Designers Books

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

Wendy Bernard

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 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.

The Fashion Designer Survival Guide, Revised and Expanded Edition: Start and Run Your Own Fashion Business

Mary Gehlhar, Diane Von Furstenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Mary Gehlhar, author, industry authority, and consultant to hundreds of designers, including Zac Posen, Twinkle by Wenlan, Rebecca Taylor, and Cloak, gives readers behind-the-scenes insights and essential business information on creating and sustaining a successful career as an independent designer.

With advice from fashion luminaries including Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Cynthia Rowley, Diane von Furstenberg, Richard Tyler, and top executives from Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York, this fully updated and revised edition of The Fashion Designer Survival Guide addresses the latest trends in apparel and accessories, the newest designers, an updated introduction, and a new foreword by Diane von Furstenberg, Designer and President of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

The Fashion Designer Survival Guide provides the necessary tools to get a fashion line or label up and moving on the right track, including:

* How to create a viable business plan

* Figuring out how much money you need, where and how to get it, and how to make it last, including the latest on private equity

* The best sources for fabric and materials

* Navigating the pitfalls of production both at home and abroad

* Marketing, branding, and getting the product into the stores and into the customer's closets

* Romancing the press, dressing celebrities, and creative publicity techniques

* Producing a runway show that will get results

Chanel: A Woman of her Own

Axel Madsen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Chanel Bio is everything it should be. 5 out of 5 stars.
33 of 34 people found this review helpful.

I found it strange that some readers gave negative or highly critical reviews of this biography. Someone even commented on the difficulty in reading the French names! It's a little late to change Chanel's nationality and thank God! This biography is successful on a number of levels but primarily two: it recounts the fascinating life, in great detail, of the late Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel and it puts her professional contribution to the world in context. On a personal level, her life-story reads as a Dickens novel. Her's is a truly "rags-to-riches" story. Chanel was a woman who created a life and a legend against the odds. She was one of those rare and stunning creatures rising from practically nothing to become a household name. Her family was destitute. Her father abandoned her at an orphanage. Her attempts in music and theatre came to nothing. Her sewing skills were atrocious! Only after a young gentleman named Balsan recognized her talent through her unconventional beauty did her true potential begin to emerge. Chanel knew all of the greatest people of her age: Stravinsky, Cocteau, Dali, Misia Sert, and the Duke of Westminster, among others. Many of these people she knew intimately. How tragic that even after these acquaintances and global successes as a designer, Chanel never really found success in love. Professionally, the impact of her designs are still with us today and influencing generations of new designers and artists. From a perspective of fashion, Chanel almost single-handedly pulled the 19th century world into the modern age by pulling women out of corsets and sliding them into pants. The "little black dress" and classic Chanel suit are not only articles of clothing, they are timeless works of art. Madsen has succeeded in writing a biography that does not fall short as other books on Chanel have in the past. His biography begins BEFORE her birth and continues on AFTER her death. He explores her roots and discusses the ongoing impact of her life, while filling in all the opulent details in between. If you want to know who Chanel was and why she is still so important today, pick up this book. Now if they would only do a feature film treatment!

Editorial Review:

Alex Madsen brings to life Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, the queen of fashion who revolutionized women's styles forever.

High Fashion Sewing Secrets from the World's Best Designers: A Step-By-Step Guide to Sewing Stylish Seams, Buttonholes, Pockets, Collars, Hems, And More (Rodale Sewing Book)

Claire B. Shaeffer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

I am torn on this book 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

It does have some great tips, and instructions on copying clothes etc. but one cannot deny that many of the "secrets" are indeed dated. For example, I can promise you that you will never need to know how to make a Double Flounce collar (page 79). Many of the designers highlighted here hit their popularity in the 80s and much of couture sewing in general (but especially couture of 20+ years ago) is just not relevent to every day style. Definitely use the "Search Inside" feature to see what I mean. Still, it is not very expensive and I believe that overall there is enough in here to warrant having it in my library.

Editorial Review:

Internationally known sewing expert Claire Schaeffer reveals the secrets of high-fashion legends such as Geoffrey Beene, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Liz Claiborne, and Calvin Klein. Claire's illustrated, step-by-step instructions let you duplicate the design details made famous in expensive ready-to-wear. Plus, Claire's timesaving patternmaking and copying methods can be used to create one-of-a-kind, original garments.

Only a few simple tools and patternmaking skills are needed to copy your favorite garments.

American Fashion

Charlie Scheips

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Beautiful book but not quite what I expected 4 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

This is a beautiful book, with stunning pictures and the text no doubt forms an authoritative picture of the evolution of American fashion from the 30's to the present. I was disappointed, however, that there weren't more "nostalgia" pictures, for lack of a better term. Everything was so artistic that there weren't the pictures of, say, Cybill Shepard in classic 60's mod taken from Glamour, that I would have liked to see and that would have made things more accessible. This is more a book for fashion professionals or students than the casual reader which still makes it an excellent buy and great book, but just not for me.

A Must for a the Fashion-Obsessed! 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

If fashion is your addiction, meet your quick fix. This book is beautiful, accessible and comprehensive. For all students, followers, trend-setters of fashion design and style, it would make a wonderful addition to your library.
It must be stated that the book is more a look into American fashion designers, from the end of the 1920's to 2007, than American fashion itself. After all, the book is published by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The best way to analogize how this fact affects the book is to compare it to a history of American Cinema, published by the American Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscar-awarding organization.) This absolutely colors, biases and focuses the approach the book follows into what is by definition a vast subject. Throughout, it places the designer as the determining and dictating factor of style within the culture. Whether it makes a good argument for this is up to you to decide... Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that this helps keep the book focused, yet detailed.
The photography included in the book is exquisite and sharp. Especially true of the mid-century photography, it far exceeds the quality of that available in vintage fashion magazines.
Whether you are a novice/hobbyist or an established member of the industry, this is a delightful, insightful and thorough look at the subject. Even if its true title should be "American Fashion Designers: An Illustrated History."

Chanel and Her World

Edmonde Charles-Roux

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883-1971) is a fashion icon unlike any other. She invented modern clothing for women: at the height of the Belle Époque, she stripped women of their corsets and feathers, bobbed their hair, put them in bathing suits, and sent them out to get tanned in the sun. She introduced slacks, costume jewelry, and the exquisitely comfortable suit. She made the first couture perfume-No. 5-which remains the most popular scent ever created.

In this beautiful volume, the glorious life of the incomparable Coco Chanel shines again through hundreds of illustrations and the lively prose of Edmonde Charles-Roux, her official biographer and close friend. Chanel knew and collaborated with the likes of Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Cocteau, Jean Renoir, and Visconti-even as she matched their modernist innovations by liberating women from the prison of 19th-century fashion and introducing a whole new concept of elegance. The staggering collection of photographs amassed by the over decades of friendship with Chanel sheds new light on one of the great stories of the modern age. AUTHOR BIO: Edmonde Charles-Roux began her journalistic career at Elle and ultimately became editor-in-chief of French Vogue. She has published three novels, among them To Forget Palermo (Oublier Palerme), which won the Prix Goncourt in 1966.

I Want to Be a Fashion Designer (I Want To Be)

Stephanie Maze

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Really nice book! 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 17 people found this review helpful.

This is a really nice book. Lots of glossy color photos of star designers add to the enjoyment of reading this book. It's great for little or big girls interested in fashion. I especially liked the story of the little girl who made up a new kind of mitten. She's been very successful with her efforts. It shows that not everyone has to go to design school to be a success in the field.

MY BOOK 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 16 people found this review helpful.

I THINK I WANT TO BE A FASHION DESIGNER IS A GREAT BOOK TO READ SO THAT I CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT DESIGNING. I CANT WAIT TO READ IT AGAIN. I LEARNED TO NEVER GIVE UP ON AN IDEA. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW IF YOU WILL MAKE IT OR NOT IF YOU DON'T TRY. I LEARNED MANNEQUINS ARE FOR CLOTHING THAT I DESIGN. IF THERE IS A MISTAKE ON THE DRESS, IT IS A PRACTICE DRESS. IF I MAKE IT RIGHT THE NEXT TIME, IT IS A DRESS THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO DESIGN FOR MANY MANY TIMES.

Editorial Review:

From the classrooms of top fashion schools to the studios of talented designers, this book takes kids on an inspiring tour of the dynamic world of fashion design. Replete with colorful photographs and facts about the history and the future of fashion, it even shows readers how to get started now. •The seventh book in the popular career exploration series for middle grade readers •Includes more than 100 full-color photographs •Features facts-at-a-glance, profiles of famous fashion designers, and design resources

Different Like Coco

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

REVELING IN CORSET-LESS CHIC 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

As Maurice Chevalier sang, "Thank Heaven for little girls" . . . at least we can thank Heaven for one who grew up with an independent spirit, and an imagination for corset-Less chic. Coco Chanel (1883-1971) said "In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different." The book's end papers reproduce other quotations from this fashion icon, including "Fashion is made to become unfashionable!"

Elizabeth Matthews has written a perfect Springtime fancy, and the pen & ink illustrations are every bit as lively, just right for introducing children & their very willing parents to a story about the little girl Coco who overcame her tough childhood with sewing skills learned in a Catholic orphanage. She could hold her own with snobby students of privilege and learned much by watching her peers. She later hung fabric on mannequin forms and basted in her relaxed styles which brought her fashion immortality.

The author, who graduated from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, chose Chanel as her somewhat innovative subject for children's picture books. Matthews is sure to have studied much about Coco Chanel and her clever "inventions" of the cartigan suit, and in 1926 "the little black dress." Reviewer mcHaiku isn't quite as old as the famed Chanel No. 5; it contained more than 80 ingredients, a new fact about 'parfum' for this reader. Chanel epitomizes a certain fortitude & determination that we hope young readers will try to replicate.

Perhaps they will remember another of her sayings: "INNOVATION! One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create CLASSICS."

Editorial Review:

This picture-book biography of Coco Chanel, now an international fashion and culture icon, shows just how far a person can come with a little spunk and a lot of determination.

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was always different. And she vowed to prove that being different was an advantage! Poor, skinny, and orphaned, Coco stubbornly believed that she was as good as the wealthier girls of Paris. Tapping into her creativity and her sewing skills, she began making clothes that suited her (and her pocketbook) - and soon a new generation of independent working women craved her sleek, comfortable, and practical designs.

Fashion Inside Out: Daniel V's Guide to How Style Happens from Inspiration to Runway and Beyond

Daniel Vosovic

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From inspiration to execution, from first sketches to final styling, from developing a collection to defining a look, Fashion Inside Out combines practical information on fashion design with an intimate look at the fashion scene today. Project Runway finalist Daniel Vosovic reveals exactly how designers make dreams become fashion reality. Where do fashion ideas come from? How does a designer capture a client’s personality? What is it really like to compete—and triumph—in the high-powered world of fashion? Vosovic tells all, and so do prominent magazine editors, photographers, stylists, and many other fashion industry professionals. A detailed overview of the design process, plus insightful advice on connecting with the right people, promoting and selling, and much, much more, make this the ideal one-volume resource for everyone who loves design, watches television fashion-reality shows, or longs for a behind-the-scenes look at an exciting and exotic business. Don’t just dream about the world of fashion. Be a part of it…with the help of Fashion Inside Out.

Yves Saint Laurent: Style

Foundation Pierre Berge - Yves Saint Laurent

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Editorial Review:

In collaboration with Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent.

Yves Saint Laurent’s signature style intertwines references from the art world with those of popular culture and social revolution. Since its establishment in the 1960s by the designer and Pierre Bergé, the Yves Saint Laurent haute couture house has redefined femininity, creating arguably the most famous (and sexiest) suit for women, “Le Smoking” tuxedo, and innovative collections with names such as Pop Art, Ballet Russes, and Picasso.

 

This retrospective book is the first to cover the forty years of Yves Saint Laurent and highlights the inventive character of the designer’s work. Over 160 of his finest designs and accessories, all taken from the Fondation Pierre Bergé–Yves Saint Laurent collection, are presented. The book is the companion volume to an exhibition that will travel to The Montreal Museum of Fine Art and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.