Textile Art

Since man first walked the Earth...in heels, no other art form has wielded as unique an influence on pop culture as drag. Drag artists have now sashayed their way to snatch the crowns as the queens of mainstream entertainment. Through informative and witty essays chronicling over 100 years of drag, listeners will embark on a Priscilla-like journey through pop culture, from television shows like Bosom Buddies and RuPaul's Drag Race, to films like Some Like It Hot and Tootsie, and Broadway shows like Hedwig and the Angry Inch....

Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women. Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture. 

Look closely at any typically "American" article of clothing these days, and you may be surprised to see a Japanese label inside. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese designers have taken the classic American look - known as ametora, or "American traditional" - and turned it into a huge business for companies like Uniqlo, Kamakura Shirts, Evisu, and Kapital. This phenomenon is part of a long dialogue between Japanese and American fashion.

Danielle Bernstein spent her youth shopping at discount department stores, getting boozy in suburban backyards, and proposing marriage to every boy she dated. By age 19, she was a college dropout living in a West Village shoebox with three roommates and only six months to prove that her blog, @WeWoreWhat, could become a full blown career...or else board the train back to her mom's house. This Is Not a Fashion Story is the down and dirty tale of how a Long Island-born teenager became one of the most recognizable names in fashion.

McQueen had risen from humble beginnings as the youngest child of an East London taxi driver to scale the heights of fame, fortune and glamour. He designed clothes for the world's most beautiful women, including Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. In business he created a multimillion-pound luxury brand that became a favourite with both celebrities and royalty, most famously the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore a McQueen dress on her wedding day. But behind the confident facade and bad-boy image lay a sensitive soul who struggled to survive in the ruthless world of fashion.

Stitched Up delves into the alluring world of fashion to reveal what is behind the clothes we wear. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, the book explores consumerism, class, and advertising to reveal the interests which benefit from exploitation. Tansy E. Hoskins dissects fashion’s vampiric relationship with the planet and with our bodies to uncover what makes it so damaging.

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface in July of 1969, they wore spacesuits made by Playtex: 21 layers of fabric, each with a distinct yet interrelated function, custom-sewn for them by seamstresses whose usual work was fashioning bras and girdles. This book is the story of that spacesuit. It is a story of the triumph over the military-industrial complex by the International Latex Corporation, best known by its consumer brand of "Playtex" - a victory of elegant softness over engineered hardness, of adaptation over cybernetics.

Voici le livre de Loïc Prigent que tout le monde attendait : son histoire de la mode. Dans ce récit savant, personnel et aussi irrésistible que l'achat d'un vêtement superflu et donc indispensable, il dévoile la couture, du XIXe siècle à l'ouverture de la première boutique de Gabrielle Chanel en 1913. Des premiers grands couturiers (Worth) et des premières acheteuses stars (l'impératrice Eugénie) à l'industrie qui s'en mêle et aux débuts de la commercialisation de masse, nous découvrons les dessus et les dessous de cette folie française.

Brimming with rich, electrifying tales of the precious dye and its ancient heritage, Indigo is also the story of a personal quest: Catherine McKinley is the descendant of a clan of Scots who wore indigo tartan; Jewish "rag traders"; a Massachusetts textile factory owner; and African slaves - her ancestors were traded along the same Saharan routes as indigo, where a length of blue cotton could purchase human life.

Despite past heartache, Sarah Yates is finally marrying her true love, John Needler. But Sarah and John can’t pretend they’re an ordinary couple. They’re time travellers and where time travel is involved, nothing runs smoothly. One minute Sarah is saying her vows and the next she is...

A thought-provoking microhistory of the humble pocket that uncovers what pockets reveal about us—and why it matters. It’s a subject that stirs up plenty of passion: Why do men’s clothes have so many pockets and women’s so few? In her captivating book, Hannah Carlson, a lecturer in dress...

Transform your passion for sewing into a profitable couture business with Bespoke Couture Business Secrets – your essential audiobook guide to mastering your craft, building your brand, and achieving financial success in luxury fashion. Packed with actionable strategies and insider insights, this audiobook empowers you to turn couture dreams into reality. Discover how to: Choose Your Specialty: Identify and align your unique niche. Build Irresistible Offers: Craft compelling offers that showcase your skills.

Do you have so many clothes and outfits that they’re practically spilling out of your closet the second you open it? Despite that, do you find yourself having little or nothing to wear and have difficulty keeping up with ever-changing trends? Fashion doesn’t have to be complicated, nor does it have to be expensive. What if there was a method you could follow that would leave you looking and feeling radiant every single day? Gone are the days of worrying about what shoes go with what dresses when you commit to the Capsule Wardrobe lifestyle.

Reimagine your wardrobe and reduce waste with Sustainable Fashion DIY: How to Create Eco-Friendly Clothing at Home with Recycled Materials. This practical and inspiring guide empowers you to blend creativity with sustainability, turning old garments into fresh, stylish pieces while championing sustainable fashion.

American Dreamer brims with anecdotes that cover Tommy's years as a club kid and scrappy entrepreneur in 1970s New York as well as unique insights into the exclusive A-list personalities with whom he's collaborated and interacted, from Mick Jagger and David Bowie to Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. But this is more than just a fashion icon's memoir - it's a road map for building a brand, both professionally and personally.

Fashion writer Emma Baxter-Wright introduces 50 of the world's most influential fashion designers and a selection of their most celebrated pieces. Starting with the foundation of the 19th century House of Worth, perhaps the first real fashion house, through the designs of the hugely influential Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, to Japanese designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake whose designs 'deconstructed' fashion in the 1980s and 1990s and the emerging stars of the present day, this book is a fascinating history of how fashion has developed over the past 160 years.

Explore the hidden cultural history of everyday objects, tracing woven textiles from ancient survival tools to fine art. Whether you need an engaging companion for your daily commute or a reflective escape to unwind, this transporting narrative sweeps you from rugged nomadic tents to echoing...

Nice women never wore makeup. Even the word was taboo in polite society—until Max Factor entered the scene. Born in Poland in 1877, Factor worked as a beautician for the Russian royal family, the Romanovs. In 1904, he fled to America, where he opened a cosmetics store in Los Angeles. Creating makeup originally for silent films, then the talkies, and, ultimately, color motion pictures, Factor designed looks for Katharine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, and countless other beauties of the day. Soon women everywhere wanted to look like their favorite glamorous stars, and Factor was there to help, bringing his innovative cosmetics to the general public.

Für Michelle Obama war ihr Kleidungsstil stets ein Mittel, um ihre Botschaft auszudrücken. Ein spannender Blick hinter die Kulissen zeigt, wie Michelle Obamas unverwechselbarer Stil und ihre ikonischen Mode-Looks entstanden. Ihre persönlichen Gedanken darüber, wie wir uns selbst mit Mode ausdrücken und präsentieren, werden ergänzt durch Beiträge von Obamas langjähriger Stylistin Meredith Koop sowie ihrem Visagisten Carl Ray, den Hairstylistinnen Yene Damtew und Njeri Radway und vielen der Designerinnen und Designer, die Michelle Obama für stilvolle Auftritte einkleideten.

Threading the Needle: A Fashion Designer’s Guide to Successfully Launching Your First Collection will also provide guidance on how to establish relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers, as well as tips for managing finances and budgeting effectively. The goal is to help you avoid common pitfalls and overcome obstacles as you launch your first collection—this book will hopefully serve as your main point of reference on your journey as you continue to make an impact on the world.