Product Description
The kosode or "narrow-sleeved robe" is the predecessor of the modern kimono. This book features kosode from Japan's most prestigious collections, many appearing for the first time in the West. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Valuable resource for kimono research
I checked this out from the library and after I'd read two pages I knew I needed a copy for myself. I am very pleased to add this book to my own personal library, as it is full of well-researched information about kimono and the evolution of kimono fashion in Japanese history.

A multitude of full color plates, pages of useful footnotes and references and even sturdy paper (in both paperback and hardback editions) make this a worthy coffee table book as much as a useful resource that I will read again and again. ... Read more

Product Description
The book GIMP for Textile Design answers a need for a comprehensive, affordable design program that could be used to create textile designs. Gimp fits this niche to perfection. It has a generous variety of tools to work with and since GIMP is a free program nothing could be more affordable. In Frederick Chipkins book "GIMP for Textile Design" you will learn such essential skills as color reduction, recoloring a design, repeats (square and half-drop), photodraping (texture mapping) bodies, and creating plaids. You will also learn many tricks that will give you the skills to handle the most challenging designs. Frederick Chipkin is also the author of Adobe Photoshop for Textile Design.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------GIMP for Textile Design covers the following subjects: Where to get GIMP, Setting the preferences for textile design, Adjusting the desktop, The basic Drawing, Fill and Selection tools, Filling with a solid color, Erasing with the various selection tools, Filling with the Bucket Fill Tool, Basic color reduction in GIMP, Combining colors, Changing colors in your textile design, Sorting colors, Printing from GIMP, Coloring your design using the color charts on the CD, Copy, Cut and Paste, Alpha to Selection, Layer to Image Size, Configure Keyboard Shortcuts, Cleaning your textile design, Color reduction of a tonal textile design (basic), Repeats, Using Copy to make a Temporary Pattern, Creating a square repeat using the Offset function, Creating a half-drop (Brick) repeat, Creating Plaids, Mini bodies, Basic Photo Draping (Texture Mapping), Using the mask tool to make selections, Things you can do with a layer, Reducing a layered design down to indexed color, Changing the size and resolution of an image ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

My daughter's happy with the GIMP instruction book.
My daughter's happy with the GIMP instruction book. It's something that she looked into on her own, her teacher did not make an assignment of it. She is really motivated for the Fashion and Textile Design Industry... As a parent it's nice to see. ... Read more

Product Description
PEPIN is a series of thematic titles on various types of textile and dress - including unusual and overlooked styles. Each volume contains introductory text, fashion plates an/or historical images to show the subject in its original context and high-quality photographs and drawings of clothing, patterns, decorative details, etc. A wide selection of these images is saved on the enclosed CDs.Flower powerA" is an expression associated with Hippie culture of the late 1960s and represents a style in which flowers as symbols of love and peace were omnipresent. On clothing floral imagery was embroidered, woven and printed in all shapes and sizes. FLOWER POWER contains more than 150 reproductions of typical Flower Power designs, ranging from all-over patterns of tiny flowers to giant blooms covering entire garments. ... Read more

Product Description
Humans have been producing textiles since the days of hunting and gathering. Over time, those primitive woven baskets, animal-skin garments and woolen coverings have given way to the increasingly sophisticated and varied clothing, furnishings, accessories and decorations that surround us today. This comprehensive introduction presents 100 of the finest textiles and fashion arts produced by weavers, embroiderers and designers around the globe. Twenty-nine short essays introduce some of the major techniques and genres of the last 25 centuries, weaving links between the objects and the context of their creation. Topics range from the expansion of medieval silk production throughout the Islamic empire to the transformation of Andean weaving under Spanish domination, and from the political and Confucian symbolism of Chinese dragon robes to the reemergence of French couture after World War II. Richly decorated, finely crafted, and extraordinarily varied, the textiles featured in this concise, handsome volume demonstrate the artistry and innovation that elevate these functional objects to works of art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Highly recommended
Before committing a couple of days to museum hopping while in Boston, a word to the wise: this book is a must for understanding the scope of the collection of Textile and Fashion Arts - everything that makes the MFA one of the best museums in America. But more important than that, this is a compendium of examples of some of the finest art. The reproductions are excellent with all of the data needed to give a brisk brush up on not only the work illustrated but the timeframe incidentals that make the MFA such a user friendly museum. Whether for the personal library or for the perfect gift for art lovers, this guide (MFA Highlights series ) is highly recommended.

Nearly thirty short essays discuss not only history but techniques, covering everything
TEXTILE & FASHION ARTS offers a similar format but journeys the world to provide a hundred of the finest textile and fashion pieces. Nearly thirty short essays discuss not only history but techniques, covering everything from medieval silk production in the Islamic empire to Andean weaving under the Spanish. Both individual artists and world trends are illustrated in pieces that pair well with the selected textile representations. ... Read more

Product Description
"The gorgeous photography of innovative surfaces and structures will inspire fiber artists, even those who are drawn to low-tech process."—Fiberarts

This up-to-date book highlights advanced textiles in production and available to the designer, artist, architect, and consumer today. It explores the exciting confluence of art, design, and technology: new textiles that shrink or expand to fit; fabrics developed from carbon, steel, glass, and ceramics; materials that protect the wearer from environmental extremes on earth and in space.

Featuring a wide selection of textiles at the cutting edge of technology, the book covers the field in three main sections:
• Innovations: how the newest textiles are imagined and produced.
• Applications: from fashion and design to architecture and art.
• Reference: including a glossary, biographies, a bibliography, and directories of addresses and public collections. 300+ color illustrations and photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Get out your glow sticks!
I love this book. It is super visual and has so many crazy textiles and designs. This book is great for inspiration for design.

Not so good....
This book was not at all what was expected...
It almost has no purpose.

An exciting pick for any designer or artist working in fabrics
TECHNO TEXTILES: REVOLUTIONARY FABRICS FOR FASHION AND DESIGN will prove an exciting pick for any designer or artist working in fabrics. Here are features of new textiles developed from carbon, steel and even glass: materials which protect wearers from the environment or offer new versatility traditional fabrics can't match. Accompanying color photos of fabrics in use are discussions of changing trends in fabric construction, design and style - an outstanding display of images in a top-rated title juxtaposing art and functional style. Very highly recommended.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch
... Read more

Product Description
Belgian names are becoming increasingly common on the international catwalk-Belgium has firmly established itself in the fashion world in recent years. Young, fresh talent continues to emerge in the wake of the "Antwerp Six," documented by Ludion in the book "Belgian Fashion Design". Promising new designers are already making their mark in Paris and Milan, and Ludion has taken the opportunity of the Antwerp fashion show "Mode 2001" to focus on ten of these new trendsetters, designers such as Xavier Delcour and Oliver Theyskens, in "Young Belgian Fashion Design". Fashion writer Veerle Windels and photographer Etienne Tordoir explore their unconventional and pioneering designs, discuss their ideas, and bring the reader a breath of the new wind blowing through Belgium's fashion landscape.

"Their names may be unpronounceable and their clothes can be tricky, but Belgian designers have contributed immeasurably to the fashion lexicon. This is a timely assessment of their individuality and impact." Harper's on "Belgian Fashion Design"

Designers Include: Veronique Branquinho, Xavier Delcour, Angelo Figus, Raf Simons, Olivier Theyskens

Essay by Veerle Windels. Photographs by Etienne Tordoir.

260 color.
9.25 x 11.75 in. ... Read more

Product Description
A sourcebook of 1950s fashion print, this book covers the heyday of postwar design where an analytical approach to design, with a lightness and freshness, combined with whimsical imagery and idiosyncratic subject matter. The designs and influences of the print gurus of the time - Lucienne Day, Robert Stewart and Maija Isola of Marimekko - are all covered. The creativity of the period - the beginning of the atomic age - is given full expression in this book of hundreds of designs. It is an essential sourcebook for contemporary design practitioners and students. The book contains exclusive illustrations and original artwork from designers as well as finished prints. Each short chapter introduction is followed by a range of illustrations with captions to give provenance and relevance. ... Read more

Product Description
PEPIN is a series of thematic titles on various types of textile and dress - including unusual and overlooked styles. Each volume contains introductory text, fashion plates an/or historical images to show the subject in its original context and high-quality photographs and drawings of clothing, patterns, decorative details, etc. A wide selection of these images is saved on the enclosed CDs. 50s FASHION contains a large selection of fabulous textile pattern designs of the 1950s, in particular the second half of the decade, when there was an outburst of innovation and originality in print design. The unconventional treatment of floral and geometric compositions, as well as the layering of patterns, was completely different from preceding styles. In addition, this book contains many photographs of original clothes and fashion plates. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Lots of great images!
This cd contains lots of wonderful period images.I have tried to use them in several craft projects, but have failed miserably in having them print to my satisfaction.I have yet to decide if the problem is me or the resolution of the pictures on the disc.However they are wonderful pics, and I am sure I will eventually find a use for them, so I am still very happy with my purchase even though I wasn't able to use it for the project I wanted to!

Bad batch of cd's due to improper storage
I received the book in good order with sealed CD but apparantly the book had been stored on an unflat surface and the cd was warped and un-playable.I returned the product for a replacement but received the same problem.From what I could see in the graphic book the graphics were nice with a nice variety.Too bad I could not get a book with a playable cd in it.Don't know if amazon has addressed this problem.If they would I would purchase the book again so I could use the graphics. ... Read more

Product Description
This superb panoramic study of clothing worn in the Middle Ages will fascinate costume enthusiasts, fashion historians and anyone intrigued by medieval life. A meticulously researched text is enhanced with nearly 700 illustrations depicting all manner of apparel—from fur-trimmed cloaks and brocaded robes of courtiers and the nobility to simpler mantles, tunics and trousers worn by merchants, huntsmen, and other commoners. Also included: hairstyles, foot-covering, jewelry, headgear, weapons, and even advice on table manners. "Fascinating in its detail and particularly clearly and well arranged [this book is] a helpful and welcome means of refreshing one’s memory with long-forgotten dates."—Saturday Review.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

A good source of ideas
I agree with everyone who says that the Norris seriously lacks source documentation, and also has a heavy victorian bias. But, I think it's a great source for ideas. I've noticed that there are a lot of really similar outfits in the SCA in general, because people are relying heavily on only a few authors, who do admitably document their sources much better. I would not use this book alone to document a project i was entering in an A+S competition,but i find it a great resource for ideas on ways to make my everyday, wearing to fencing practice and war, sewn on my sewing machine garb stand out from others who only look at the sources deemed "respectable" by SCA costumers. I think it's great as inspiration, but you need to go to other sources to figure out construction. It also helps if you know a little about victorian and edwardian costume, because then you can totally pick out things that are heavily influanced by it as things that are false to avoid.

Decent overview
Not the best but pretty good as far as an overview has some useful bits and a good Bibliography.

Incredible book on the subject !
This is an excellent book with incredible artwork describing what people wore in the Middle ages from the Dark Ages to the Enlightenment. It breaks down each period by chapter and describes everything from shoes all the way up to headdresses worn by the ladies of court. Jewelry,clothing, cloaks, boots, hats, swordbelts, styles in each period and terminology. This is a must have book for stage costumers artists and writers. I love this book.

Good source for Pre-Raphaelite clothing
I have this book at home. It's really a good source of information if you've ever wanted to recreate a dress from a Pre-Raphaelite Victorian/Edwardian era painting. (If you are making something for fun.)

For SCA use, check with other sources. It's a good starting point for an overview of styles.

Do yourself a favour, wordsmith
Several reviewers have reported Norris's work as containing many inaccuracies. Be that as it may (and I don't have the time or inclination to research this, especially given the dearth of available clothing from this period), this book is an excellent source of inspiration for the fantasy writer.
"Fashion" may be in its title, however the book contains far more than that - lots of interesting tidbits such as heraldic devices, horse "furniture" (saddlery), information on various guilds through the centuries, types of fabrics used, names of colours, shoe sole patterns and jewellery - as well as a brief history on each century and those in power. The list could go on.
The book is set out in chronological order, and looks at all classes, from royalty down to the poor. The emphasis on royalty and noble is greater, but that is to be expected since much of fashion flowed down from these people - and the lower classes certainly didn't wear such elaborate garments or ornamentation. There are two indexes: a general index and an index of names (though these are of course influential nobles and royals rather than their subjects).
So, IMHO, don't sit down to write your epic without this book to hand. ... Read more

Product Description
Flats, or technical drawings, are essential for anyone working in the fashion industry. Used to convey design ideas and garment details to pattern cutters and machinists, it is essential that they are drawn accurately to avoid misunderstanding and costly mistakes in sampling and production.

Flats: Technical Drawing for Fashion explains how to create a technical fashion drawing using a simple and straightforward step-by-step method accompanied by some time-saving tips. This method is explained for those who wish to use Adobe Illustrator as well as for those who prefer to draw by hand.

The second part of the book presents over 400 technical drawings of garment types, styles, and construction details, the basic key shapes of which are shown alongside a specially created and photographed muslin. Accompanying each illustration is a list of all the terms by which that garment is known. This unique presentation illustrates the relationship between the three-dimensional garment and the two-dimensional drawing, allowing readers to really understand how to render technical drawings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent book about drawing flats
This is an easy book to use and understand. Good reference for anyone who is designing clothing.

Not enough detail or examples
This book is a useful tool, but the step by step section is extremely limited. There are not enough instructions, the images aren't clear, and there is only one hand-drawn example. If you have no prior technical drawing experience, you'll struggle to learn with just this book. And although the drawings at the back make for a useful "index of shapes", there are not enough of them, and many key shapes are left out. 9 Heads by Nancy Reigelman is a better bet for technical drawing, even though there is no step by step, there are far more examples of shapes.

great resource!
A great tool for students and professionals, this book is complete yet concise. Includes hand-drawing techniques as well as Illustrator instruction. Flats are shown next to finished garments to better understand how your sketch translates to 3d. You have all the basic garment shapes but also a visual dictionary of variations that I find can be inspiring for new designs. There is written instruction, but it is also very visual which is great for creative types like myself!

The CD-Rom is the icing on the cake: It includes body and garment templates that can be manipulated in Illustrator - a priceless, time-saving resource!

authors note
I have tried to demystify the 'art' of technical drawing in this book. It's really not difficult, if you follow my step by step technique. The back section of the book is incredibly useful, as it contains clear drawings of key generic styles - its a visual dictionary of clothes.
The drawings here are not 'fashionable' - they are stripped of all 'fashion' content, therefore serve as an indicator of generic style names.
Once you have mastered the skill of 'drawing' in half and are familiar with a basic fashion vocabulary - you may steam ahead and work in this flat format to design anything you want....
A combination of draping on the stand, pattern cutting and an ability to draw flats is vital to arm you with the key skills you will need to succeed in our competitive industry today.
Good luck!
Basia Szkutnicka ... Read more

Product Description
This practical text takes students step-by-step through the preproduction processes of
apparel product development: planning, forecasting, fabricating, developing silhouettes
and specifications, pricing, and sourcing. It demonstrates how these processes must be
coordinated to get the right product to retail when consumers want it and at a price they
are willing to pay. Based on consultations with some of the most successful and innovative
firms in the fashion business, the Second Edition covers the evolving partnerships among
textile suppliers, product developers, manufacturers, and retailers as they work to develop
apparel products in today s customer-driven environment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Exact Description
Everything they had in the description was true and it was sent to me the same week I ordered.

Beyond Design
The book was in excellent condition and was received well within the promised timeframe. Very pleased with thetransaction

Continuing the fashion/retail knowledge
Initially, I purchased this text book because one of the authors, Dr. Myrna Garner, was a professor of mine at Illinios State University. However, upon delving into the book, I realized how exciting and informative the book is for someone who has since graduated college, and is living in the "real world" of retail.Dr Garner is still teaching via this informative text book - and it's still just as exciting to hear what she has to tell us. ... Read more

Product Description
This handsomely produced publication, presents, from antiquity to now, the expanse of creativity in European, American and Asian fashion, style and textile design in dresses and costumes, even hats and shoes. Essay range from the invention of the pocket in the 16th century, to cross-cultural influences in the weaving of Kashmir shawls, to the design of Victorian morning clothes, to the import of the frockcoat and waistcoast from the French Revolution, to the propaganda role of printed patterns in America in World War 11. Fashions are by Vonnet, Balenciaga, Adrian, Dior, Chanel, Courreges, Pucci. ... Read more