Beauty Books

If your idea of Western wear is John Wayne in chaps and creased 10 gallon hat - forget it. Rolling Stone Press Editor Holly George-Warren and clothing designer Michelle Freedman have produced a luxe look at Western garb that is more Las Vegas than Laredo.

The iconic American cowboy typifies our country's spirit to many, from New York City sidewalk stompers who have no saddles but don boots to diamond encrusted Grammy award winners who twang with the best of them.

So, for those attracted by the lore and lure of ranching days, here is a photographed filled bow to all garb Western. It begins with the practical clothing needed by scours, traders, and ranch workers, then details how early movie stars such as Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Dale Evans and Roy Rogers spurred a popular trend in cowboy wear.

That vogue was to later influence British rock musicians and high end fashion designers such as Ralph Lauren.
"There's a little bit of cowboy in everybody," the foreword states and that would be seem to be true as the pages of How The West Was Worn reveal glimpses of tastefully displayed silver buckles, jauntily worn Stetsons, and rhinestone embellished rigs that never saw a range.

- Gail Cooke

A colorful and comprehensive examination of American style at it's most iconic - the authors have done a wonderful job telling the story of how cowboy duds came to symbolize America the world over. A must have for anyone interested in the West, design, decorative arts, fashion, pop culture or Americana/American History. The book is gorgeously presented, expertly written and endlessly entertaining, the photography is beautiful, and the interviews are rare and revealing. From the plains and frontiers, to Buffalo Bill to the Hollywood Cowboy, Country & Western, Rock & Roll, the current fashion craze, the authors leave no cowpie unturned as they reveal how the cowboy hat became our collective unconscious. The most complete record of the lives and work of N. Turk, Rodeo Ben, and Nudie to date. How did the famed North Hollywood rodeo tailor get men in the 20th century to wear fanciful embroidered and rhinestoned creations, that became more and more elaborate in a competitive fervor to outshine each other?(And how did Keith Richards cause him to draw the line?) Find out. From the fanatical to the casual observer, and especially anyone who has ever bedazzled denim or worn a pair of cowboy boots, all will treasure this book.

i am a doityourself person, the easy step by step and pictorial instructions make it very easy to cut your own hair. this book
was a very good investment.

I bought the earlier edition years ago when it first came out. Alas, it got "lost" (actually, I probably sold it at a garage sale somewhere along the line). When I saw it again but this time in the revised edition, I had to get it again, and the price is certainly right. The approach here is very simple and a bit more fearless (not so many fussy partings of the hair), more that you use your fingers as you go gently around your head and a good pair of scissors and take your time. Truly, with this attitude, you can get the job done pretty well, and it's actually fun. The drawings are many and simple and very nicely done. Though this revised edition is dated 1983, the styles are pretty basic and right on time. I'd buy this book before the "Haircuts for Dummies" one, hands down.

I truley enjoyed the book, " How to Enter the business of Commercial Modeling & Acting...Without Getting Ripped Off!"! I have learned how to act in college, but never how to make great money acting in the business! I never realized how simple it was for someone to get started in commercial modeling and acting! This book is great because it holds your hand throughout the book and makes it so simple to get started. I have already loaned it to a few freinds and a stage mom or two! It was also great to read the interviews from actors, models and the folks who hire talent. The book covered the entire spectrum of the business. I would advise that not only "new" talent read this but experienced as well. I think it is awesome that the author took the time to write this book because anyone reading it CAN NOT GET SCAMMED IN THE INDUSTRY! Like Morgan Creek Productions quoted on the back of the book, "Shark repellent for the sertious actor" it couldn't have been said better! So many people think that they have to be beautiful to model...WRONG! The Author made a great point..He said that "real" people target the"real" consumer. As a matter of fact, when I watched TV after reading the book, it was about 80% real people in the tv commercials. Even radio commercials lately have the everyday type of voice as opposed to the radio announcer type of voice. I never realized there was such a demand for people like me in the commercial industry.

This book was a great help in understanding the business of commercial acting and modeling. It gives you a well rounded understanding of what to do in any given situation in this industry.

This title covers a real need: the naked truth about underwear. Ten chapters in a tidy picture book even older kids will read cover topics like Protection, Warmth, Modesty, Cleanliness, Support, Shaping, Exaggeration, Status, Making a Statement and Future Undies. The text is a tightly woven fabric of truths about underwear ranging from such notables as Genghis Khan and his anti-arrow menswear, King Tut who was buried in 145 layers of undies and the primitive loincloth to the promised future of body sensors embedded in your Fruit of the Looms; this gets down to the foundations of corsets, bras, codpieces, crinoline petticoats, bloomers, and bustles. A huge amount of information wedged into this volume. The illustrations are lively and funny (as befits a Ringling Brothers artist. The book could only be made totally perfect by the addition of an index.

Kathy Shaskan's HOW UNDERWEAR GOT UNDER THERE: A BRIEF HISTORY is a whimsical story of how underwear has affected history, from King Tut who was buried with 145 pairs to how underwear has affected fashion and society alike. It's a zany, fun read which will attract leisure readers.

With georgeous photography, and easily applied hints & tips, one can quite happily powder one's nose with some confidence after reading this book. The follow up on hair & makeup is an essential as well.

This is a great book for you inside & out, & head to toe. It gives you great basic tips on everything from skincare, haircare, nails, makeup, body, homespa, ect... I love it and always refer back to it. A must have for any skincare and natural beauty junkie like myself. My next purchase will be Jane Campsie's Hair and Makeup. (I'll let you know)

This should be on the coffe table of every Jamaican and anyone who has a love for this beautiful country. This book is large hard cover and the vivid and beautiful pictures capture the essence of Jamaica. It goes beyond the beaches to the everyday - the school children, the old churches, the road side jerk chicken stand. Each picture is large, colorful and alive!!! You will love this book.

This book, although no longer in print is a must have in any Jamaican's library. Ray Chen's photos are vivid and alive with the true spirit of Jamaica.This book is a great conversation piece for people trying to learn more about Jamaica.It is probably the closest you can get to experiencing Jamaica's beauty without hopping on a plane and flying there yourself!

Whether you are interested in womens studies, the pre-raphaelites, jane morris/william morris, art in general, or just interested in the time period (victorian england); you will be impressed with ms. mancoff's scholarship, research, and writing ability. Having had her as a professor as an undergraduate and graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I find her insights into this century and its characters quite refreshing in comparison to other historians. This book is such an asset to the genre!

Highly recommend this book. The text is well written and it gives a nice overview of Jane's life and the Pre-Raphaelite artists she came to know personally through the years. Photos and prints are an asset to the book.

This is a small (80 pages) book that is worth every penny of its price. The cover and back are adorned with fabulous examples of coats done in sashiko embroidery that were produced on Awaji Island in Japan. The coats, stitched with white thread on indigo-dyed cloth, were produced in large numbers for every day and dress up into the 1920's, but production stopped when industrialization came to the fore in the Japanese fishing industry. Although there is now a revival of sashiko in Japan, many fewer garments are produced.

This book is replete with photos of life in fishing communities and both old and newer garments. An extensive catalog of the garments that were featured in an exhibition at UCLA is appended to the text. If you own Susan Briscoe's Sashiko Sourcebook you will have no difficulty figuring out how to produce these garments or how to use the techniques in your own design efforts.

I spent 2 weeks researching indigo dyed Japanese fishermen's coats while preparing for a new design in my own work. In doing so I found vintage photographs of men who fished for a living in Japan. They wore coats to protect themselves from the elements,made by the women in their lives who also mended them ,using the art of stitching to hold together layers of fabric.The fabrics that they used to mend with were from other garments,all in blues from indigo.

This books has a collection of these coats that truly honors the blood,sweat and probably tears from the men who worked endlessly long hours to support their families.

I love this book and count is as one of my favorite reference books in creative library.I can't say enough about the beauty of these clothes and thank all of the people behind creating such a perfect collection.

Thank you!

I was review it for my project that Hawaii in late 19th century and early 20th century so I need to know where the immigrant people were from other country to Hawaii..

Like the food they eat, the clothes they wear help express a people's relationship to the rest of the world. But the clothing used by Japanese immigrants to Hawaii is now surprisingly scarce.
Work clothes were used until they wore out. Clothes for special occasions, usually hand-woven and sometimes made from rare fabrics like bashofu (an Okinawan specialty made from plantain fiber), were carefully preserved, but after World War II, AJAs (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) sent much of this back to relatives left destitute by firebombing.
Thus Barbara Kawakami, who grew up in a plantation camp on Oahu, had to search many years to find even a single example of once-common items like the kappa, a raincoat sealed with a mixture of linseed oil, turpentine and a fire-retardant.
But she persisted, interviewing some 250 old-timers, many of whom generously presented her with old clothes that allow one to actually feel part of what it was like to leave home -- usually an impoverished farm -- for a strange new land that was often equally impoverished, at least in the early years.
Many of the garments illustrated in 'Japanese Immigrant Clothing' have a story attached, sad, joyous, tragic or triumphant. Kawakami sometimes unwraps her mother's black montsuki, the garment worn at weddings and other most important events. 'Now, as I look at that faded montsuki,' she writes, 'with the hand-drawn design of pine, bamboo and plum on the hemline, I am grateful for the valuable lessons my mother passed on to me, which are literally "bearing fruit" in my lifetime. Yes, to receive a katami (Buddhist keepsake, personal belongings of a dead person, often clothing), no matter what it is, brings back fond memories of loved ones and how they taught us to live.'
For those who have no such memories, this book is also interesting for the sense of immediacy it gives to the little stories of the pioneers. Thus the bleached rice bags, which provided cloth for bento bags (the covers of the tin lunchbuckets the cane and pineapple workers carried into the fields) and school clothes, tell of poverty. But the elaborate traditional style wedding clothes, to which nisei daughters increasingly turned in the 1930s, tell of the growing success of the AJAs.
'The issei (first generation immigrant) parents, especially mothers, sacrificed much to dress their daughters in traditional bridal clothing,' writes Kawakami. 'Others took in washing -- sometimes after working 10 hours in the fields -- to make extra money . . . . A proper wedding gave issei parents a great deal of satisfaction: It linked their lives in the new land to their lives in the villages they had left behind in their youth.'
It is perhaps unfortunate that this book is called simply 'Japanese Immigrant Clothing,' because that does not tip the potential reader to the treasure trove of trivia about daily life and the simple but powerful human stories that Kawakami has assembled.

Another well written, fantastic book by Renee Newman. This book is profusely illustrated with wonderful color photographs and the author writes very clear and informative advice on how to wear and select jewelry. Very useful tips on how to properly care for jewelry are a must to learn. Before acquiring more jewelry, reading this book would greatly help to understand jewelry in general, along value and fashion trends. Truly a great book!

Respected gemologist and the author of eight outstanding guides on the subject of gems and jewelry, Renee Newman combines her years of experience and expertise with a gift for writing to provide both jewelry professionals and interested non-professional general readers with an informed and informative guidebook and manual on selected just the right jewelry to match a lifestyle, a budget, and even a body type. Profusely illustrated throughout with color photography, the "Jewelry Handbook: How To Select, Wear & Care For Jewelry" lays out clear, concise, step-by-step instructions on choosing jewelry that flatters and which will endure in both value and tenure. Readers will learn how to properly decipher stamps on jewelry mounting, how to make jewelry versatile, how to care for, clean, and protect jewelry, and perhaps most importantly, how to get good value for the money invested in the purchase of jewelry. The "Jewelry Handbook" covers both the benefits and the drawbacks for various setting styles, mountings, chains and metals (including gold, silver, platinum, palladium, titanium, tungsten, and stainless steel). Before buying their next piece of jewelry, readers would be very well advised to read and rely on Renee Newman's "Jewelry Handbook".