Tag: Book review

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Fashion

An August & September Read

Long sleeveless evening dress in ivory bias-cut silk georgette shaped through torso with pintucked design of roses; slit neckline, shirred shoulderline with self tie attached at right; flared circle skirt; matching crepe chemise underdress with camisole neck and scalloped hem; couture, with picot edge and hand stitching

Exhibitionism-50 Years of the Museum at FIT


Clearly, at 96 pages this book is not a long read. Even so, size did not curb my enthusiasm. On Page 10 seeing the costumes of MGM costume designer Gilbert Adrian in color for the first time. I became hooked. I had a bit of a swoon seeing the red dress worn by Crawford. 

Edited by Valerie Steel and Colleen Hill, the pictorial pages engaged me with brief descriptions and histories of curated exhibits at the museum. The selection covers 33 important exhibitions with background, context, and inspiration.  The authors give references for each exhibition.

Paul Poiret Looks 


Madame Gres, a one time rival to Chanel, created exquisite looks for film actress Dietrich.  Sadly, many today do not recognize the name. The great designer covers 2 pages.  I appreciate the images of Gres’ form hugging collections. All designed for the feminine shape. “Sculptural Beaty” is the quote from book.  I felt inspired reading through the pages.

Gothic Dark Glamour 

Without a doubt, there is something for all fashion lovers; covering topics on Asian Fashion Designs, the influence of Ivy League looks on menswear to Global Fashion Capitals.

Madeleine Vionnet 

  • Long sleeveless evening dress in ivory bias-cut silk georgette shaped through torso with pintucked design of roses; slit neckline, shirred shoulderline with self tie attached at right; flared circle skirt; matching crepe chemise underdress with camisole neck and scalloped hem; couture, with picot edge and hand stitching

 Valerie and Coleen made a book that is cosy when it would have been easy to overwhelm.  Indeed, Exhibitionism-50 Years of the Museum at FIT fits as a perfect August read while on a terrace.   I recommend soaking in a few chapters before the fashion week calendar starts in September.  

The Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology celebrates its 50 anniversary this year.  Founded in 1969, it continues to be an innovative space for fashion curations.  

To order a copy go to Amazon or a local book store. 

Categories
Book Review

On Cityscape Interaction

Richard J. Williams was born in Washington DC in 1967, but grew up in Manchester, UK.  Mr. Williams has lived in London, Oxford, Madrid, and Edinburgh.

Since 2000 he has been the Head of History of Art, and Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures at Edinburgh College of Art. His teaching and research explores the visualisation of the city, through case studies in the USA, Brazil, and the UK. 


The book “Why Cities Look the Way They Do” is the story of dramatic but unforeseen urban sights: how financial capital spawns empty towering skyscrapers and hollowed-out ghettoes; how the zoning of once-illicit sexual practices in marginal areas of the city results in the reinvention of culturally vibrant gay villages; how abandoned factories have been repurposed as creative hubs in a precarious postindustrial economy. It’s also the story of how popular urban clichés and the fictional portrayal of cities powerfully shape the way we read and see the bricks, concrete and glass that surround us.

Listen to the exclusive interview by Steve Yates 

The book  “Why Cities Look The Way They Do” is available at Bookstores and Amazon.

Categories
Book Review

The Big Picture

The Chat Cinema crew discuss Ben Fritz’s book “The Big Picture”.  As Hollywood moves away from Star driven movies to franchise based media vehicles the impact is felt on all levels of tinseltown.   One studio in particular got it wrong.  Once the darling of “A list talent”, Sony finds itself struggling in the new era.   What went wrong? 

This podcast is sponsored by #Beyerdynamic. 

Categories
Fashion

Book Lovers Dream

As a child I loved books and bookstoes. I would and can spend hours browsing shelves, picking up different titles, reading a few pages.

I decided to attend my first large book fair only 72 minutes away by train, The Leipziger Buchmesse. Spread over 4 halls for 4 days, this is a literature lovers dream come true.

Before WW2 the city of Leipzig was the publishing capital of Germany, many publishing houses and printers were based in the Graphics Quarter of the city. Dating back to the 17th century, the Leipzig Book Fair was the most important publishing event in the world. The Saxony capital lost its place in the publishing world after the War. The Quarter tarea was bombed by allies, communist took control of the country in 1945 leaving many publishes either the decison to close or move to the West Germany.

Thebook fair re-emerged in 1991 with a focus on German literature, gaining popularity and importance.

Fast forward, presently, there were books from all over the world. Many countries had stands and booths welcoming attendees to peruse titles from their homegrown authors. The 2018 country of focus was Romania.

Many publishing houses had sitting areas for readingor looking over books. There were many young adult and cooking books.Purchasing titles was also permitted.

The surprise of the day came from the Manga Comicon happening at the same time of the book fair in Hall One. Why are people wearing superhero costumes, was in my mind as I walked up to the Leipzig Center. Am I lost? During the Leipzig Book Fair Manga Comic Con occurs in Hall 1. A noticeable higher level of energy than in the book fair area. The passion at this event was on full display from elaborate costumes, make up, and choreographed presentations.  Gender fluidity was the trend; meaning guys wearing dresses and female costumes.

Sadly, I did not attend the many book and reading events occurring in Leipzig during the fair. The event happens every year, I will make a more involved plan next year, March 21st to 24th 2019.

Categories
Book Review Cinema Fashion

Fashion History Hollywood Style

A lush pictorial history of Hollywood costume designer as a Cinephile and fashion editor the coffee table book “Creating the Illusion” has become a guide and style reference point.    Starting from the genesis of the film industry to the modern day, authors Jay Jorgensen and Donald L. Scoggins give in depth narratives of craftspeople responsible for creating cinema’s most iconic looks by helping performers build characters that would make them famous on silver screens around the world.

Informative as well as entertaining from Page 1, Chapter 1 “Creating the Illusion” weaves together fascinating features with pictures, illustrations, and narratives on the giants of the field; Head, Adrian, Plunkett, Kelly, Louis,  and Banton.  But also included are stories of artist Erte and fashion designer Chanel forays into film costume design.  Without skipping the spotlight shines on other well-known equally talented figures including Irene, Rose, and Travilla to name a few.

A vast number of films are discussed from “Salome”, “Gone with the Wind” to “The Matrix” mixed with behind the scenes anecdotes involving studios, directors, and movie stars; Liz Taylor’s gold costume from “Cleopatra” or the battle of wills involving Marilyn Monroe against Fox, and Dietrich’s iconic jewel encrusted dress from “Angel” are just some of the fascinating stories involving designers caught in the political maneuverings of movie making.

If you have a collection of cinema books or fancy yourself as a film buff I recommend “Creating the Illusion”.   I had so much fun while inspired reading about relationships between costume designers have with movie stars and their involvement in the creative process of film production.

Creating The Illusion is available at your local bookstore or on order from Amazon.

Categories
Book Review

A Dream Turns Into A Nightmare

24485Has the Euro become a one way love affair? An affair capable of  strangling democracy for the cause of a flawed path wrapped in hubris.  Journalist and Authors Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson examine in their book, Europe Isn’t Working, the inception, birth, and growth of a fairy tale currency planned to bring unity, jobs, and prosperity to the continent but instead has morphed into a economic straight jacket of uncertainty.  How did so many smart people get it so wrong?

The Black and Paper Interview.

Can you explain the European left remained silent while Greece was forced into economic and political submission?

I would suggest that the awful truth proved by the Greek debacle – that there was nothing remotely progressive about the single currency – was simply too much to bear.

With the UK leaving the EU, has the Eurozone been placed in a corner regarding Greece?   There is no option but for Greece to stay in the Zone.

I do not think there was ever much prospect of Greece leaving the euro, although a debt default was certainly on the cards for a while. We hear that the Greek government is unhappy with Brexit but it ought to ask why it is that it will not and never has countenanced leaving the euro.

How did the Euro evolve into a Neo-Liberal Trojan Horse?

It bore the imprint of the times in which it was created, the high water-mark of the free-market era. Furthermore, the currency was dreamed up by central bankers in cahoots with commercial bankers and industrialists, so its character is not all that surprising.

You wrote that the Technocrats are more interested in the financial class than the middle class. France just forced through new labour reform laws, is this legislation an example?

Yes, probably. From the outset, the euro-zone members have been told they need to “reform” their “sclerotic” welfare states. That was a big sell” for the euro for banking and big busness.

There are some bad guys and one lady in particular in your book, Merkel.  She is credited with being a stabilizing force in Europe but according to you she has been the opposite.  Can you expand on this?

Anyone who tries to strengthen the euro-zone is a force for instability simply because the euro is itself a force for instability. Mrs Merkel is no better or worse in this regard than other leaders, she is simply more powerful, thus generates more instability.

The Italian Job, presently, there are rumblings concerning Italian Banks and their level of exposure.  Is this the next Euro Zone Crisis?  How do you expect Monti to handle this?

We have been told on and off for five years that Italian banks would be the next domino to fall. It may happen, but if not there then another chunk of masonry in the euro-zone – to mix metaphors – will surely fall off.

After Brexit, the EU institutions have dug in and decided to maintain course, was this a surprise?

No. The EU proceeds by failure. The common market didn’t work so we “needed” a single market. That didn’t work, so we “needed” a single currency. That doesn’t work so the euro-zone “needs” a single fiscal policy. When that fails, the euro-zone will “need” a single government.

European Union officials appear as guilty as their American counterparts as far as the corporate revolving door; Barroso was hired by Sachs, what happened to the outcry?

I don’t really have a view on this. Larry? EU leaders are just as keen as jumping on the gravy train as US leaders. I would say the anti-establishment, anti-elite sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic has been fueled by the idea that the people at the top have done all right for themselves while ordinary people have not.

With many countries in stagnation in the Eurozone: France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, and Finland, why is there still a romance with the Euro?

I refer you to some of the enclosing words of our book:

At the end of Europe’s tormented 20th Century, scarred by the Great War, the Depression, the Second World War, the Holocaust and the Cold War, a visible, tangible symbol of the continent’s renaissance was at hand. Who with even a scrap of idealism could resist its charms?

We go on to say that it is always a bad idea to invest what are bits of economic machinery with emotional force. One should simply ask whether the mechanism works or not. The euro does not.

I will post my book review shortly.  To obtain a copy of Europe Isn’t Working go to  your local bookstore or order from Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Book Review

I’ll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones

What do you do when you are a legendary performer who has influenced everyone from Madonna to Annie Lennox to Lady Gaga? Write a book of course!

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Grace Jones (with doll) and siblings as a child in Spanish Town.

Born in a religious family of Jamaica, Grace Beverly Jones did not set out to make her mark as a singer, model, actress, and fashion icon but instead studied to become a teacher when the acting bug struck while doing Community Theater in college.

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At Studio 54 NYC.

A biography spanning her early years as a struggling actress going so far as to live in the nude for a year, then moving to Paris becoming a roomy with a future supermodel and an Oscar winning actress. Jones became the toast of the Studio 54 era with her over the top performances in the legendary club entertaining then dancing alongside Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger, and Andy Warhol. She became the living definition of the word “fierce” in the underground scene of New York.

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Performing in London with the fade haircut.

Iconic, trendsetter, disco diva, and trailblazer,  Jones was first modern female performer to bend the rules of gender, he/she looks with fashion as well as with those distinctive box fade or close shaved haircuts. Before Madonna, she wore the famed body hugging bustier.

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Still from Grace Jones-A One Man Show.

I would not call this a reflective biography as more of a recollection of events of a determined artist who did things the way she wanted to do them in a world that was not quite sure how to define her.   That was a good thing.

I’ll Never Write My Memoirs is available on Amazon or at local bookshop.