L to R, counterclockwise: 1. Dr. Martens: The Story of an Icon by Martin Roach 2. Shoes A-Z: Designers, Brands, Manufacturers, and Retailers by Jonathan Walford 3. Numero Magazine no. 60 4. Nylon Japan: Winter Style Book no. 104 5. Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style by Susan Brown
As part of my self-education in styling and fashion, I have subscribed to fashion and style publications online like Women's Wear Daily, Business of Fashion, etc. I love to read and enjoy the articles on these sites but also want to read books and longer in-depth analysis of fashion history so I trotted over to my library last week to pick out a few reads. Two days later I spent a good two and a bit hours drooling over the technicolor nail and fashion spreads at my local Japanese bookstore, Kinokuniya, and picked up two magazines.
Dr. Martens: The Story of an Icon by Martin Roach
I can't say that I am as big a fan of Dr. Martens after reading this book because of their highly white supremacist affiliations; the author of the book also seems to sympathize and slightly encourage the ideologies of the British skinhead. Even his selected author picture shows him with a bald gleaming head and dark glasses covering his eyes. However, it was well written and thoroughly informative of the history of the company. I did like that included throughout the book were designers different interpretations on the classic 8 eye red boot, most of the designers I noticed though were all caucasian Brits with the odd exception of two designs by Japanese artists.
Shoes A-Z: Designers, Brands, Manufacturers, and Retailers by Jonathan Walford
I enjoyed this book for it's interesting tid bits on big and small name shoe designers throughout history. There were some interesting modern inclusions that I hadn't heard about like Beatrix Ong's individual line of shoes separate from her work as Jimmy Choo's creative director. I would definitely recommend picking up this book although don't expect it to be comprehensive because there are random designers in this book that have been oddly omitted (Prada) while others have been unnecessarily included, like Kristin Lee of LA who is not a designer, brand, manufacturer, or retailer but who started updating women's vintage shoes in 2002 for wearability today.
Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style by Susan Brown
This is a wonderfully comprehensive read about the history of clothing, there are no real criticisms I have about this almost 500 page book. Brown is a curator at the National Design Museum and clearly a historical writer, not a fashionable one because her dedication to reporting the facts of the history of cloth is obvious. Don't expect this to be a typical dry historical read though because of the author's background. As fashion is, this archival is colorful and the author does so with the lightest injection of jest at the ridiculousness of the heights of fashion while still maintaing respect for these wearable artistic creations.
Top: Numero Magazine Issue no. 60 Bottom: Nylon Japan: Winter Style Book no. 104
I love, love, love Japanese fashion magazines for their disregard for any color or pattern rules. The way they frame the pages of their magazines is so fascinating to me because they manage to pack in high fashion and street style side-by-side, something that I think most American and European fashion magazines struggle with or don't even attempt. They also seem to be able to lump on as many clashing pieces as the wearer can hold on their body and still manage to come out looking chic. I unfortunately haven't grasped any of the languages of Japan so I can't critique the writing but flipping through the pages of these magazines is like an explosion of color candy for the eye and this eye adores it.
