Fashion/Costume

Style supremo and every woman's best friend, Gok Wan knows how important it is for a woman to look and feel her best. In his fantastic new style bible Gok breathes new life into your existing wardrobe, showing you how to transform the basics we all have into a fabulous new look. You will love your look without breaking the bank balance. We all want to look and feel great, and clothes are a great way to give you that instant confidence boost. But how can you do this without spending a fortune? Simple! Throw open those closet doors,... read more

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Since Collette Dinnigan became the first Australian to launch her ready-to-wear collection in Paris in 1995, Australian and New Zealand fashion designers have become increasingly recognized and admired in the international arena. "Fashion" documents the countries' current key players, showcasing the work of 70 leading antipodean designers of women's and men's fashion. This important book looks at the fresh newcomers as well as those who have weathered the industry's ups and downs and are as relevant today as they were several decad... read more

This is the V&A's bestselling history of fashion. Four Hundred Years of Fashion tells the story of men's and women's fashionable dress through the ages, covering clothes for all occasions and including a wide range of accessories such as shoes, fans, hats and even undergarments. Illustrations are wide-ranging, from the magnificent 18th-century court manuta, sumptuously embroidered with silver thread, to Vivienne Westwood's psychedelic punk outfit. The expertise of the authors gives the text unequalled authority and makes it ... read more

Scott Schuman just wanted to take photographs of people on the street who looked great. His now famous blog ['the bellwether American site that turned photo blogging into an art form' - "New York Times"] was an attempt to showcase the wonderful and varied sartorial tastes of real people - not only those of the fashion industry. The book is a beautiful anthology of Scott's favourite shots from around the world. They include photographs of well-known fashion figures as well as those shots of the anonymous passerby whose imagination a... read more

"DIY Fashion" is a cool, quirky and creative guide to making and customizing your own clothes, bags and accessories. "DIY Fashion" contains more than 40 thrifty, sustainable and stylish projects, none of which require prior skill or a sewing machine. Why buy mass produced designer labels, when you can create your own unique capsule collection? This book shows you how. As well as fashion you can wear, there are also projects showing how to create jewellery and accessories. From customized hand-me-downs to elegant evening wear, the b... read more

This book offers an introductory look at fashion design--with a sophisticated twist. Sections include Pattern Construction and Cutting, Fashion Movements, Textiles, Creative Thinking, and Selling Clothes. With exciting visuals and clear text, The Fundamentals of Fashion Design uses detailed diagrams, historical references, and innovative layout to challenge readers to consider the underlying principles of design.

From Charles Frederick Worth to Nicolas Ghesquiere, designers have propelled fashion from an elite craft into a cornerstone of contemporary popular culture. This brilliantly written analysis of the achievements of the 50 greatest names in international fashion explores their lives, both personal and professional, drawing on the latest academic research and on the best of fashion journalism, including the authors' own interviews with designers spanning a 30-year period. The designers' working methods and career highlights are outlin... read more

Examines the manifold facets of black by reflecting on its symbolism, meaning and moods across history, charting the change from sombre Victorian era mourning outfits to the glamour and elegance of the 1950s, the subversive in the 1970s, and the bravura of contemporary avant-garde pieces.

A collection of over 200 textile weaves and patterns, reproduced digitally and provided on the enclosed CD-ROM. Enables optimal visual reproduction in fashion drawings.

Contrary to popular opinion, New Zealand Fashion didn't begin in the late 1990s when four designers were sent to the London catwalks and created a stir with their stylish dark garments. Its history is in fact a long and rich one, and no one tells it better than the team of Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Claire Regnault and Lucy Hammonds, all three of whom are experts in the field, and who spent over three years tracking down our overlooked and in some cases entirely forgotten fashion pioneers and heroes. The treasure-trove of fabulous froc... read more

Style supremo Gok Wan is back to help you build up your perfect capsule wardrobe. The best news is that most of it can come from the clothes you already own! Gok shows you how not to be a slave to your credit card by creating fabulous new looks from the classics you already have. You will love your look without breaking your bank balance. We all want to look and feel great, and clothes are a great way to give you that instant confidence boost. But how can you do this without spending a fortune? Simple! Throw open those closet door... read more

Accompanying an exhibition at Te Papa, The Wedding Dress: 300 Years of Bridal Fashions draws on the Victoria and Albert Museum's superb collection of fashionable wedding dresses, as well as photographs, letters, memoirs, newspaper accounts and genealogical research to explore the history of the wedding dress and the traditions that have developed around it, from 1700 to the present day. Focusing on the white wedding dress, which first became fashionable in the early nineteenth century, the book considers the way couturiers a... read more

An unprecedented publication showcasing Gucci as never before, including thought-provoking essays, commentaries, and authoritative anecdotes along with previously unpublished contemporary and archival photographs. Published in conjunction with the opening of the new Gucci Museum in Florence, Gucci is the ultimate celebration of the world-renowned fashion house. Told through a loose grouping of words, concepts, shapes, and moods, the book tells its story through new conceptual forms and the free links between images, symbols, and ob... read more

Featuring a selection of contemporary fashion photography, this title takes us on a visual odyssey through ideas of beauty, danger and seduction. It explores the confluence of art, fashion and fetish in the cult of high heels swooping down fashion show runways and city streets everywhere.

If you just can't decide what to wear, this enlightening guide will lead you through the diverse and sometimes contradictory aspects of fashion in a series of lively, entertaining and thoughtful essays from prominent philosophers and writers. * A unique and enlightening insight into the underlying philosophy behind the power of fashion * Contributions address issues in fashion from a variety of viewpoints, including aesthetics, the nature of fashion and fashionability, ethics, gender and identity politics, and design * Includes a f... read more

Dame of the British Empire Vivienne Westwood is best known for her provocative SEX/Seditionaries boutique on Kings Road, and then perhaps her runway shows. Her shoes recently got a hit of mass-market retail power when she did a limited edition collection for a partnership including Nine West, Macy's and Vogue. Westwood was comparatively reserved in that work, but for other venues, her bulbous, curving platform soles sometimes grow to NBA-qualifying heights. This is the first book to gather Westwood's shoe designs, every one of them... read more

Hats can be stylish and outlandish, formal and conservative; they can denote status and authority or simply offer protection against the elements; they can hide the wearer or draw full attention to them. Filled to the brim with illustrations, artworks, photographs and designs, The Hat Book reveals the fascinating history of the humble hat, from the very first tomb-painting of a straw hat to nineteenth century bonnets with ribbons, flowers and bows; from the social etiquette of top hats and bowler hats to the haute couture fashion s... read more

This is the fabric and textile directory that dressmakers and fashion designers have been waiting for. This book is like having your own personal shopper able to recommend fabrics to suit the effects you want to achieve, show you how the fabric will perform, and recommend ways of using it. Each fabric in the directory is accompanied by photographs presented in a way that makes the properties of the fabric come alive for the viewer, allowing you to really understand how a fabric might behave. "The Fashion Designers Textile Directory... read more