Confessions of a Window Dresser


Book Description

The buzz created by the hardcover of this engaging, tart, saucy, and very frank memoir (Liz Smith) ran from a first serial in W to an Absolut Doonan ad to Hollywood film rights. For twenty years Simon Doonan, the creator of the hottest window displays in the world at Barney's New York, has collaborated with the biggest names in fashion and the most notorious names in art. Whether he's making fun of blondes, sending up Sigmund Freud, or creating caricatures of celebrities, his work has been fearless and entertaining kitsch. Confessions of a Window Dresser illustrates his work in glorious full-color photographs and wickedly witty commentary on the trends and people of the fashion and entertainment world. Here's a dazzling gift of glamour, laughter, and fashion history.




Confessions of a Window Dresser


Book Description

The art of window dressing is explored in this book illustrated with 200 full-color photos.




The Asylum


Book Description

After nearly a lifetime spent in the Industry, author and fashion insider Simon Doonan is ready to let you in on a little secret: his peers in this multibillion-dollar industry are just as nutty as the denizens of your local loony bin. In The Asylum, an unabashedly hilarious collection of autobiographical essays, Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barneys New York, tells the real-life stories of glamorous madness and stylish insanity. Doonan has witnessed models unable to work for fear of ghosts, gone deep-sea fishing with a couturier pal and his jailbird companion, and watched Anna Wintour remain perfectly calm while the ceiling fell—literally—in the middle of Fashion Week. Once you start looking, he says, you’ll notice telltale signs of lunacy everywhere. Style insiders see patterns and trends in everything; they suffer from outsize personality disorders and delusions of grandeur; and of course, they have a predilection for theatrical makeup and artfully destroyed clothing. No one is more suited to the asylum than the truly die-hard fashionista—after all, eccentricity and extremism are the foundations of great style. With his gimlet eye for the absurd and a love for eccentricity, Doonan’s personal and professional stories never fail to entertain. “The David Sedaris of the style universe” (The Boston Globe) gives us the scoop on the kooky, cutthroat—but always fabulous—fashion world, and proves himself one of the sharpest humorists writing today.




How to Be Yourself


Book Description

An irreverent book of radically honest advice by renowned fashion arbiter and legendary window dresser Simon Doonan




Confessions of an Economic Hit Man


Book Description

Perkins, a former chief economist at a Boston strategic-consulting firm, confesses he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business.




Amazing Furniture Makeovers


Book Description

Upcycle Your Secondhand Bargains into Stunning Statement Pieces Full of inspiring ideas for seasoned refurbishers and the know-how to get anyone started, Amazing Furniture Makeovers helps you give your antique pieces new life without losing any of their vintage charm. Jen Crider, founder of Girl in the Garage, breaks down everything you need to know about furniture makeovers—from basic chair reupholstery to remaking coffee tables into benches. There won’t be an article of furniture you can’t make more beautiful, functional, and personal. This book makes it easy to transform whatever old or wobbly furniture you have into something better than new. Each chapter walks you through unique projects to illustrate Jen’s straightforward approach to furniture styling and repair, and these techniques can be used on a variety of pieces. Learn to decoupage a bookcase with maps for a classy look. Transfer original images onto large-scale furniture for a style all your own. Dress up an end table with a distressed paint job to add farmhouse flair to any room. Every new technique will give you the confidence you need to get remarkable results on your first makeover—and every makeover after.




Soccer Style


Book Description

Author Simon Doonan has two passions in life: Fashion and Football. At one time these two obsessions would have made very strange bedfellows. But times have changed: football and fashion have fallen in love. The unapologetic and unbridled style choices of today's soccer stars offer a fascinating window into the heart of the game. Looking at the beautiful game through the lens of style, Doonan entertainingly explores the magic and madness of this unique culture. Charting football style from its very beginnings, he pays homage to the great style icons of the game, from George Best to David Beckham, before turning his gaze to the hair, the tattoos and the cars, not to mention those other style icons of the game: the fans, the managers and, of course, the WAGs. A laugh-out-loud read for even the most fickle football fan or fashionista.




Eccentric Glamour


Book Description

Glamorous eccentrics are irresistible people. They are irreverent, occasionally impertinent, a tad mysterious, charming, often self-invented, good at applying eyeliner, and above all nonconformist. They are a fabulous confection of style, self-empowerment, and black patent sling backs. Everyone wants to be one, but how? Ubiquitous style guru Simon Doonan has the answer. By no means a typical how-to manual, Eccentric Glamour is a mixture of cultural commentary and personal disclosure, generously seasoned with gushings of wildly dictatorial, provocative, and reckless style advice. Through cautionary tales and inspirational examples, Doonan shows how to develop your own brand of eccentric glamour -- by magnifying everything that is already unique and idiosyncratic about you. In these comic essays, interspersed with one-on-one interviews with some of the world's most glamorous eccentrics (including Iman, Lucy Liu, Tilda Swinton, Malcolm Gladwell, and many more), Simon Doonan offers the women of America an alternative to the cheapness and tackiness that currently pass for personal style. Eccentric Glamour is intended as an antidote to the epidemic of slutty dressing and porno-chic that has taken over since the arrival of Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith (may she rest in peace). While the typical TV boobs 'n' Botox makeovers force every woman to look the same, the transformations this book strives to inspire are the very opposite. Dressing like a ho is not just bad taste but boring! In Simon Doonan's book, conformity is the only crime and dressing down the only faux pas. Eccentric Glamour is every woman's birthright. SO SAY NO TO HO!...and yes to ECCENTRIC GLAMOUR!




Blues with a Feeling


Book Description

Whenever you hear the prevalent wailing blues harmonica in commercials, film soundtracks or at a blues club, you are experiencing the legacy of the master harmonica player, Little Walter. Immensely popular in his lifetime, Little Walter had fourteen Top 10 hits on the R&B charts, and he was also the first Chicago blues musician to play at the Apollo. Ray Charles and B.B. King, great blues artists in their own right, were honored to sit in with his band. However, at the age of 37, he lay in a pauper's grave in Chicago. This book will tell the story of a man whose music, life and struggles continue to resonate to this day.




City Chic


Book Description

Live the luxe life on less You're a Modern Girl embarking on a fabulous life in the city, working hard and playing even harder. Money may be an object, but you refuse to let it be an obstacle. That's because what you may lack in funds you make up for in daring and desire. Completely revised with more tips and tricks than ever, City Chic is your practical insiders' primer on how to creatively cheat at being chic. From food and drink to personal maintenance, and from fashion to home décor, City Chic covers everything a Modern Girl needs to know. Big idea decorating for small spaces Cash-saving culinary tips The best websites for scoring deals Go green: save the environment and your checking account Maximize your iPod for full party potential Establish your perfect signature cocktail PRAISE FOR CITY CHIC 'City Chic is constantly inventive, amazingly granular, and a blast to read.' Dany Levy, founder/chairman | Daily Candy, Inc. 'I love the book. If only I'd had it for the past ten years—it would've saved me lots of heartache, bad furniture, and most importantly, money... It gives you license to scrimp and pinch—and makes you feel more empowered to do so.' Gigi Guerra, brand marketing director of Madewell | former editor of Lucky magazine 'City chicks no longer need to turn tricks or sell dope in order to have a glamorous lifestyle— just read Nina's brilliant book.' Simon Doonan, creative director for Barneys New York | author of Confessions of a Window Dresser 'Being an 'it' girl has never been about how much cash you had in the bank, and now is the time to embrace your inner recessionista. Willdorf's book proves that being frugal and being fabulous are not mutually exclusive.' Lara Cohen, news director | Us Weekly