Book picks similar to
Christian Dior by Farid Chenoune


fashion
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Audrey Style


Pamela Clarke Keogh - 1999
    She was Gigi, a princess, Holly Golightly, a nun, Maid Marian, even an angel. And we believed her in every role. But Audrey Hepburn was also one of the most admired and emulated women of the twentieth century, who encouraged women to discover and highlight their own strength. By example, she not only changed the way women dress--she forever altered the way they viewed themselves.But Audrey Hepburn's beauty was more than skin deep. "You know the Audrey you saw onscreen? Audrey was like that in real life, only a million times better," says designer Jeffrey Banks. For the first time, this style biography reveals the details--fashion and otherwise--that contributed so greatly to Audrey's appeal. Drawing on original interviews with Hubert de Givenchy, Gregory Peck, Nancy Reagan, Doris Brynner, and Audrey Wilder, as well as reminiscences of professional friends like Steven Spielberg, Ralph Lauren, noted Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby, Steven Meisel, and Kevyn Aucoin, Audrey Style brings the Audrey her family and friends loved to life.With more than ninety color and black-and-white photographs, many of which have never before been published, and original designer sketches from Edith Head, Hubert de Givenchy, Vera Wang, Manolo Blahnik, Alexander McQueen, and others, Audrey Style gives measure to the grace, humor, intelligence, generosity, and inimitable fashion sense that was Audrey Hepburn.

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life


Justine Picardie - 2009
    Picardie's unprecedented research illuminates Chanel’s path from little-known seamstress to the aristocracy of style in this stunning look at the fashion icon, illustrated with more than sixty color and black-and-white images.

Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow


Detmar Blow - 2010
    Blow by Blow is a captivating journey through Issie’s life, a one-of-a-kind look at her unforgettable impact on the fashion world, and a moving exploration of her inspiring and ultimately tragic tale.

Lady Gaga: Critical Mass Fashion


Lizzy Goodman - 2010
    In less than one year, she transformed herself from pop singer to pop icon, thanks to her talent, drive, and oh yes--her fashion. She's reached a new level of "living the fame" with her collection of extreme, often controversial couture. Lady Gaga: Critical Mass Fashion takes an in-depth look at Gaga's litany of eye-popping leotard, asymmetrical dresses, and fashionably impractical heels.Top designers love the Lady--everyone from Armani to Hussein Chalayan to the late lamented Alexander McQueen has taken her under their wings. On message twenty-four hours a day, Lady Gaga never stops. From the fake eyelashes to the faux nails down to her toes, she's living out her ideas of celebrity to the last detail.Visual explosion on screen, on stage, and on the page: that's Gaga's goal. All the of the 120+ images in this book showcase the gorgeous insanity of her vision.

The Tattoo Chronicles


Kat Von D. - 2010
    Here are the highs and the lows, the good, the bad, and the ugly—including her feelings about her fame, family, love life, friends, and fans.Visually stunning, this graphically compelling diary is jam-packed with tons of Kat's images, from sketches of her tattoos to the finished works, and candid shots of her unusual personal collections—all photographed by Kat herself. Fans will love reading about her array of clients from all walks of life, including MotÖrhead's Lemmy Kilmister, Dave Navarro, and members of Metallica, Green Day, Kings of Leon, and the Eagles. Throughout The Tattoo Chronicles are captivating, color photographs of Kat that were taken specifically for the book, published here for the first time.Here she is: the real Kat Von D: unscripted and uncensored!

Nasty Galaxy


Sophia Amoruso - 2016
    Warning: this is not a style book. It’s not about how to mix prints—it’s about how to leave yours on everything you touch.   Highly graphic and visual, filled with illustrations, photos and short essays, Nasty Galaxy is part scrapbook, part inspo-journey, with moments of frivolity scattered throughout. Tactical and entertaining, envelope-pushing and conventional, surprising and refreshingly straightforward, Nasty Galaxy is a dive into Sophia’s philosophies on work, relationships, balance, friendships, and more. It is a celebration of her roots in vintage clothing, punk attitude, fringe characters, and don’t-give-a-fuckthought leadership. Nasty Galaxy is Amoruso’s newest life bible, approaching style, music, philosophy, and advice in the same way #GIRLBOSS approached business—unconventionally. Oversized and in full color, this is the newest, coolest, must-have accessory.

Annie Leibovitz at Work


Annie Leibovitz - 2008
    Fuji. Climbing Mt. Fuji is a lesson in determination and moderation. It would be fair to ask if I took the moderation part to heart. But it certainly was a lesson in respecting your camera. If I was going to live with this thing, I was going to have to think about what that meant. There were not going to be any pictures without it." —Annie LeibovitzAnnie Leibovitz describes how her pictures were made, starting with Richard Nixon's resignation, a story she covered with Hunter S. Thompson, and ending with Barack Obama's campaign. In between are a Rolling Stones Tour, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, The Blues Brothers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keith Haring, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Patti Smith, George W. Bush, William S. Burroughs, Kate Moss and Queen Elizabeth. The most celebrated photographer of our time discusses portraiture, reportage, fashion photography, lighting, and digital cameras.

Contemporary Fashion Illustration Techniques


Naoki Watanabe - 2009
    The impression given to the viewer depends on whether the fashion design drawings are good. Contemporary Fashion Illustration Techniques thoroughly describes the basics of fashion illustration, and covers the latest trends such as vivid images, sprightly movement, and garment material texture. After all, fashion drawing is not simply about sketching a body and face; only when you accurately reproduce the garments and their colors can the designs truly come to life.

Isabella Blow: A Life in Fashion


Lauren Goldstein Crowe - 2010
    The key supporter and muse of milliner Philip Treacy and designer Alexander McQueen, Blow was truly more than a muse or patron. She was a spark, an electrical impulse that set imaginations racing, an individual who pushed others to create their best work.Her fascination with clothing began early, as did a willingness to wear things—and say things—that would amuse and shock. She began her fashion career in New York City as assistant to Anna Wintour at Vogue. Over time she became famous for her work, yet it wasn't enough to assuage her devastating feelings of inadequacy. Still, in her darkest moments, even as she began a series of suicide attempts and prolonged hospital stays, Blow retained her wicked sense of humor, making her friends laugh even as they struggled to help.Lauren Goldstein Crowe has crafted a superbly entertaining narrative; wrapping the anecdotes of Isabella's antics around a candid, insightful portrayal of a woman whose thirst for the fantastical ultimately became irreconcilable with life in the real world.

Allure


Diana Vreeland - 1980
    Diana Vreeland was not only Editor-in-Chief of Vogue for almost a decade, she was also the curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Her legacy continues to influence the fashion and photography worlds today, with issues of magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue dotted with mentions of her name.

Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe


Angela Kelly - 2013
    Huddled under a sea of umbrellas, some had even spent the night there to secure prime seats. But the wait proved worthwhile. As the parade passed, there atop the splendid Spirit of Chartwell stood the Queen, resplendent against the wind and rain in a smart crystal encrusted white coat and pashmina shawl. The effect was one of breathtaking beauty, and it struck just the right note with the rain-dampened crowd, reinforcing Britain as a noble maritime nation. Dressing the Queen reveals the careful planning and preparation that went into the Queen’s wardrobe for the Diamond Jubilee, the first such celebration since that of Queen Victoria in 1897 and made all the more momentous by London’s hosting of the 2012 Olympics. The secret to the Queen’s unfailing style is royal couturier Angela Kelly, whose team of dressmakers and milliners spent two years designing and bringing to fruition the creations seen in the events leading up to and during the Diamond Jubilee, as well as at the Olympics. In addition to presenting the right image, the Queen’s clothing must address a great many practical concerns—and all of her garments must be pristinely maintained. Of course, no outfit is complete without the perfect hat, and a chapter of the book is devoted entirely to their intricate and highly detailed creation. Whether the day holds a historic state visit or an afternoon at Royal Ascot, the Queen commands attention wherever she appears. If you’ve ever wondered how she maintains such impeccable personal style, this well-illustrated book will answer that question and many more.

Grace: A Memoir


Grace Coddington - 2012
    Willful. Charming. Blunt. Grace Coddington’s extraordinary talent and fierce dedication to her work as creative director of Vogue have made her an international icon. Known through much of her career only to those behind the scenes, she might have remained fashion’s best-kept secret were it not for The September Issue, the acclaimed 2009 documentary that turned publicity-averse Grace into a sudden, reluctant celebrity. Grace’s palpable engagement with her work brought a rare insight into the passion that produces many of the magazine’s most memorable shoots.   With the witty, forthright voice that has endeared her to her colleagues and peers for more than forty years, Grace now creatively directs the reader through the storied narrative of her life so far. Evoking the time when models had to tote their own bags and props to shoots, Grace describes her early career as a model, working with such world-class photographers as David Bailey and Norman Parkinson, before she stepped behind the camera to become a fashion editor at British Vogue in the late 1960s. Here she began creating the fantasy “travelogues” that would become her trademark. In 1988 she joined American Vogue, where her breathtakingly romantic and imaginative fashion features, a sampling of which appear in this book, have become instant classics.   Delightfully underscored by Grace’s pen-and-ink illustrations, Grace will introduce readers to the colorful designers, hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, models, and celebrities with whom Grace has created her signature images. Grace reveals her private world with equal candor—the car accident that almost derailed her modeling career, her two marriages, the untimely death of her sister, Rosemary, her friendship with Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis, and her thirty-year romance with Didier Malige. Finally, Grace describes her abiding relationship with Anna Wintour, and the evolving mastery by which she has come to define the height of fashion.  NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FINANCIAL TIMES“If Wintour is the Pope . . . Coddington is Michelangelo, trying to paint a fresh version of the Sistine Chapel twelve times a year.”—Time

Tomboy Style: Beyond the Boundaries of Fashion


Lizzie Garrett Mettler - 2012
    They are bold, brazen, fierce—and sexy. They aren’t known for following rules, they are known for doing—and wearing—whatever they want. Tomboy captures the tomboy’s style, her je ne sais quoi, her wardrobe, and most importantly, her spirit. Throughout the twentieth century, the mass marketing of gender stereotypes meant tomboys cropped up against the odds, trends, and ads. As menswear-inspired fashions for women have exploded into the mainstream under the helm of designers and stylists ranging from J.Crew to Rag & Bone to Boy by Band of Outsiders, acceptance of both the word tomboy and the women associated with its edge has been set into play. But a tomboy is not just about style—tomboys are measured in equal parts wardrobe and spirit.A visual history that chronicles the past eighty years of women who blur the line between masculinity and femininity, Tomboy explores the evolution of the style and its icons. Vivid commentary illuminates the tomboy’s history and captures a diversity of women who are bound together by their inherent ability to seamlessly blend a rugged sensibility with classic, understated elegance.

Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry


Elizabeth Taylor - 2002
    I'm here to take care of it and to love it, for we are only temporary custodians of beauty."--Elizabeth TaylorShe has mesmerized movie audiences since her debut in National Velvet at the age of twelve, dazzled both men and women with her luminous beauty and iconic presence, displayed shrewd business acumen by creating a line of fragrances with unparalleled success, and her AIDS activism has been a call to arms for people around the world. She is Hollywood's greatest living star and a living legendElizabeth Taylor.One of her greatest passions is jewelry, and over the years she has amassed one of the world's foremost collections. By the time she was in her thirties, Elizabeth Taylor already owned an outstanding set of Burmese rubies and diamonds from Cartier, a fantastic emerald and diamond suite from Bulgari, and the 33.19-carat Krupp diamond, a gift from Richard Burton. That ring was later eclipsed by a subsequent gift from Burton, when he bought a staggering 69.42-carat pear-shaped diamond. Newly named the Taylor-Burton Diamond, it catapulted Elizabeth Taylor into that rarefied pantheon of great jewelry collectors.In this revealing book, Elizabeth Taylor offers a personal guided tour of her collection. She takes us into her confidence, sharing personal anecdotes, witty asides, and intimate reminiscences about her life, her loves, and her collection. Whether talking about the famous La Peregrina pearl, which was briefly abducted by a household pet, or chatting about a childhood gift to her mother, Elizabeth Taylor shows herself to be the most seductive of storytellers: direct, irreverent, and charming.Complementing the stories are 125 stunning new photographs of her most remarkable pieces, specially commissioned for this book, and more than 150 rarely seen images (many from Elizabeth Taylor's personal collection) of the star wearing her jewelry over the course of almost sixty years. We see her as a young ingenue of fifteen wearing what would be the first of many charm bracelets, and again, equally dazzling, as a mature woman, wearing the famous Duchess of Windsor diamond brooch, which she purchased to benefit AIDS research.Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry marks the first time this beautiful jewelry will be seen together as a collection. Lavishly produced and illustrated, the book has an introduction by the world-renowned authority on jewelry, François Curiel, of Christie's. It is for those who are enchanted by this most incandescent and enduring star, for those who cherish and dream of jewelry, and most importantly, for those who believe in the true meaning of love. This book is a fabulous display of unbelievable glamour, assembled over a lifetime, by one of the most extraordinary women in the world.

Woman in the Mirror


Richard Avedon - 2005
    Always transcending categorization-he was both a fashion photographer and known as a "poet of portraiture"-Avedon was interested in seeing how elemental facts of modern life and human existence were reflected in his work. And what could be more elemental than women, who have mesmerized artists across the centuries? Looking at his work in this way, Avedon was able to create an unparalleled view of women in his time, a tumultuous half century of rapidly changing social facts, cultural ideals, popular styles, and high fashion. As an artist, Avedon was deeply responsive to nuances of expression, gesture, and comportment, and his photographs unfailingly opened a window to the interior lives of his subjects. These ranged from celebrities (Marilyn Monroe), artists (Marguerite Duras, June Leaf), and high-fashion models (Suzy Parker, Dovima) to anonymous people that simply drew his attention. Like the best of art and literature, they evoke rich lives and complex experiences. An incisive essay by art historian Anne Hollander offers an overview of a half century of Avedon's images of women.