Thoroughly Modern Millinery


Book Description

It is impossible to imagine Sherlock Holmes without his trademark deerstalker, Charlie Chaplin bowler-less, the Cat in the Hat missing his striped top hat. A hat is often a crucial aspect of creating a character, but creating the hat itself can pose a daunting task, and students of millinery have difficulty finding up-to-date resources to guide them in the process. The modern novice milliner needs a current resource to which she or he can turn in order to learn the basic principles of the craft. Through the production of the instructional video Thoroughly Modern Millinery, I am creating this much-needed resource for anyone exploring the world of millinery, but with a specific focus toward the micro-discipline of costume production for theatre. Watching this video will allow the viewer to gain a clear understanding of contemporary practices used in modern theatrical millinery. Step-by-step instructions and demonstrations will lead the viewer through three very different hats from start to finish. Through the process of making these three projects, students will acquire the skills necessary for creating many other styles of hats. In other words, this video will provide the building blocks that every milliner needs in order to succeed. Through close-up camera shots of the processes plus accompanying verbal instruction, I will guide my audience through the process of interpreting a two-dimensional rendering and creating a wearable accessory for the stage. My goal is for my video to become the new "go-to" resource for milliners. With the introduction to a wide variety of products and techniques, Thoroughly Modern Millinery will be an essential addition to costume shops, classrooms, and studios.




Modern Millinery Made Easy an Encyclopedia of All Millinery and Flower Making


Book Description

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.




Thoroughly Modern


Book Description

The life of pioneering photographer Barbara Ker-Seymer 'Thoroughly entertaining... Knights expertly evokes this hedonistic period' The Times 'A picturesque portrayal of a world that sounds as thoroughly maniacal as it was modern' Daily Telegraph 'I just called myself Ker-Seymer Photographs,' Barbara said. 'I didn't think it was necessary to have your sex displayed on the photographs.' Vivacious, sassy, out to have fun, Ker-Seymer was committed to independence. One of a handful of outstanding British photographers of her generation, Ker-Seymer's work defined a talented, forward-looking network of artists, dancers, writers, actors and musicians, all of whom flocked to her Bond Street studio. Among her sitters were Evelyn Waugh, Margot Fonteyn, Cyril Connolly, Jean Cocteau and Vita Sackville-West. Barbara Ker-Seymer (1905-1993) disdained lucrative 'society' portraits in favour of unfussy 'modern' images. Her work was widely admired by her peers, among them, Man Ray and Jean Cocteau. Her images as a gossip-column photojournalist for Harper's Bazaar were the go-to representations of the aristocracy and Bright Young Things at play. Yet as both a studio portraitist and a photojournalist, she broke with convention. Equally unconventional in her personal life, Ker-Seymer was prefigurative in the way she lived her life as a bisexual woman and in her contempt for racism, misogyny and homophobia. Fiercely independent, for much of her life she rejected the idea of family, preferring her wide set of creative friends, with the artist Edward Burra, ballet dancer William 'Billy' Chappell and choreographer Frederick Ashton at its core. Today, Ker-Seymer's photographs are known for whom they represent, rather than the face behind the camera, an irony underpinned by the misattribution of some of her most daring images to Cecil Beaton. Yet her intelligence, sparkle, wit and genius enabled her to link arms with the surrealists, the Bloomsbury Group, the Bright Young Things and, most gloriously, the worlds of theatre, cabaret and jazz. With unprecedented access to private archives and hitherto unseen material, Sarah Knights brings Barbara Ker-Seymer and her brilliant bohemian friends vividly to life.







Modern Millinery


Book Description




The Fashion Show


Book Description

This is your invitation to the front row. Spanning over seven decades and 300 shows, this beautiful book tells the story of the high fashion catwalk. Through this inspirational collection of fashion show invites and tales from fashion week, curator and fashion writer Iain R Webb opens a window into the world’s most exclusive fashion houses. Whether it’s dreamy romance at Givenchy, cutting-edge modernity at Alexander McQueen, floral drama at Valentino, vintage-inspired fun at Kenzo or heartfelt emotion at Yves Saint Laurent’s final haute couture show, the unique themes and styles that have graced the runway in the past 50 years are gloriously curated and described in The Fashion Show. From understated presentation to melodramatic performance, this stylish archive is your passport to the international fashion collections.




Fifty Hats that Changed the World


Book Description

Everything around us is designed and the word 'design' has become part of our everyday experience. But how much do we know about it? Fifty Hats That Changed the World imparts that knowledge listing the top 50 hats and headwear that have made a substantial impact in the world of fashion and design today. From an early fourteenth century Russian crown to Noel Stewart's 2010 Ribboned Landscape hat, each entry offers a short appraisal to explore what has made their iconic status and the designers that give them a special place in design history.




Unbuttoned


Book Description

Unbuttoned: The Art and Artists of Theatrical Costume Design documents the creative journey of costume creation from concept to performance. Each chapter provides an overview of the process, including designing and shopping; draping, cutting, dyeing, and painting; and beading, sewing, and creating embellishments and accessories. This book features interviews with practitioners from Broadway and regional theatres to opera and ballet companies, offering valuable insights into the costume design profession. Exceptional behind-the-scenes photography illustrates top costume designers and craftspeople at work, along with gorgeous costumes in progress.




The Mammoth Book of Roaring Twenties Whodunnits


Book Description

Mike Ashley's brilliant new collection of whodunnits presents stories that reflect all the excitement, escapism and eccentricity of the 1920s. The Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, the Age of Wonderful Nonsense - this was a decade when everyone went a little bit crazy. It was also a decade that saw wonderful detective fiction from the likes of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and others. Contributions range from Cornell Woolrich's story of murder at a jazz party set aboard a steamboat on the Mississippi, to Grenville Robbins's impossible homicide committed on the radio, live on air, and Mat Coward's tale of death at a house party hosting the inaugural meeting of the British Communist Party.




A History of the Theatre Costume Business


Book Description

A History of the Theatre Costume Business is the first-ever comprehensive book on the subject, as related by award-winning actors and designers, and first hand by the drapers, tailors, and craftspeople who make the clothes that dazzle on stage. Readers will learn why stage clothes are made today, by whom, and how. They will also learn how today’s shops and ateliers arose from the shops and makers who founded the business. This never-before-told story shows that there is as much drama behind the scenes as there is in the performance: famous actors relate their intimate experiences in the fitting room, the glories of gorgeous costumes, and the mortification when things go wrong, while the costume makers explain how famous shows were created with toil, tears, and sweat, and sometimes even a little blood. This is history told by the people who were present at the creation – some of whom are no longer around to tell their own story. Based on original research and first-hand reporting, A History of the Theatre Costume Business is written for theatre professionals: actors, directors, producers, costume makers, and designers. It is also an excellent resource for all theatregoers who have marveled at the gorgeous dresses and fanciful costumes that create the magic on stage, as well as for the next generation of drapers and designers.