaps, it has something to do with her starring role as Molly Mack, on the TV show of the same name. A role where she took on the persona of a girl detective along the lines of Nancy Drew. But those days are long over. Georgia has turned over a new leaf in life, and wants nothing more than to become a writer; and her internship at FLIRT magazine is most definitely a step in the right direction. The only problem is that there are six other interns crowding around her, and Georgia has to do whatever it takes to steal the spotlight from them, and have it shining on her, and her budding talent. But with Elizabeth Cheekwood around, showing FLIRT's head honcho that she has the chops to cut it in the writing world may prove harder than any role she has ever undertaken before.

Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth Cheekwood is unlike the other interns in the fact that she didn't apply for the position, she was recruited. By FLIRT's editor-in-chief herself. While she doesn't have the same sort of fame as Georgia, Elizabeth is quickly climbing up the totem pole. Ever since catching the eye of a prominent literary agent, and signing on to write a book, Elizabeth has been hailed as an ingenue. The only problem is that she has only written three chapters of her novel, and is at a road block. Elizabeth hopes that writing for FLIRT will help her overcome her writer's block; but between late-night clubbing, reality TV marathons, checking out the city for the first time without her overprotective parents looming over her shoulder, and indulging in some of the best food New York City has to offer. Unfortunately, while she's living it up, and truly having fun, Elizabeth is neglecting her true duties. And if she doesn't shape up soon, FLIRT just might ship her out.

I have been a fan of FLIRT since the first book hit stores, so I was slightly surprised to see how abruptly the characters changed, without hardly a backward glance at the flirtistas I had grown to know and love. That said, I must admit that I did enjoy the arrival of new faces; though I can't say that any of them held the appeal that was so omnipresent in Mel, Alexa, Olivia, and my personal fave, Kiyoko. Georgia comes off as bossy and self-centered, and Elizabeth seems so meek and gullible. I can't say much about Asha, Mikki, Nova, Naliah, or Sivya, as readers never truly get a chance to learn anything in-depth about them. Still, by the end of COPYCAT, I couldn't help but feel that the characters had begun to grow on me, making me want to learn more about them; and the cliffhanger ending has only made me more eager to find out what will happen next. A flirty addition to the FLIRT collection!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

Compiled by R. L. Shep, Corsets - A Visual History is a must for anyone interested in fashion history. As its title implies, this book provides a "visual history," using images found in advertisements and catalogs from department stores and corset companies.

Museums are full of well-dressed mannequins dressed in anything from sumptuous ball and wedding gowns, to more plain everyday dresses. Seldom do we get to see what was worn underneath those dresses, which was absolutely essential in creating the fashionable look of the era.

Because our dress forms already conform to the "ideal hourglass shape" so many women were trying to achieve, museum curators do not always bother to dress our mannequins with the correct undergarments. Sometimes we do not even have appropriate corsets or stays in the collection anyway.

This book allows us to examine what was available at the time our dresses were popular, and how women achieved the coveted ideal feminine shape.

By its very nature, a book of this type is seen solely from a manufacturer and advertising point of view. It is not intended to show the reality of wearing a corset. But the "Notes" section in the very beginning does address the health implications of squeezing your body into an unnatural shape.

One illustration in particular compares the bone structure of a "normal" woman to one who has been "permanently remodeled" by a corset. The rib cage of the corseted woman narrows drastically toward her waist, compacting all of her internal organs in the process.

In addition to shallow breathing and a "remodeled" rib cage and spine, the book also addresses a less well-known physical side effect brought on by corsets. An illustration for the "uterine supporter" shows how it was used to treat a "prolapsed or sagging uterus." The ad states that it is "made of heavy morocco with elastic strap....Hard rubber cup pessary, held in place by small white rubber tubing." The uterine supporter would be worn during the day, with the rubber cup inserted to form a support structure for the uterus.

The book also comments on various movements to suppress the use of corsets, most of which were widely unsuccessful. Fashion can be very powerful, and most women were willing to sacrifice their health to conform. At the beginning of the book, three excerpts from popular period magazines explore changes in attitudes, including The Penny Magazine (1833), Harpers Bazar (1871), and Women's Home Companion (1912).

Perhaps surprisingly, the 1833 article is against the corset, outlining the dangers of compressing the lungs, heart, stomach, and liver, with the conclusion that "almost every function of the body becomes more or less depraved."

The latter articles boast the advantages of a more flexible corset, but do not go as far as to suggest that women should not wear one altogether. The 1912 excerpt preaches the importance of a good fitting corset above all else: "Let me tell you that the fat woman looks much better in a corset an inch or so too large for her, where her fat can sink down into it, rather than in a corset two or three inches too small which presses her fat up and out until it appears in many unsightly bulges and bumps....The woman who has perfect corset sense is she who wears a corset right in size, right in shape, and so perfectly fitted that the corset and figure seem one."

In the 1920s, those rebellious Flappers transformed beauty into something unlike anything that had been seen before. With their straight hips, flat chests, dropped waists, and hemlines above the knee, the corset fell out of fashion. There was an attempt to revive it in the 1930s, but as Shep writes, World War II put an end to that.

There are few illustrations in the book prior to 1870, mostly because proper morals prevented the publication of an image of a corset, so research material is scarce. These undergarments were veiled in modesty, and were not something early Victorian women talked about. As the era progressed, more images appeared.

The book is divided into decades, with illustrations through the 1930s. It is a visual smorgasbord of images, but it does not feel overwhelming. Instead, you find yourself turning page after page, eager to compare prices, styles, and advertising slogans.

In short, this book is both an excellent reference book and a treat for the casual reader. It is a rich primary source that documents a previously "unseen" aspect of fashion.

This is a wonderful review of fashion from ancient times to the present (starting with medieval fashion, western european fashion is accented) in a well-illustrated book written in a lively, opinionated prose. Well, this is not meant to be an encyclopedia and the author mentions that she did not spend the requisite time it would have taken to make this book a reference on historic costume because she didn't mean to write one. There are some debatable assertions but they are more than compensated for by the clarity and readability of the text, as well as the nice trivia thrown in here and there. It reads more like (interesting) fiction than an encyclopedia and thank god for that! There are plenty of dry tomes on historic costume and this is very different and very refreshing. There is plenty to learn and the pictures are very appropriate. In all, it's a great book on historic fashions and I definitely recommend it.