Book Description

Here, in this lavishly illustrated history of the Best Dressed List, is the story of how the list originated and grew into the world-famous event it is today. And, for the first time ever, fashion doyenne and Best Dressed List founder Ms. Lambert contributes her personal story on the subject. Founded in 1940, the Best Dressed List was her brilliant publicity ploy to boost the drooping American fashion industry at the outset of World War II. It quickly became a highly visible and respected barometer of style, a "who's who" of the most glamorous women in the world. Interestingly, the first lists were mostly wealthy society women who were famous for spending entire fortunes every year on haute couture, while movie stars were rarely named to it, as they were dressed by their studios. Today, the list has evolved into a highly coveted placement that includes every sort of public figure, from socialites and models to movie stars and politicians. Featuring four to six of the top women from each decade, this spectacular volume explores the personal style of such fashion icons as Babe Paley in the 40s; Grace Kelly and Diana Vreeland in the 50s; Jackie O. and Verushka in the 60s; Twiggy and Bianca Jagger in the 70s; Princess Di and Tina Chow in the 80s; Sharon Stone and the Miller sisters in the 90s; Chloe Sevigny and Nicole Kidman in the 21st century. The Best Dressed List will be reproduced in its entirety in the back of the book. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

You have got to be kidding....
What a disappointment. Although when the back cover photo credit is wrong, you should know what to expect. An uninspired, cliched collection of frequently used photos and text. The publisher does a good job of choosing subjects that get lots of attention - I guess that eliminates the need to do any work editorially. If you are really interested in this subject, get the recent Vanity Fair article.

Not bad idea, but could've been so much better!
I say this because there could've been a lot more personal information about the lives and styles of the selected ladies (and a few more pictures of their outfits!), and there were much better pictures available of some of the ladies. There were missed opportunities to show better pictures of Wallis Warfield Simpson, C.Z. Guest, Nicole Kidman, Paltrow, Coco Chanel (there was a spectacular Cecil Beaton portrait of Chanel that was in the Vanity Fair issue--they should've printed it in this book), and the pictures of Jackie Kennedy Onassis were rather poor choices. This book reminded me a lot of "The Power of Style" (which I think is still available). I still liked it enough to purchase it because the book is very elegant and does contain some nice pictures. I just think it was a lost opportunity to really "lay on the style" by including MORE and BETTER pictures. I also didn't see much good in just printing the LIST of names of the ladies who've made the list--we have no idea of WHO or HOW these ladies looked! Why not at least a small picture of these ladies and their sartorial choices? Overall, a nice addition to a fashion lover's book collection, but I was a little disappointed by what COULD have been (yes, I keep repeating myself)...Don't forget to try to get "The Power of Style" (and "The Power of Glamour", which is about movie star style)--you would really like these books if you like Ultimate Style.

The ultimate book on style!
Amazingly beautiful book - fabulous pictures of the most stylish people - decade by decade. A great foreword by Eleanor Lambert - doyenne of the best dressed list! Love, love love this book - beautifully designed etc. Great for research, for browsing and for just dreaming over! Love the large format - this one's going on my coffee table for all to see! A classic book on classic style...better than Vanity Fair's crappy attempt recently to do their own best dressed list! Shame on them and kudos to Assouline for doing it right! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

Deliriously happy at [any price!]
I bought Unmistakably Mackie after drooling over the book for nearly a year. It is beautiful, it is entertaining, it is over the top, it is history. It is also a fine education in costume design and fashion illustration.
I have other books that feature Mackie's unrivalled fashion illustrations, but here I can see and almost touch the finished costumes that made Cher and Carol and Ann-Margaret. I can finally analyze how they are made.
Please, don't wait to buy this wonderful book. and it is well worth getting a new, pristine copy of this treasure.

Unmistakably Mackie -- if you love fashion...you'll love Bob
WOW! WOW! WOW! Unmistakably Mackie is a fabulous fashion book! This is by far my favorite book! The photography is stunning. The creative type layouts are imaginative. The sketches are wonderful. Anyone interested in costume &/or fashion design will LOVE this book writen by Frank DeCaro ("Style over Substance" columnist for the NY Times).

As a designer & illustrator just starting out, I find no end of inspiration in this book! The sketches are delightful and the outfits are always immaginative. (Looking at the photos & sketches, I found out I can draw Cher too!) :o)

Before reading this book on Bob Mackie, I had no idea the extent of his influence. I just knew I liked his designs. Now he is undoubtedly my favorite designer. (I want to do what he does!) This man has done everything...from his own ready-to-wear fashion line to Broadway, television (Cher and Carol Burnett), movies, ballet, an opera, Vegas and Barbie! If there's something he hasn't designed for, I'd be surprised.

I heartily recommend this book!

For fashion fans everywhere!
This survey of the fashion and fantasy of fashion designer Mackie examines his many contributions. Mackie created works for popular television as well as film and stage: Unmistakably Mackie considers his life, fashion designs and revealing outfits. Plenty of color photos of actresses in full outfit abound.

Bob Mackie is an inspiration!
The exhibit at F.I.T. this fall as well as my love of Bob's great model Cher prompted me to get this book. It's perfect for the die hard fashion victim, the star lover or the sheer lover of beautiful fashion craft and fantasy. I would advise everyone who knows a hollywood fashion lover to stuff the stocking with this book. The cover is gorgeous, and the dress looks to be the one Cher wore in the Player!The passages on his favorite women are revealing and colorfully illustrated with photographs and drawings!

It's MUST for worshippers/collectors of Bob Mackie!
I got this new book as Amazon.com informed me two days ago, I loved to look at every pages of bob Mackie's "never look at pics before" Bob Mackie is my good friend since his first Bob Mackie Barbie; He invisited me to his party for sneak perview of his exhibition at FIT in NYC, I loved every creation he created, I urge you to go/see his exhibition! He is sweet and thoughtful guy I met, but to fashion world, He is a god of creative talents of art and designs!!!!!! Go & order his book! If you like to chat about Bob Mackie Barbie and his work, Like to hear from you! ... Read more

Book Description

One hundred years of style by decade and designer.

The twentieth century experienced the most fashion changes in history: from hoop skirts to mini skirts, from wearing cotton to plastic. Fashion was as turbulent as the times. Throughout it all, Vogue magazine was there, as the leading visual filter.

20th Century Fashion, published in association with Vogue magazine, is the definitive style bible for anyone interested in the past, present and future of fashion. It takes a fresh look at fashion history over the twentieth century and charts the evolution from corsets to Coco Chanel to punk.

The book chronicles and explores one hundred years of developments and movements, including: - 20s flappers - Christian Dior's New Look - Swinging Sixties - New Romanticism - 90s Eclecticism

Illustrated with eye-catching archive images, 20th Century Fashion also features the work of the photographers who helped immortalize seminal fashion images. An A-Z section profiles two hundred and fifty of the greatest fashion designers who inspired, created and altered the course of fashion -- from Azzedine Alaïa to Zoran by way of Balenciaga and Yohji Yamamoto.

20th Century Fashion is an informative and inspirational look at how fashion reflects and projects social mores and individual values. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

biographies of 245 international fashion designers
Vogue Twentieth Century Fashion - 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer is another superb book, which we recommend. Written by Linda Watson it is very informative and also has the status of a coffee table book. The book contains the biographies of 245 international fashion designers and couturiers. It starts off with a description about the various fashion decades of the 20th Century. Entertaining are the quotes from old Vogue magazines about the latest fashion trends. The oldest Vogue, which is quoted is from 19 August 1909. Needless to say that there are many pictures and photos on each page.

vogue
This book was extremely informative, detailing the works of many designers. It also gave the history of fashion, going from the 1900's-present. Beautiful pictures of the designers' clothing are also given. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is the definitive and indispensible guide to the unique looks designed and, in these photographs, worn by Leigh Bowery. One of Britain's most heroically ambitious yet underappreciated designers and performance artists, Bowery remains an inspiration to many contemporary fashion designers, though few are willing to admit it. In "Leigh Bowery Looks" you can see why: it contains 300 previously unpublished photographs of Bowery, an extraordinary body of work that was the outcome of his collaboration with British photographer Fergus Greer between 1988 and 1994, the year of Bowery's death. Leigh Bowery was a performance artist, fashion designer, nightclub sensation, art object, aspiring pop-star, and above all, an icon whose influence traversed the music, art, film, and fashion worlds. Perhaps he is best-known as the muse and nude model for some of Lucian Freud's most famous paintings; ironic for the man who was infamous for his costumes. Originally from Australia, he arrived in London in 1980, and proceeded to establish himself both there and in New York for his scene-making clubs and performances until his death in 1994.

"Leigh Bowery was clearly one of the most eye-poppingly extraordinary figures of our times."-Martin Gayford, "The Daily Telegraph"

300 color images

6 x 7.75 inches ... Read more

Book Description

Geared towards both professionals and people working to become professionals, this book offers essential instruction on digital fashion photography.With digital photography taking the industry by storm, this is an opportune time to learn the ins and outs of shooting models in the studio and on location by using digital equipment.This book includes how-tos for those interested or already involved in fashion photographyhow to set up fashion specific shots whether in-studio or on-location, how to use digital equipment to get the shot you want, etc.With its huge audience, high paychecks and glamorous international lifestyle, fashion photography may seem like one of the world's most sought-after professions. For every fashion photographer who makes it through the door of a top magazine, a thousand others find their niche in fashion advertising, art photography, celebrity portraiture or even paparazzi work to make a living.This book combines educational digital photography information that is related to digital photography in general as well as the areas and issues indigenous to the professional fashion photography world.Its visual nature carries the same appeal as fashion magazines worldwidepeople love to look at images of beautiful people.With informative content and breathtaking images, from simple to futuristic, this is undeniably an engaging book, perfect for this audience. ... Read more

Book Description

Since the late 1980s, the field of fashion photography has exploded, moving away from presenting a desirable ideal to showing contemporary lifestyles. An intriguing exchange of ideas and techniques between commercial photography and art photography and, more specifically, between fashion and art photography has completely changed the idea of what a fashion photograph is and what it should look like. The focus is on defining a milieu rather than just clothing. ~Fashioning Fiction in Photography Since 1990 presents a selection of high-profile fashion photographs influenced by two aesthetic strategies: cinema and the amateur photograph. The cinematic image, through its attention to drama and its reverence for tension and voyeurism, seduces a young audience whose primary visual points of reference are film and television. The amateur photograph, including the family album picture, provides seemingly offhand documentation of the activities of friends and associates in the lives of photographers, blurring the line between pictures made for hire and those made as personal keepsakes. This groundbreaking book, and the exhibition it accompanies, includes lavish illustrations of the work by photographers such as Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Cedric Buchet, Glen Luchford, Tina Barney, Jüergen Teller, Nan Goldin, and Larry Sultan, among others. The principal essay, by Susan Kismaric, Curator, and Eva Respini, Assistant Curator, in the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, explores the nature of fashion photography in the last decade, and the work of the photographers presented in this volume. A second essay, by Dennis Freedman, Vice Chairman and Creative Director of W magazine, discusses the subject from within the fashion industry and provides an intimate view of the creation of the promotional campaigns and the imagery of fashion.

Fashion photography by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Cedric Buchet, Glen Luchford, Tina Barney, Jüergen Teller, Nan Goldin, Larry Sultan, and more.

Essay and Interview with Dennis Freedman by Susan Kismaric and Dennis Freedman.

Hardcover, 9 x 12 in./144 pgs / 110 color and 11 duotones. ... Read more

Book Description

A gathering of controversial, breathtaking moments, "A Second Decade of Guess Images" captures images that reflect two decades of artistic exploration and set the stage for the new spirit of Guess? in the future. It showcases the best work of renowned photographers, Ellen Von Unwerth, Wayne Maser, Raphael Mazzucco, Daniela Federici, among others. The book features quotes and memorable Guess? images from 1991 to 2001, of top models such as Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, Anna Nicole Smith, Laetitia Casta, Drew Barrymore, and many more.

11-1/2"x15", Full color and black and white images ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Mmmm, Yummy Photos, Yummy Clothes, Yummy People
I have been waiting anxiously for this book to come out since I got my copy of A Decade of Guess? Images 1981-1991 years ago, and as soon as I saw the second decade book was out I bought it.... not only are these books truly gorgeous, but they actually appreciate in value ...

Anyway, as always you are left wanting more, which is a faint downer, but it also makes you want to get hold of the catalogues Guess? put out during the year of each season's clothes - I've started looking around for them on sale 2nd hand because I want to see the photos that have been left out! Looking at the changes in style through the decade is of course fascinating, the different styles of each photographer and how everything ties in with the style of Guess? itself. There is very little writing in the book which leaves you open to fully concentrate and absorb each photograph, although I personally would have liked a little more detail on each of the shoots such as the names of all they people involved and the role they filled, maybe a few anecdotes, etc.

I don't have a favourite photo or a favourite shoot. I think this book may actually be better in regards to that than the first book. In this book while there is a lot of variety, there is more of a 'feel' for what is wanted from each shoot.

Buy it. You absolutely cannot regret it. ... Read more

Book Description

This lush volume presents a collection of startlingly erotic, black and white photographs by a man who is sure to emerge as a master of the medium. A model himself during the last several years, Jeff Marano has brought his own experience in front of the camera to bear to tease out the energy, vitality, and sensuality of these beautiful men. Shot using only natural light in a variety of settings - on the beach and poolside, in hotel rooms and on rooftops, on terraces and in the woods - Marano's pictures evoke old time Hollywood glamour while still allowing their subjects to retain an individuality and spontaneity rarely seen in contemporary erotic photography. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Very helpful!
This is a great how-to book. Lots of excellent information. As a working photographer I found it to be very informative. Nice babes too!

Brief Overview
This one is a little thin on content. Gives about a paragraph on every topic, but no detail on anything. You'd be better off buying a 2-3 books that give more detail on different topics like lighting, business, models, etc. Though a bit dated, John Kelly's "Successful Glamour Photography" is more useful and cheaper. "Part-Time Glamour Photography : Full-Time Income" is also a better buy. The photos are good, but the same handful of models are used throughout - no variety. As if they went out and shot the whole thing in a weekend and threw together some text. Get this only if you want a synopsis, but you could finish it in 10 minutes at the rack.

Nice Stuff
Interesting concept! I like the ideas and the photos, not to mention the beautiful models. I would have rated it 5 stars, but the swimsuits are too conservative. ... Read more

Book Description

A collectible and fun little book on America's most fashionable footwear, the Small Boot Book is a close up look at the veritable trunk show of some of the most impressive cowboy boot designs from the most prestigious and famed bootmakers in the world, and is small and handy enough to carry with you when you're shopping for that next pair!From detail shots of stitching, to a focus on the design elements like flowers, steer heads, horses, crosses, initials, hearts, cacti, and horseshoes, there is plenty of quality craftsmanship to ogle over.A great little idea book to have handy if you're a collector, a fan of the craftsmanship or in the market for a new pair.

Tyler Beard is the foremost expert on cowboy boots. He is the author of Art of the Boot, The Cowboy Boot Book, and 100 Years of Western Wear. He lives on a ranch with his wife, and together they run True West Design.Jim Arndt is nationally recognized photographer, with many books to his credit including Art of the Boot, The Cowboy Boot Book, and 100 Years of Western Wear. His work has been published and exhibited internationally. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In scholarly words and stunning, mostly black-and-white photographs, stylemeister François Baudot uses the coffee-table book format to pose an important fashion question: How in the world did the vain modern male give up colorful clothing? As he puts it, "How is it that those 17th century birds of paradise ... turned themselves into jet-black crows?" Baudot says it was the Sun King's fault. Louis XIV, mad for frills and flounces, made everybody who was anybody in France circa 1650 wear billowing shirts with lacy sleeves, plumed hats, polychrome silk stockings, "breeches so voluminous that they made walking a problem," high-heeled shoes, "their bows shaped like a windmill's sails," garters, ribbons, makeup, rings, and miserably hot, outrageously expensive wigs. Louis made fashion "lose all contact with reality."

What could possibly come next? Revolution! "The Louis XIV effect was not to be reproduced.... Thenceforth, in his dress, modern man could now only proceed by way of successively and irreversibly discarding things."

This sounds like a lot of French philosophical jive, but the photos Baudot adduces of fashion-plate men--movie stars, politicos, artists, and anonymous guys--do bear him out. Compare, say, the intricately embroidered getup of the Nawab of Bahawalpur in India, or T. Philips's renowned painting of that mad dandy, Lord Byron, with the book's main procession of men in customary suits of solemn black. England's Prince Philip, looking imperially slim in 1950s London, has much the same stylistic allure as James Joyce posed in his most famous picture in Paris in the 1920s. Mao and de Gaulle evoke similar auras of scary power precisely by renouncing outward sumptuousness for authoritative sartorial abstemiousness. Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart, Errol Flynn, Fred Astaire, JFK and Bobby, Prince William at Eton, even fatally flamboyant Jean-Michel Basquiat in the full flower of fame--these men resemble so many distinguished penguins. Even the naked men in the book--Sudanese Nuba tribesmen circa 1949 and Yves Saint Laurent launching his "Y pour homme" perfume in 1971--can be seen in terms of the male expression of power by emphatic understatement in dress.

Ultimately, it's tough to sum up Baudot's thesis. But the man sure knows how to pick cool photographs. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Book Description

In David LaChapelle land, Pee-Wee Herman is a Martian crash landed into a pastel suburb; L'il Kim becomes the ultimate status symbol, tattooed in the Louis Vuitton pattern; an elegant half-dressed woman wakes up in the untouched remains of an otherwise completely obliterated building; Madonna rises from pink waters as a mystical dragon princess; two women stand in a monochromatic red bathroom, one about to dig into the tub in which the other lies amidst pools of spaghetti; a woman and a horse carcass share a bed; Pamela Anderson hatches out of an egg; and Alexander McQueen burns down the castle dressed as the Queen of Hearts. It's all so much hyper-reality and fun park America gone surrealistically wrong--but in such an attractive way. Witness the workings of the photographer of our zeitgeist.

Edited by Davide Faccioli.

Hardcover, 5.25 x 7.5 in./88 pgs / 36 color and 1 b & w. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Fashion Fly on the Wall
It's something of a misnomer, the title of Larry Fink's hilariously gruesome portrait of the fashion world. In Runway, his latest and most spectacular book of photographs, the much-celebrated "catwalk" barely figures at all. Fink's much more interested in the backstage drama, and in this behind-the-scenes record of the culminating moments in the seasonal paroxysms devoted to ready-to-wear and haute couture, he finds theater aplenty.

A pitiless and perceptive social critic, Fink previously documented the brutal heroics of boxing and the bizarre social customs of New York's Upper East Side. Here his camera captures, in unflattering close-up, the unguarded moments of some of fashion's biggest stars. And while he frequently focuses on instantly familiar supermodels, his most memorable pictures tend to be of the designers themselves. Many of them are more recognizable than their mascots, bagged like so many trophies under Fink's unremitting gaze. Isaac Mizrahi strikes a characteristically self-mocking, histrionic pose; a wolfish Oscar de la Renta glares at us suspiciously; Calvin Klein, caught in mid-sentence, could be having a cardiac arrest. In another supremely chilling image, Gianni Versace gazes heavenwards, looking horror-struck; it's almost as if the slain designer's having a premonition of his gruesome fate.

Fink's corrosive visual style derives from influences as diverse as Weegee and Diane Arbus (he studied with Lisette Model, the legendary French photographer who made a habit of the grotesque). He's obviously well aware that his hand-held flash - usually held aloft and angled down - freezes the scene like a diorama, turning humans into statues and vice versa (in one delicious moment captured at a society benefit, we see the lower halves of a line of partygoers filing past a comparatively lively pair of sarcophagi). In page after uncaptioned, full-bleed page, Fink hammers home a harrowing glimpse of a grandly dysfunctional world.

But Fink has a love-hate relationship with this strange and contorted show of human frailty; he glamorizes and demonizes its insanity at the same time. He's abidingly curious about the backstage talents, with their fanatical devotion to craft, who feverishly toil to create the designer's illusions. In one tightly cropped shot, makeup whiz Kevyn Aucoin, with total concentration, grasps a model's head in a vice-like grip (significantly, her face is hidden from us). And always, there are the fashion paparazzi, hovering (like Fink) on the sidelines, getting it all down on film so we can devour it.

"When substance is dead, style lives on," Fink writes in an afterword. Rest assured, both substance and style are alive and well in this damning - and damn amusing - book. ... Read more

Book Description

Hailed by Vogue as 'the fashion bible' and by Elle as 'the ultimate fashion reference book', The Fashion Book takes a fresh look at the fashion world and the people who created it. Now available in a pocket-sized mini format, this inspirational reference work covers the whole industry – from pioneering designers, including Coco Chanel and Issey Miyake, to influential photographers such as Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton and the people they photographed. Easy to use and filled with beautiful and memorable images, it is an A to Z guide to 500 key individuals – clothes and accessory designers, photographers, models and those iconic celebrities who instigated or symbolize a whole fashion movement. It cuts through the usual classifications and creates juxtapositions that make fascinating and unlikely partnerships. Each entry is illustrated with a photograph or drawing which shows a quintessential aspect of their work or style. An accompanying text describes where they fit into the fashion story andincludes essential biographical information. In addition, a comprehensive cross-referencing system and glossary help to explain the many collaborations and techniques used in the fashion business. Exceptional value for money, this handy new mini edition is a must for all followers of fashion. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Great fashion book for the coffee table
512 thick, glossy pages of fashion. Each page highlights a different person... Designers, models, icons, photographers, illustrators, milliners, cosmetic creators, tailors, etc. Each page has a brief paragraph or two describing the artists contributions, and below is a single large picture or illustration depicting the work of the artist. One of the more stunning fashion books I've seen. Quite impressive.

The Best Fashion Book
This is without a doubt the best fashion book ever written. Not only are designers in this book, but also fashion illustrators, editors, and icons. The work and time put into this book must have been unbelievable, and to charge such a low price. The book is definately worth the price, and much much more. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in fashion, at any level.

Terrific!
I have the small paperback version, sitting on my bedside table. The type gets pretty tiny in this version but get yourself a magnifying glass and read on. Pick it up and let it flip open to any page to find interesting info on designers, photographers, models, illustrators, any major player in the fashion world past or present. It's the closest thing to a fashion 'bible' that I've ever seen. Priceless!

love it
i love this book espesially the designs on page 133 and 183. very informative.

The Fashion Book
A great reference for those interested in people who have made major contributions in fashion. This is a beautiful A-Z guide with over 400 entries that includes fashion designers, photographers, models, retailers, illustrators and icons. Even though there is not a lot of text it provides you with just enough written information that you want to find out more if it does not already quench your curiosity. ... Read more

Book Description

Craig McDean is accustomed to shooting pop idols en grande forme--a playful Madonna, for example, on the cover of Vanity Fair or in a worldwide campaign for Yves Saint Laurent. Lifescapes shows that he is also adept at challenging our perceptions of the big picture. McDean calls this collection Lifescapes rather than landscapes because the images represent his private views--vignettes from his own travels, his road trips across the world. For each image, he picked five or six different shots and merged them into one, doing so in a limited amount of time to maintain a feeling of spontaneity. Although McDean employed modern digital equipment to accomplish the blending, he did so in a manner that faithfully duplicated darkroom processes. The resulting scenes retain the integrity of the techniques practiced by the landscape artists and visual storytellers of yore, tempting the imagination. The viewer’s journey includes masterful collages of motorcycles, skyscrapers, and Cadillacs. In one instance, shadowed images of beachgoers in Brazil share the sand with a high-rise building and a gigantic version of McDean’s wife wading into the ocean. McDean captures the American fascination with iconographic architecture while paying attention to lines, angles, and conflicting imagery. It’s an amazing way to see the world without ever getting into a plane, train, or car. Clothbound, 15 x 10.5 in. / 88 pgs / 40 color. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

informative, creative, and entertaining
a great provider of information, artistic direction, and visual stimulation. i can't put it down

This book is a tresure to all who appreciate fashion !
If one wants an insight into the mind of the most creative force in fashion, this is the book to get! The escentric John Galliano has been praised as the greatest fashion stylist and designer of our time (all of this praise was given at such a young time in his career).This beautiful book proves why Galliano is the fashion force that he is. A "work in progress" is the term the author uses to describes this book about Galliano. It is not a biography,though it briefly cronicles his childhood and days in St. Martin's School,nor is it a retrospective. What this book does, though, is disect a master at the verge of stardom, from his graduation show at St. Martin's to his stint at Givenchy to his sucess at Christian Dior,as well as his independant line.Beautiful photography shows the reader Galliano's process of creating a collecton from start to finish.Pages from his concept book is shown, giving readers a gimpse into how Galliano thinks and creates.Above all else,the best part is Galliano's creations, and that is the best part about the book.In it,one can see how the master's work evolves from different points in his young career.I highly recommend this book about a master's "work in progress" .

The most beautiful book created.
Thank you Colin McDowell! John Galliano to me is the most talented designer in the world, and I have always been waiting for books to be published. This is very completely story of who he is, how he works, and how he gets inspired which will in turn inspires many other creative people of the same wavelength. The book is very detailed and incredibly beautiful and intricate.

A FEAST FOR THE EYES
GALLIANO IS THE MOST AMAZING COUTURIER ALIVE IN TODAY'S HAUTE COUTURE. HIS CLOTHES BOTH FOR DIOR AND HIS LABEL ARE WONDERFUL CREATIONS. THIS BOOK IS FILL WITH BREATHTAKING CLOTHES MODELED BY TRUE SUPERMODELS . HE IS AN ARTIST AND EACH OF HIS DESIGNS IS A MASTERPIECE

A great book for a great designer
If you are a Galliano fan or an admirer of haute couture in general, you will enjoy this beautiful book. With its full color photos and strong graphics, Galliano is a pleasure to the eyes. Filled with behind-the-scenes photos and commentary, as well as photos of his sourcebooks for inspiration, you get to see what goes into the creation of his collections-- which are consistently imaginative and dramatic. ... Read more

Book Description

No matter how late it is, if a party is hopping, Roxanne Lowitt is there, finding the perfect moment, shooting it and preserving it forever.From Yves Saint Laurent to Iggy Pop, from Madonna to C.Z. Guest, open any page of People:Life After Dark and you'll feel like you've been invited to the party yourself.Roxanne Lowit is a legendary photographer who has been a fixture at the best parties and fashion shows of the past 30 years.She has single-handedly recorded a world where dressing up and going out is a way of life.Her photography documents the phenomenon of celebrity since the 70s, from mythical places like Studio 54 in New York and Le Palace in Paris to today's hottest clubs.Her place in photography, people and the night is unique.The best of Lowit's work is brought together like one long night out at the wildest, most decadent party of the century.Fun, campy, free and candid, Lowit's photos never fail to catch the pulse and rhythm of the crowd, and the intimate expressions of the people in the corners. ... Read more

Book Description

Dreadlocks are a modern phenomenon with roots reaching as far back as the fifth century. According to ancient Hindu beliefs, dreads signified a singleminded pursuit of the spiritual. Devotion to God displaced vanity, and hair was left to its own devices.

Dreads captures this organic explosion of hair in all its beautiful, subversive glory. One hundred duotone portraits present dread-heads from around the world, in all walks of life. Interviewed on location by the photographers, jatta-wearers wax philosophic about the integrity of their hair, and every stunning image confirms their choice. Alice Walker puts words to pictures, offering lyrical ruminations about her decision to let her own mane mat. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Enlightened, but against
One day I was walking into the bookstore with my aunt who wears dreads, and I picked up this . I was captured by the cover,it was so intriguing. It all began with my family members, and the culture I know as "Black". I am a 19 year old student in college, and all my life I have been around people of my own race who have worn dreads, and have worn them very intricately. My understanding is my own, I am not against the diversity in which people of different races, choose to wear their hair. It's just that I have looked at dreads as being something of my culture, and something that we created, to beautify ourselves even more.However after closely excamining the different points of this book, I have become more openminded. I am aware that it is not who wears their hair in dreads, but it is more of how the dreads are being worn, and the statement that is being given, when being worn.I give this book an ultimate two thumbs up.It is a must that people who feel very strongly about different races becoming comfortable with the intricate ways and lifestyle of ones other culture. Thankyou for opening up my mind.

A sword for all true dreads.
I live in Brisbane, Australia. I am 1/4 Greek, 1/4 Danish, 1/4 English and 1/4 Scottish. I come from a strict but loving Christian home. I have dreads.

I don't have dreads for fashion, nor to prove a point or gain spiritual enlightenment. I have dreads because I like them.

This book is a weapon for all people who are looked down upon and called 'smelly' or 'dirty' for the simple reason that they have chosen to stop brushing their hair. My hair has never been healthier since I gave it its freedom. I show this book to anyone who is interested in my hair, and to anyone who tries to convince me that it is dirty, unhealthy, smelly, unattractive, evil, etc etc.

This book proves to me that God made our hair to be naturally beautiful. I sometimes find it hard to believe I used to cut my hair every four weeks and brush it and gel it whenever it didn't do what I wanted it to.

People sometimes try to tell me that I am only growing dreads to become like Bob Marley, and that its 'just a phase.' They fail to understand what dreads are really about, natural beauty and individualism. My dreads will never look like anyone elses in the world, and each lock is like a finger print upon my head.

Read this book, study the pictures and then dream of a freedom that knows no bounds.

One Love.

Beautiful Book!
This book is beautiful. The images are sharp and clear. The photographs bring out spirit and character in the persons featured. A wonderful coffee table book! It shows that locks - all types - are truly beautiful - and spiritual, even the "cultivated" ones. This book is informative as it shows and describes the various religions and races that wear their hair locked. The blurbs are interesting and complement the excellent quality photographs. As a lock wearer, I love this book.

complimenting words and images.
I like this book nice photography
I like what the interviewed are saying...
if you don't know that dreads were fashionable in japan in the 1990's and that graveyard meditators(sadhus) wear locs then here
is something educational for you.
This book is underrated and makes a nice browse through light read with pictoral stimulation.
Of course alice walker my favourite black sister is in the book
writing the foreword.
This book is like having group therapy or interviewing other women,but it is not all black women's views.I am reviewng it because I think it is worth a read.

As you may or may not know African coily hair is quite unique in vision, texture, behaviour and probably in chemical make up too. Coily haired women around the world, go to the most extremes in terms of spending.
(Spending time, spending pain and the spending price to have African coily hair styled)
A hairstyle that we believe looks good or will help us to become socially and economically advanced.
Or maybe for our own self-esteem and maybe to attract the charms of a love interest.
Either way, psychologically and philosophically I believe that your hair is a reflection of the state of your consciousness, your internal beliefs and your relationship with the world.
What about exploring physics through african hair?
For example how much pressure, gravity and tension and tearing do we put our hair through by combing it?
let alone excessive harsh combing.
Mathematically speaking how many of you readers can tell me how many curls/coils per inch your hair has, and does it vary in coil and moisture?
Next question:When does the nature of the hair change and why?
(i know it does!)
It seems to me all these books on afro hair are good and I welcome it, but we still need to be more informed and they all seem to need better editing, just like Black American beauty magazines.I must campaign for better grammar and less air brushed photos!!!
It is as if we like to see ourselves falsely rather than the reality of what we are...
Black women need to demand more scientific reasoning from our books and be less competitive over black men which only fuels their egos and as a result probably creates more baby-mothers!!!
Sorry but I had to vent out my opinions.

I maintain that it is still worth reading this book,more than any carcinogenic chemical so called hair treatment that you pay for.

Anyway what do I know I am a black african british woman!!!!
Most of you Americans think we in Britain have no trains or any kind of progressive development!!!
Anyway if I wrote my book answering my questions that I put to you how many of you would buy it?

Beautiful People
As a locked hair style wearer and natural hair care provider I simply had to have this book. I mainly ordered this book to be used as a conversation piece in my natural hair salon. Well, this book is exactly that! The pictures and stories of people from different countries, nationalities and walks of life enlightened all of my clients who have read it. "Dreads" takes the reader into a whole new world about the beautiful style of locked hair.

One can clearly see that Dreadlocks doesn't necessarily mean unkept and dirty hair. There are images of the Rasta's (those whose locks have formed without any or little manipulation) as well as images of individuals who chose to carefully cultivate their head of locks. I find the images/photographs to be captivating and the articles to be enlightening. If you are into natural hair styling, photgraphy or just simply Locks then owning a copy of "Dreads" is an absolute must. ... Read more