Fashion Books

The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own

Nina Garcia

Amazon Price: $13.97 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Living Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $12.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General
Subjects -> Parenting & Families -> Family Health

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Simply put, these items make me feel classic. And there is no substitute for feeling this way. Ever."

In the wildly popular The Little Black Book of Style, fashion authority Nina Garcia showed women how to think about personal style in an entirely new way. Encouraging readers to creatively assert their style identities, Nina showed women of all ages how to hone and self-edit a distinct fashion voice.

With her style philosophy firmly out in the world, Nina decided to address the most popular question readers consistently ask her: Exactly what are fashion's timeless pieces?

The One Hundred answers this question and provides women with a tangible style map to follow when planning a shopping trip and stocking one's closet. With illustrations from world-renowned fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo, The One Hundred contains the 100 items that Nina believes will never go out of style, and that have become absolutely indispensible for any woman reaching for her own eternal fashion look.

The Little Black Book of Style

Nina Garcia

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Collins Living Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $9.50

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Home & Garden
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Every time you dress, you assert your identity. With style, you tell the world your story. In that way, style affords you opportunities to think about your appearance as a quality of your creative character. The Little Black Book of Style helps you to explore your own fashion voice—the piece of you that joyously revels in the glamorous experience of creating your best self. From cultivating good taste to guarding against definite fashion faux pas, Nina Garcia offers readers the ultimate guide to follow when it comes to dressing their best. Including tips on how and when to wear an outfit, occasion-appropriate wear, advice on how to combine colors and textures, and inspiration on how to achieve your own signature look, you learn how to experiment, storyboard, archive, and play. Timeless and universal, this book seeks to remind women that eternal style is internal style, and that everyone has what it takes to discover themselves through the colorful palette that is fashion.

Custom Knits: Unleash Your Inner Designer with Top-Down and Improvisational Techniques

Wendy Bernard

Amazon Price: $18.15 List Price: $27.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $17.11

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Fashion
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Knitting

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Along with being pleasurable and satisfying, knitting can sometimes be frustrating: the turtleneck that looked so fabulous on the model is too bulky for your body, or the cardigan you spent countless hours on just doesn’t fit right. Herein lies the beauty of Custom Knits, which teaches knitters how to use improvisational techniques to achieve spectacular results—and to unleash their inner designers.

Wendy Bernard, creator of the popular blog Knit and Tonic, provides 25 original designs for sweaters of nearly every type, plus variations, most knitted in one piece starting at the top, a method that allows you to try on as you go, alter as desired, and essentially design on the fly. “Make It Your Own” prompts in each pattern suggest easy alterations to suit your style and body type. And an in-depth reference section teaches how to alter key sweater elements, for example, change a crewneck to a V-neck, add sleeves to a vest, and much more. For the truly adventurous, the book concludes with guidelines for knitting sweaters with no pattern at all.

Bernard’s friendly writing style and photographer Kimball Hall’s lively images create an inviting book of beautiful designs and key techniques that a knitter can use to customize nearly every garment she knits from now on.

Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt

Megan Nicolay

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Workman Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $8.96

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Commercial -> Fashion Design
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 132 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great starter book for ideas 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros: simple, easy to read, good starter ideas
Cons: styles not for everyone, designs generally for petite girls

I had been eying this book for several months and finally broke down and bought it.
To let you know, I am a beginner when it comes to sewing. I am essentially self taught, starting with some needle and thread stuff when I was in middle school and working up to a simple cheap sewing machine that I use now.
I bought this book after flipping through it a few times, it seemed like it had a variety of different t-shirt ideas and that even if I didn't use them all at least they would provide some inspiration.
I agree with some of the other reviews, the safety pin thing gets a bit old, but then again even if you don't like that the book does show you other techniques that could be used as well (sewing seams, using a lace and holes to thread two pieces together, buttons, etc).
THIS BOOK WAS NOT MADE FOR OLDER GENERATIONS NOR FOR HIGH FASHION. It makes it clear on every project that these are designs for punk or hipster types. They are fun ways to transform your old useless clothes into something you might want to wear without too much effort.
Yes, the clothes look better on the super-skinny New York girls that are pictured in the book, but I am a size 18-22 and I was able to pull off many of the designs with little to no adjustments.

In conclusion this is a fun book, it is not a highly technical sewing manual, but an introduction to the possibilities of DIY and to the basics of sewing that would be great for anyone just getting started in sewing or who likes the "deconstructed" look.

Editorial Review:

Make it yours. This inspirational guide with DIY attitude has everything you need to know about the world’s great T-shirt: how to cut it, sew it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, and best of all, transform it. • Features more than 100 projects (plus 200 variations) for customized tees, tank tops, tube tops, T-skirts—even handbags, a patchwork blanket, iPod cozies, leg warmers, and more. • Not a DIY expert? Not to worry. More than one third of the projects are no sew, meaning anyone who can wield a pair of scissors can put a personal stamp on her wardrobe. But the sewing basics are here too: backstitch and whipstitch, gather and ruche, appliqué and drawstrings. • And the mission statement for Generation T: Ask not what your T-shirt can do for you; ask what you can do for your T-shirt. And then Do-It-Yourself!

Cherry Bomb: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick, and a Hotter Girlfriend--and to Living Life Like a Rock Star

Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 1 to 2 weeks By: Simon Spotlight Entertainment Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $12.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Self-Help -> General
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Self-Help -> Personal Transformation

Editorial Review:

Not for the faint of heart, Cherry Bomb is an A-to-Z reference for everything awesome a girl needs to know, including the obvious (style, beauty, dating, and sex tips) and the not-so-obvious (instructions for preparing absinthe, how to hit on a celebrity). It's a girl's guide with a difference: one that shows readers how to identify, go after, and get whatever they want in life -- be it a hot guy, a great job, a mind-blowing orgasm, or a sexy new look -- all while marching to her own (rock) beat.

Bona fide rock chick Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna's tips are smart, funny, edgy, and will empower women to veer away from the pack, work every situation to their advantage, and look cool while doing it. She's also recruited a rocking list of contributors who offer advice on all things cool, including:

• Betsey Johnson on personal style
• A step-by-step guide to performing a striptease by Dita Von Teese
• Tips on getting inked by Kat Von D.
• Fashion inspiration from Anna Sui
• Lisa Loeb on how to be the perfect hostess
• Life lessons from Tori Amos
• A drum lesson from Samantha Maloney of Peaches
• Dating advice from Terri Nunn of Berlin

The perfect guide for the female who prefers black nail polish to French manicures, who would only be caught in pearls if they were paired with a cool black tank top, and who prefers Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier to any Klein (Calvin or Anne), Coach, or Kate Spade, Cherry Bomb will have readers taking chances and daring to be different.

Patternmaking for Fashion Design and DVD Package

Helen Joseph Armstrong

Amazon Price: $72.34 List Price: $104.40 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Prentice Hall Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $72.34

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Commercial -> Fashion Design
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Renowned for its comprehensive coverage, exceptional illustrations, and clear instructions, this hallmark book offers detailed yet easy-to-understand explanations of the essence of patternmaking. Hinging on a recurring theme that all designs are based on one or more of the three major patternmaking and design principles—dart manipulation, added fullness, and contouring—it provides all the relevant information necessary to create design patterns with accuracy regardless of their complexity. Sewing guides included for the pleated trouser (with pattern layout), belt/loops, pockets, and zipper; the jean pant with pockets, countour belt, and fly front; and the gusset. Updated jacket foundation draft includes fabric preparation, interfacing, chest piece, tape control, and shoulder pads. Pant drafts—Trouser draft including pocket, waistband, and loop; dungaree foundation draft; grunge pant draft; and three jean waistline variations including pocket and sewing instruction. Includes fitting corrections for the basic patterns. Unique section on patternmaking for bias-cut garments. For anyone developing their patternmaking skills.

Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (Tim Gunn's Guide to Style)

Tim Gunn, Kate Moloney

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Abrams Image Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $6.16

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Home & Garden
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Fashion -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 52 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Stodgy, fairly useless 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book could've been written by your high-class but out-of-touch grandmother living in a penthouse in New York. The sections on self-presentation were moderately helpful but vague (sit up straight! good skin is good!), but when it came to actual fashion tips, there were none. Kendall Farr's The Pocket Stylist, while somewhat flawed, is far more informative.

Editorial Review:

There seems to be no one more qualified or equipped to ponder or even, dare I say, dictate 'quality, taste, and style' than Tim." -Sarah Jessica Parker, actor/producer

Television has introduced the world to a new fashion authority: Tim Gunn. As Bravo's style mentor and Chair of the Fashion Design Department at Parsons The New School for Design, Tim delivers advice in a frank, witty, and authoritative manner that delights audiences.

Now readers can benefit from Tim's considerable fashion wisdom in Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style. He discusses every aspect of creating and maintaining your personal style: how to dress for various occasions, how to shop (from designer to chain to vintage stores), how to pick a fashion mentor, how to improve your posture, find the perfect fit, and more. He'll challenge every reader-whether a seasoned fashionista or a style neophyte-to "make it work!"

The Art of Manipulating Fabric

Colette Wolff

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Chilton Book Company Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $17.48

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Fashion
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Sewing

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Treasured Must-Have 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Texture, movement, sway, swag... and more. No prints or color to distract from form, just the fabric manipulated to stand strong, or pout, stipple or ripple in the stream, sharply pleat, or undulate with pleasure. Particularly canted toward those with imagination, this is a profound source book for textural ideas to which I return again and again; a magnificent work.

Editorial Review:

Those who knit, crochet, or embroider have long had sources to which to turn for in-depth instructions on specific stitches and stitch combinations. Now there is such a reference for the sewer--an encyclopedic approach to gathering, shirring, ruffling, tucking, pleating, and quilting and their myriad variations. Filled with hundreds of diagrams and crisp black-and-white photos, this volume explains in detail how to achieve a tremendous range of three-dimensional fabric effects. This is not a book of particular projects; this is a book of instruction and inspiration for anyone who has ever wielded needle and thread. --Amy Handy

The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece

Andrea Linett, Kim France

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Gotham Amazon Marketplace: 121 new & used starting at $3.96

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Commercial -> Fashion Design
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Textile & Costume
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Fashion -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What to wear, how to buy, where and when to spend: These are the topics covered each month by the exceedingly plugged-in staff of Lucky, whose circulation rocketed from 500,000 to 800,000 in just two short years. For Lucky's devoted fans, and anyone devoted to dressing better and shopping smarter, The Lucky Shopping Manual will be the über-find. Finally, there is a book that does away with the inconsequential information in previous fashion books and presents only the most useful tips and imperative information for how to dress better for less. Filled with tips that will appeal to shopaholics and disciplined bargain hunters alike, this enticing guide is packed with over 1,000 full-color photos and illustrations, with a ribbon marker and flexi-cover so women can take it shopping with them.

With great advice on every uniquely designed page, The Lucky Shopping Manual includes features such as:
* Building a wardrobe you love, with cross-referenced sections on everything from skirts, tops, dresses, pants, and suits, to shoes, bags, belts, and what looks best for your body type
* How to spot great finds at the local flea market or the best boutiques
* What to spend your money on and where you can scrimp
* Cool stores coast-to-coast to check out when you're traveling
* Practical tips for fabric care, shoe maintenance, and stain remedies
* Shipping just in time for the holidays, The Lucky Shopping Manual makes a luscious gift-a fantastic shopping spree under the tree.

The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style: How to Wear Iconic Looks and Make Them Your Own

Kim France, Andrea Linett

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Not yet published By: Gotham

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Commercial -> Fashion Design
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Reference -> Consumer Guides

Editorial Review:

On the heels of the fabulously successful Lucky Shopping Manual comes the complete handbook for creating a great look based on ten iconic styles —packed with more than 450 color images.

With a circulation of 1.1 million, Lucky magazine has taken America’s most dedicated shoppers by storm, offering real-world advice and first-rate finds. Now the Lucky experts show how to put it all together in an inspiring collection of ideas that go beyond the basics and yield endless innovation for year-round reinvention.

Based on the techniques used by fashion designers for years, The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style features ten versatile archetypes that can be customized to fit varying moods, personalities, and body types. Applying these enduring styles to a dazzling spectrum of possibilities, The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style deconstructs each look, with components including clothes, shoes, accessories, patterns, and colors. Just as designers use swatches and images to spark creativity, readers will have access to hundreds of photographs from style setters. Must-haves for every closet, foolproof instructions, profiles of real-life Lucky Girls, and money-saving Lucky Breaks make this the indispensable resource for complete chic.