Dressed
A Philosophy of Clothes

This is a great big wedding cake of a book, recommended to me by a friend who knows well my love for extravagant fashion and old movies of the diva-driven variety. (Thanks Claud!) I just couldn't help myself, wolfing down the pics first, leaving the actual reading for later. And such pics – 800+ of......more

I first encountered Deborah Nadoolman Landis's Dressed in a cozy bookstore in the Paddington, New South Wales. I was waiting for David to be done looking at something, and I casually picked it up, thinking it would be a pleasant way to while away a few minutes. Two hours later, David had forcibly to......more

Deborah Landis gave a talk for JASNA recently about costuming, and while it's not at all my thing, she seemed fun and articulate, so when they said she had written a book, I promptly reserved it from the library with zero questions asked. "Why not?" seems to be my reading motto of the year. I expect......more

A very well organized book with wonderful pictorial examples from famous films. Though it is an enormous book, it wasn't at all hard to read, thanks to the essays at the beginning of each chapter. I enjoyed learning how film costume design has changed over the years. It was fascinating to learn what......more

This is a book coffee table book, four hundred-plus pages long, not the best choice for an airplane ride. That said, it hits all the marks. It is lavishly illustrated; the text is informative and the author interviews someone from the movies or era she is displaying. If it has a fault it is printed......more