Cool Fashion Books?

[Faust]

/\ excellent pick. one of the best fashion books ever.

[cremaster]

New Fashion Book

Not sure if there is a thread on fashion books so please move this if necessary.
There is a new book out titled -
Black: Masters of Black in Fashion & Costume.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Masters-Fashion-Costume/dp/9020988506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288162718&sr=8-1

It is in both Dutch and English.
It takes a lot to interest me in in fashion books(and magazines for that matter) but this book is very interesting.
It has Yohji, Comme, RO, Ann D (Faust it has a couple of photos from her AW2003/2004 collection!) Gareth Pugh, Raf etc (and some designers I have never seen before) and juxtaposes it with historical clothing.
Definitely worth checking out. Some great inspiration.

[thehouseofdis]

Thanks! I had not heard about that.

[Atom]

That book is based on MoMu's black exhibition.

But yeah, a thread about fashion books would be fantastic.

[Faust]

We have one, obviously.

[thehouseofdis]

My ex got all the fashion books. :(

I really liked the Belgian Fashion Design and the Young Belgian Fashion Design books.

We also has a great book by a photographer that was oversize and was all Yamamoto clothing but I can't remember who the photographer is.

I do have the Dries van Noten 01-50 book which is excellent.

[viv1984viv]

Odd post this. I was going to post a catch up post basically mentioning my favourite fashion books like sample, antwerp 6, fashion at the edge, young europeans, The Measure, etc etc

However, when I looked across my bookshelves at the fashion and art and music books ( the big hardbacks with glossy pages, not the theory stuff ) it occurred to me that so many interesting aesthetics are communicated outside of "Fashion Publications" - I love fashion magazines but some of my most inspiring images are in the pages of books about history, or music or art.

Anyone care to share the NON-fashion books that have influenced your thoughts on clothes and style?

EDIT - don't mean to derail the thread, I appreciate that some may prefer the topic to be kept solely on books that are strictly fashion focused but I also suspect that many people have some gems to share........ also I guess many designers find their inspiration in places other than the pages of fashion monographs!

[thehouseofdis]

I thought Men in Black by John Harvey was an interesting read.

It explores the use, meanings, etc. of black in western fashion over the past few hundred years.

[move_ment]

just ordered this:


'review' here, looks to be a good resource.

[syed]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adorned-Dreams-Modernity-Elizabeth-Wilson/dp/1860649211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289134036&sr=8-1

'Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity' by Elizabeth Wilson. Pretty much a foundational text as far as dress history goes. Super easy reading and one of those books I think anybody interested in dress, let alone fashion, ought to read at some moment.

[Faust]

/\ Ashamed to say that I haven't read that yet. It's been staring at me for a while now.

[syed]

Definitely do, it is not the most comprehensive book by any means, but it is a good start. Chapters are nicely varied and get you thinking:

- Introduction
- The History of Fashion (court dress in the early mercantile period to modern individualism)
- Explaining It Away (brief survey of theoretical writings on fashion)
- The Fashion Industry (development of manufacture)
- Fashion and Eroticism (sexuality and eroticism, inc. fetishism)
- Gender and Identity (idea of gender as a perfomance)
- Fashion and City Life (how the city affects fashion and the way we dress)
- Fashion and Popular Culture (brief survey of how film, entertainment etc. influence fashion)
- Oppositional Dress (subcultural dress and counter culture)
- Utopian Dress and Dress Reform (19th and 20th Century dress reform)
- Feminism and Fashion (she argues that it is inappropriate to view fashion as a moral problem)
- Changing Times (chapter added after original publication)

The main thing you have to keep in mind is that it was originally published in 1985, and was one of the landmark texts. You can now easily find books dedicated to topics she tries to fit into single chapters.

[syed]

I thought Men in Black by John Harvey was an interesting read.

It explores the use, meanings, etc. of black in western fashion over the past few hundred years.

It is such a good book! Also check out 'Black In Fashion' by Valerie Mendes if you get the chance. I rather like her style of writing, it is very easy and fun.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1851772782/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0WDZP254NHG61B809PVD&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

[lowrey]

just ordered this:

'review' here, looks to be a good resource.

this looks very cool, thanks

by the way, is there a good book on CDG? this? mainly interested in good imagery, but something worth a read wouldn't hurt either.

[Faust]

Thats not a very good visual book, lowrey. The essays are ok for a dilettante.