FASHION BOOKS

Inspiration is everywhere. You can always get inspired, learn new things and update your experience, if you are aware.
That´s why I just had to add these two fashion books to my collection, when I was browsing the local bookstore on my way through the City.
 

 

 

Photos: John Frantsen

WORN THROUGH - CLOSE RUNNER-UP !

Sketch by John Frantsen

Worn Through book Give-away contest winners!

After reviewing the impresssive entries of your costume and fashion sketches, it is with great pleasure that I congratulate the winner of Worn Through´s book give-away contest: Rachel Pollock. Your prize is a review copy of Deborah Nadoolman Landis´latest book, Hollywood Sketchbook: A Century of Costume Illustration.

A very close runner-up is John Frantsen, who will receive a collection of costume design sketch greeting cards.

Your illustrations were wonderful, you should be very proud. Please reply to this email with your respective addresses so I can mail you your well-deserved prizes within the next week.

Thank you for participating in the Worn Through community, and best of luck with your future fashion endeavors!

Tove
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Tove Hermanson, Fashion Culturalist

Senior Contributor & Book Reviews Editor | Worn Through | apparel from an academic perspective.
Contributor, Style Section | Huffington Post.
Editor & Contributor | Thread for Thought | How fashion intersects politics, economics, gender, race & pop culture.
Inspiration boards on Pinterest.

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."
Mark Twain

THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL

-Is the title of the book about the famous editor of Harper´s Bazaar and Vogue, Diana Vreeland that was published last year by her daughter in law, Lisa Immordino Vreeland.

Called the "High Priestess of Fashion," Diana Vreeland (1903–1989) was an American original whose impact on fashion and style was legendary.

She became the fashion editor of Harper’s Bazaar in 1936, where she worked for 25 years, before taking over at Vogue. Vreeland established herself as a controversial visionary with an astonishing ability to invent and discover fashion ideas, designers, personalities, and photographers.

This year a Documentary by the same name has been released. The documentary celebrates the highs of her career and reveals her personal history, vulnerabilities, steely determination and divine triumph.

-A must-see for any fashion enthusiasts.

MY NEW FASHION BIBLE

I was so lucky to receive this book as a gift from my partner, who brought it home from Montreal. 

-It´s from Taschen and contains a selection from the highly successful "Fashion Now" - editions.
Editor, Terry Jones selected 95 designers out of the originally 160, to show a cross section, from the revered titans of the industry to the exciting new talents that are striving to survive.

After Benedikt Taschen proposed the idéa, he realized that after three decades of "i-D"´ promoting creativity and ideas, the books selection from its pages since 2000 would serve as an inspiration for a new generation.

Here are a few examples from the book, that you must own, if you want to know what is going on in the fashion world today.

THE STYLE OF AN ICON

Jacqueline Bouvier, better known as Jackie Kennedy (1929-1994) was The Style Icon of her time.

With a little help from her sister Lee Radziwill and Diana Vreeland, she developed her own style. She made a lasting impact on fashion, because of her impeccable style-consciousness.
Her style was simple and classical, but at the same time very modern. That is maybe why she continues to inspire today.

 

 

The "Jackie-look" was created by the French-born American Fashion designer, Oleg Cassini (1913-2006), who was appointed "Secretary of Style" in 1961.

Take a look at some of her dresses on The John F. Kennedy - Presidential Library and Museum.

If you want to know more about Cassini, read his "A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House".

BALLGOWNS

Dear readers; if you´re going to London this year, you have to take a look at this Exhibition.
In this 60th Jubilee year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a promising Exhibition opening in May.

"From debutantes and royalty to charity balls and the red carpet, Ballgowns: British glamour since 1950 charts 60 years of stylish evening wear".

"The exhibition highlights the styles, silhouettes and colours that have been perennial favourites for many years in Britain’s traditional social season of debutante parties, private balls, weddings, and charity events that for long has provided fashion designers with opportunities to create elaborate, tour-de-force evening-wear.
In more recent years, the ballroom has been replaced by the red carpet. Though the context has changed, the ballgown remains a staple in many designers’ collections and continues to serve as an expression of status, protocol, and taste, while simultaneously embodying elements of drama and fantasy".

From Amazon, where the book can be purchased.

"STARS EN DIOR"

Not long ago Chanel was publishing a fashionbook about "Northern Women in Chanel"  by Peter Farago and Ingela Klemetz-Farago, who also had an exhibition at Design Museum Denmark in Copenhagen.

I didn´t see it myself, but the exhibition had mixed reviews. . . questioning if it just was a concept to promote Chanel, the photographers and why northern women ? - missing the context.

Now Dior takes it further. "Stars en Dior" is an upcoming book about Dior dressing the Stars of Hollywood. 

-Telling the story of Dior and featuring 250 photos of film stills, location shots, photographs and of course portraits of stars past and present in looks by the iconic designer and his successors.

Books for fashionistas and collectors, but also another way of getting  more publicity and valuable exposure, to keep up the interest I guess. 

"Stars en dior" is published by Rizzoli and coming out in France this May and later on in other countries.

SHOCKING !

-Is the title of Elsa Schiaparelli´s memoires, published in 1955. A very funny and fascinating story. I was so lucky that I´ve got this book from one of my good acquaintances during my exhibition last year. 

Elsa Schiaparelli (1896-1973), born in Italy, was together with Madeleine Vionnet two of the most prominent and influential couturiers of the 1930´s. 

At 22 the adventurous Elsa left Italy to work in London. On her way she attended a Ball in Paris, where she created her first dress out of a piece of fabric, that she pinned together.
She met her husband in England and got married. They went to USA where she had a child, but was since left by him.
She started to work in a shop, where she met different artist, who she eventually followed back to Europe.

Back in Paris she started her own business, encouraged by Paul Poiret, but had to close it in 1926.

The following year she launched a new collection that included a very sensational sweater and her career took off from there.

She liked to provoke and worked closely together with artists like Jean Cocteau and Salvador Dali.
Her collections was inspired by different themes, like circus, astrology etc.

Her great rival at that time, Coco Chanel described her as:- "the artist that makes clothes".

She introduced the zipper in Haute Couture, experimented with new fabrics and invented the colour Shocking Pink and named one of her most popular perfumes Shocking. The Flacon was inspired by the shape of the American actress, Mae West.

During the second world war she went to USA and gave lectures. When she came back, fashion had changed. It was the time of Christian Dior´s New look.

She did not adapt and struggled until she closed her house in 1954. The same year as her rival, Coco Chanel had her comeback.

But she left an everlasting influence on fashion, designing without restrictions she has inspired such designers as Yves Saint Laurent, Gaultier and Galliano.

H FOR HAUTE COUTURE

In connection with my previous post, I suddenly remembered the special exhibition, H for Haute Couture, that The Collection of Time  were organizing from September 30. 2006 until April 15. 2007.
The exhibition showed examples of the 20. century greatest and most outstanding danish Createurs, which was the master, Holger Blom and his two apprentices, Erik Mortensen and Jørgen Bender.

Holger Blom (1906-1965) created a lot of elegant creations for the Divas of danish theatre, like Liva Weel, Bodil Kjer and Helle Virkner, as the Wedding-dress for Danish Princess Anne-Marie in 1964.

Erik Mortensen (1926-1998) went to Paris after his apprenticeship at Blom and made a career in the famous fashionhouse of Pierre Balmain.

Jørgen Bender (1938-1999) took over the Salon of Blom after his dead  and created among other things, the Royale wedding gowns for Queen Margrethe of Denmark, Princess Benedikte and former Princess Alexandre.

During this exhibition I was offered to do two weekend-workshops by the request of Cæcilie Ning Hage, the Head of The Collection of Time. Because she thought it would be a good idea for the visitors to see how dresses like that are created. It turned out to be a good idea and was a great attraction.

I was very honored to sit there among all the creations of my heros and work on my own stuff. Though it was limited what I was able to do, because people were so interested, talking and asking questions. I even spoke with somebody who had known Holger Blom.

Apart from that, Jørgen Bender was one of the judges at the 1998 DM ( The Danish Championship ) for students of tailoring and clothes-craft at Holmen, Copenhagen, where I was participating on the sug-gestion from one of my teachers.

In 1988, when I together with my friend Karen went to see the special exhibition "Stars in French Fashion" at  Designmuseum Denmark, and to hear Erik Mortensen´s  talk, we were so lucky to meet him and to have his biography "Ej blot til pynt" (Not only for decoration) signed.

 

 

A few years earlier I was also asked to participate in another Exhibition at Tidens Samling. Take a look here.