Well Read
AUTHOR Numerous editors
PUBLISHER Taschen
Fashion History takes the reader on an historic tour of the last 18th, 19th and 20th centuries of Western fashion, largely via lavish and detailed colour photographs. The garments showcased are based on the vast selection from the Kyoto Costume Institute's (KCI).
The detailed large colour plates hone right in on the intimate details of the garments, their textures, colour, tucks, creases and shapes coming across in their full splendor, exhibited on stylish, white dummies. They also has the perfect balance of background text that enables he or she to understand the history and social background of this period of Western clothing - including a discussion of the aesthetics of the various periods, the escape from the corset, the impact of World War 1 and II and the influence of US films and photography.
By far, the best feature of these volumes is the dazzling photographs that simply provide readers with a "feast for the eye".
A true reference for fashion enthusiasts and costume designers.
The KCI was established in 1978 and, according to the forward in the book, holds one of the world's most extensive clothing collections. With one of its stated aims being to achieve an essential understanding in clothing and devise a method of predicting how fashion will evolve in the future, the KCI has amassed a wide range of historical garments, lingerie, shoes, and fashion accessories dating from the 18th century till today.
TITLE Guy Bourdin
AUTHOR Alison M Gingeras
PUBLISHER Phaidon Press
Guy Bourdin, whose images were published in French Vogue from the mid-1950s to the late 1980s, is generally considered as having been one of the most influential fashion photographers of his time.
Better known for his highly constructed compositions in unusual settings, using his camera as his medium, Bourdin created bold and striking and provocative images that contained fascinating stories, compositions using dramatic vivid colour and dramatic lighting.
At a time when fashion photography was somewhat bland, idealised and conventional, Bourdin tested the boundaries of the conventions of commercial photography with a relentless perfectionism. Like his counterpart, Helmut Newton, his work was often scandalous and imbued with themes of illicit sex, violence and a sharp and dark sense of humour, the setting of his images often reminiscent as that of a crime scene.
If success "breeds imitation" then Bourdin should be flattered. His work has been imitated by fashion photographers around the world and Madonna was so "inspired" by the photography of Bourdin, that she allegedly imitated the poses and images of some 11 of Bourdin's works in her 2003 music video for the song "Hollywood" - for which she was sued by Bourdin's son.
The book, written by Alison Gingeras, a writer and curator at the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, compiles some of Bourdin's better known works as well as many unpublished works.Advertisements, images for Vogue and calendar Fashion enthusiasts and photographers alike will enjoy this newly released book.