This study of the role of costume in portraiture, illustrated in colour throughout, takes 100 examples from the National Portrait Gallery's collections, ranging from the magnificence of the Tudor monarchs to the often understated yet equally telling costume of the 1990s, and through them explores the purpose and original context of the dress in which each sitter chose to be recorded.
This fully illustrated catalogue focuses on the fads and follies of fashion from the 1770s to the 1820s. It features satirical prints by such artists as Robert Dighton, Richard Newton, Rowlandson, Gillray and the Cruikshank dynasty, as well as a number of amateur and anonymous draughtsmen. Drawn from the collections of the British Museum's Department of Prints and Drawings, these hand-coloured etchings and mezzotints caricature the ridiculous fashions of the day, depicting and exaggerating such trends as towering hairdos, gigantic hats, tight corsets, puffed bosoms and bottoms and riots of frills. There are also fashion plates, portraits and crowd scenes included in the catalogue, as well as an illuminating introductory essay by Diana Donald, Professor of the History of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University.
This captivating book reproduces arguably the most extraordinary primary source documents in fashion history. Providing a revealing window onto the Renaissance, they chronicle how style-conscious accountant Matthäus Schwarz and his son Veit Konrad experienced life through clothes, and climbed the social ladder through fastidious management of self-image. These bourgeois dandies' agenda resonates as powerfully today as it did in the sixteenth century: one has to dress to impress, and dress to impress they did. The Schwarzes recorded their sartorial triumphs as well as failures in life in a series of portraits by illuminists over 60 years, which have been comprehensively reproduced in full color for the first time. These exquisite illustrations are accompanied by the Schwarzes' fashion-focussed yet at times deeply personal captions, which render the pair the world's first fashion bloggers and pioneers of everyday portraiture. The First Book of Fashion demonstrates how dress – seemingly both ephemeral and trivial – is a potent tool in the right hands. Beyond this, it colorfully recaptures the experience of Renaissance life and reveals the importance of clothing to the aesthetics and every day culture of the period. Historians Ulinka Rublack's and Maria Hayward's insightful commentaries create an unparalleled portrait of sixteenth-century dress that is both strikingly modern and thorough in its description of a true Renaissance fashionista's wardrobe. This first English translation also includes a bespoke pattern by TONY award-winning costume designer and dress historian Jenny Tiramani, from which readers can recreate one of Schwarz's most elaborate and politically significant outfits.
In this limited edition, Ultimate Collection format linen clamshell and handmade oversized book, Valerie Steele flexes her curatorial muscle by showcasing the most iconic dresses of the twentieth century. From Poiret to Pucci, Doucet to Dior, Vionnet to Valentino, Steele selects one hundred dresses that caused a stir either on the runway or entering a room and ultimately inspired new directions in fashion. Steele’s selections include Paul Poiret's figure-liberating 1907 gown, Madame Grès’s sublimely draped goddess creation from 1938, Jean Paul Gaultier's shockingly exaggerated cone-bust corset dress circa 1984, and Hussein Chalayan’s awe-inspiring remote-control fiberglass Airplane dress from 2000. The compilation, while certainly subjective, is sure to receive nods of recognition along with a gasp or two of surprise.
Costume, portraiture and the presentation of the individual have been intimately linked throughout the history of art. While the face of the person portrayed is often still directly accessible to us, the details and significance of their dress can be less easy to comprehend. Lavishly illustrated throughout with paintings, drawings, photographs and other works of art, this beautiful publication is centred around 190 examples from the National Portrait Gallery's Collection. Through these, the authors explore the purpose and original context of the dress in which the sitter was recorded - the damasks, satins, velvets and furs of Tudor and Stuart magnificence worn by Queen Elizabeth I and Charles I, but also the revolutionary simplicity of the cottons, linens and woollen cloth adopted by Mary Wollstonecraft, John Constable and John Clare. Packed with photographs that provide additional insights into the clothes worn by sitters in their portraits, and complemented by related material including fabric designs and jewellery, this authoritative guide looks in detail at one of the most fascinating aspects of many well-‐known images of the last 600 years.
Frida Kahlo was not only an iconic artist, she was also a bold beauty and an avant-garde fashionista whose timeless sense of style continues to inspire and influence the worlds of fashion, media, and art today.
This is a first-ever examination of many long-term professional partnerships that have shaped the fashion world. A beautifully designed volume, Fashion Together showcases the vision and synergism of these talented teams to both fashion connoisseurs and anyone interested in creative collaboration. An exclusive look at the dynamic collaborations of fashion's most celebrated partnerships.
This text explores the symbiotic relationship between contemporary portrait photography and fashion. It presents the intensely unconventional, often unnervingly intimate portraiture being made by five of the most creative and original fashion photographers in the world today.
"An unprecedented examination of the impact of fashion on society in France throughout the Great War. This fascinating exploration of French women's fashion during World War I is the first in-depth consideration of the role that fashion played in the upheaval of French society between 1914 and 1918. As the fashion industry-the second largest industry in the country-mobilized to help the war effort, Parisian couture houses introduced new styles, aggressively disseminated information through magazines, and strengthened their propaganda efforts overseas. Women of all social classes adapted their garments to the wartime lifestyle, and practicality was increasingly introduced in the form of pockets and "sportswear" textiles like jersey. While women were heralded for contributing to the war effort, the clothes they wore while doing so often provoked debates, particularly when their attire was seen as too masculine or militaristic. With focused studies of wartime garments such as skirt suits, nurse's uniforms, work overalls, and mourning clothes, this volume brings to life the passionate debates that roiled the French fashion industry and reveals the extent to which fashion was a hotly contested topic and a barometer for social tensions throughout this tumultuous era. Maude Bass-Krueger is postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the Arts in Society at Leiden University. Sophie Kurkdjian is a research fellow at l'Institut d'histoire du temps prâesent (IHTP-CNRS)"--
