Books about Costume from Amazon.com

Meet Nancy, who believes that more is ALWAYS better when it comes to being fancy. From the top of her tiara down to her sparkly studded shoes, Nancy is determined to teach her family a thing or two about being fancy.

How Nancy transforms her parents and little sister for one enchanted evening makes for a story that is funny and warm -- with or without the frills.

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Price: $9.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Vintage aprons and modern designs are turning up in movies, magazine spreads, upscale shops, and hip retail venues like Anthropologie, whose trendy line of aprons is selling as fast as they can stock them. The Apron Book is an infectiously enthusiastic guide to aprons, old and new, that are suddenly everywhere.

Aprons take us back to our favorite placeome. Vintage aprons help us remember home and family the way they used to be, while bright and sassy contemporary aprons confirm that nesting is all the rage. Actress and trendsetter Julia Roberts has a closetful of vintage aprons. Celebrity custom-made apron auctions have become an annual event for several popular charities in the past few years.

The Apron Book provides full-color photos of new and vintage aprons from the author's collection, patterns for four basic apron styles and myriad variations, recipes, tips on collecting and preserving vintage aprons, and heart-tugging stories from the author's traveling apron exhibit. The book also explores the heyday of aprons and looks at the various roles aprons still play when worn in the kitchen, around the house, by the backyard grill, on the job, and for special occasions.

Warm and inviting¿but like an apron quite practical!¿this book is a celebration of a great American icon and reminds us of what we loved about the people who wore them.

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Price: $5.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

FIGURE DRAWING FOR FASHION DESIGN offers a concise, topic by topic guide to acquiring and perfecting these skills, concentrating on the female form. The coverage provided means that this book is ideal both for those who want to apply themselves professionally to fashion design, and for all enthusiasts of drawing the human body. Fashion plates are the primary means of visualizing ideas and concepts in costume and fashion design. To give an accurate impression of what is in a designer's mind it is vital to have complete mastery of the rules of figure drawing. Here, realism and anatomical precision are the chief values, whereas for costume and fashion, stylization and exaggeration are ways of adding individuality and verve to a plate, and of focusing attention on specific elements..
Price: $12.41 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The latest entry in the successful In Detail series is a lavishly illustrated book celebrating 19th-century fashion Featuring glorious, specially commissioned color photographs of close-up details alongside accurate line drawings that demonstrate the underlying structure of each garment, the bookÂ’s 150 pieces capture the opulence and variety of this fascinating era. From the delicate embroidery on ballgowns to the vibrant synthetic colors of crinolines, the major themes of 19th-century fashion are highlighted as never before in a single volume.

“ Perfect for those who want an authentic take on the latest Victorian trend.” –In Style.
Price: $22.10 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A superb reference book and an ideal instructional textbook for classroom use, this beautifully illustrated guide is organized into units that reflect required courses at leading design colleges. Twenty step-by-step exercises cover methods of finding inspiration, developing observation techniques, and creating fashion drawings in both color and black-and-white media. Separate sections are devoted to getting started and understanding figure proportions, planning and designing garments, and creating and assessing flat specification drawings. The book also features cross-references to its various art instruction techniques, a designerÂ’s glossary, and a helpful index. This book guides students through their first steps in fashion illustration, covering everything that is presented in the best college-level courses. It makes a fine starting point for all students of fashion, introducing them to fashion drawing as a first step toward a career as a creative costumier. More than 250 illustrations in color and black and white..
Price: $10.19 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The House of Lanvin evolved from the creative force and remarkable energy of an extraordinary woman, Jeanne Lanvin. Her design career survived fifty-six successful and productive years. Lanvin is the oldest surviving couture house, in near-continuous existence from 1909 through the present day. Her body of work includes millinery, children’s wear, haute couture, fragrances, furs, lingerie, menswear, and interior design among others. The continuous public appeal and the youthful image of these couture creations are lasting aspects of Madame Lanvin’s career. At the heart of this book are key collections from 1909 through 1946, the year of Lanvin’s death. Original fashion illustrations, beading and embroidery swatches play a crucial role in demonstrating her intricate, creative, and innovative techniques. The house of Lanvin is currently experiencing a period of great acclaim, emerging as a darling of the press, Hollywood, and the larger fashion community. With the most modern of efforts, Alber Elbaz, the current design director, is drawing from the rich Lanvin tradition to create an award-winning collection that at once evokes, reveres, and reinvents the intentions of its founder..
Price: $51.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Published in cooperation with The International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

"Doll quilts are little gems -- microcosms of quilt history."

So writes author and quilt historian Merikay Waldvogel in Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts By and For Children. This lovely book showcases 100 doll quilts, made from 1830 through the 1950s. All are selected from Mary Campbell Ghormley's collection, possibly the largest private collection of doll quilts in the world, numbering more than 300 doll quilts.

All doll quilts tell a story that begs to be retold, says Waldvogel. She sets out to reveal these gems' hidden truths, looking for clues in each quilt's fabric, style, pattern, piecing, and stitching. This may be the first book to study doll quilts in this depth.

This informative book is for anyone interested in antiques, miniatures, quilts and needlecrafts, dolls, and decorative arts. These doll quilts have an irresistible charm, captured graphically in the book's rich color photography.

Each quilt in Childhood Treasures is documented with an informative caption. Other primary sources help put these quilts in their historical context, including:

Antique doll beds, on which many of the quilts are displayed

Vintage photos of girls and their dolls

Original quilt patterns from farm and home catalogs of the early 20th century
Textile company history

Magazine excerpts of quiltmaking endeavors

This book is a visual and historical treasure.

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Price: $15.65 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Though ostensibly a how-to manual on wedding gown construction, this magnificent book teaches all about advanced dressmaking skills, and its principles can be applied to creating many other types of haute-couture-style gowns. The very thorough text details all aspects of fabrics and construction: the unique characteristics of each type of fashion fabric, including extensive information on manipulating lace; preparing the muslin mockup (a necessary first step to ensure a perfect fit); adjusting the bodice, sleeves, and skirt and joining them all together; adding ornamentation; and handling bustles and trains. The final chapter presents all the specifics of making four gowns of different styles. The novice and even the advanced sewer will learn much here, and perhaps best of all, pattern-drafting experience is not required--the author works her transformations on purchased patterns. If you're ambitious enough to make your own wedding gown, this book is absolutely essential, but even if you're hiring someone else to custom-make your gown, you'll find this an invaluable guide. And anyone pursuing a dressmaking career should have this important reference work on the shelf. --Amy Handy.
Price: $13.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]