Vintage Black Glamour


Book Description

A glamorous and sumptuous celebration of Black female artists, actors, entertainers and writers of the 20th century




If You Can't be Free, be a Mystery


Book Description

The threads of Billie Holiday's mystique are unraveled in this study of a woman who needed to create art at any cost. Griffin liberates Holiday from stereotypes of black women and pries her away from the male tradition of jazz criticism while presenting Holiday's independent spirit. of photos.




Faded Glamour


Book Description

“To me, an object that was once the height of elegance but is now a bit battered has far more allure than something brand new.” Pearl Lowe in The Daily Telegraph Pearl Lowe has a passion for vintage finds with character—jewel-toned velvet sofas, hand-dyed lace curtains, gleaming lacquer cabinets—and these are the essential ingredients of Faded Glamour, a gloriously decadent and perfectly lived-in decorating style. With evocative photography, Pearl’s beautiful Georgian home is revealed, showcasing her trademark blend of grandly romantic and cool rock ’n’ roll interiors. Take a tour through the colorful living rooms, intimate bedrooms, and plush bathrooms of her creative friends’ unique homes. There are hand-painted peacocks and an emerald silk bedspread in the charming house of a renowned British fashion designer; bright contemporary paintings on the perfectly rustic plaster walls of Hauser and Wirth in Somerset; a rainbow staircase and vivid embroidered wall hangings in the home of an eclectic jewelry designer, and so much more.




Teaching Fashion Studies


Book Description

Teaching Fashion Studies is the definitive resource for instructors of fashion studies at the undergraduate level and beyond. The first of its kind, it offers extensive, practical support for both seasoned instructors and those at the start of an academic career, in addition to interdisciplinary educators looking to integrate fashion into their classes. Informed by the latest research in the field and written by an international team of experts, Teaching Fashion Studies equips educators with a diverse collection of exercises, assignments, and pedagogical reflections on teaching fashion across disciplines. Each chapter offers an assignment, with guidance on how to effectively implement it in the classroom, as well as reflections on pedagogical strategies and student learning outcomes. Facilitating the integration of practice and theory in the classroom, topics include: the business of fashion; the media and popular culture; ethics and sustainability; globalization; history; identity; trend forecasting; and fashion design.




Waltzing in the Dark


Book Description

The career of Norton and Margot, a ballroom dance team whose work was thwarted by the racial tenets of the era, serves as the barometer of the times and acts as the tour guide on this excursion through the worlds of African American vaudeville, black and white America during the swing era, the European touring circuit, and pre-Civil Rights era racial etiquette.




The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington


Book Description

Nearly a century's worth of Scurlock photographs combine to form a searing portrait of black Washington in all its guises—its challenges and its victories, its dignity and its determination. Beginning in the early twentieth century and continuing into the 1990s, Addison Scurlock, followed by his sons, Robert and George, used their cameras to document and celebrate a community unique in the world, and a stronghold in the history and culture of the nation's capital. Through photographs of formal weddings, elegant cotillions, ballet studios, and quiet family life, the Scurlocks revealed a world in which the black middle class refused to be defined or held captive by discrimination. From its home on the vibrant U Street corridor, the Scurlock Studio gave us indelible images of leaders and luminaries, of high society and working class, of Washingtonians at work and at play. In photograph after photograph, the Scurlocks captured an optimism and resiliency seldom seen in mainstream depictions of segregated society. Luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Ralph Bunche, Mary McLeod Bethune, Alain Locke, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Lois Mailou Jones testify to the intellectual and cultural vibrancy that was unique to Washington and an inspiration to the nation. Photographs of a Peoples Drugstore protest and Marian Anderson's Easter morning concert at the Lincoln Memorial remind us that the struggle for equality in black Washington began long before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Offering a rich lens into our past, The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington is a powerful trigger of personal and historical memory.




100 Unforgettable Dresses


Book Description

100 Unforgettable Dresses is filled with the stories, secrets, intrigue, and insights behind the most indelible dresses in our collective memories. Featuring looks from the runway, film, television, the red carpet, and the worlds of royalty and politics, this book celebrates the staying power of these gorgeous, sleek, sultry, and outrageous creations as well as the lasting impact they’ve had in fashion, popular culture, and our own lives. More than two hundred images, a witty, informative text, and exclusive interviews with the designers and the women who wore the dresses reveal the initial spark and captivating drama behind the making of each dress. Also featured throughout are extensive anecdotes and observations about great style makers—Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Cher, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Cate Blanchett—highlighting the conception of their most spectacular looks and examining their lasting influence. Here is the tale of how a canny Gianni Versace helped an unknown Elizabeth Hurley become world famous overnight, thanks to the paparazzi frenzy whipped up by her red-carpet appearance in his now legendary safety-pin dress. Learn about the unique wedding gown Narciso Rodriguez designed exclusively for Caroline Bessette-Kennedy that inspired a whole new generation of brides. Go on the set of Top Hat, where Ginger Rogers’s ostrich-feather-laden dress began to molt immediately upon arrival, its flying feathers bringing the film’s production to a halt. Of course, the seminal work of exemplary designers—Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian dress and Christian Lacroix’s pouf, Chanel’s little black dress and Valentino’s infamous red ones, Diane von Furstenberg’s iconic wrap and Marc Jacobs’s grunge collection—is featured throughout, with plenty of inside information on what inspired the invention of each piece. With its wonderful anecdotes, fascinating facts, and just enough juicy gossip, 100 Unforgettable Dresses is a bewitching read for everyone who enjoys sensational clothes, movies, television, and music. Whether you’re a fashion maven, a red-carpet addict, a celebrity tracker, or a pop-culture aficionado, you won’t be able to put this book down!




Supreme Glamour


Book Description

Sumptuously illustrated, engaging, and insightful, Mary Wilson’s book charts the glittering story of The Supremes, as it showcases their glamorous and iconic ensembles. As Motown’s leading act in the 1960s, The Supremes became synonymous with glamorous, elegant, coordinated ensembles. Supreme Glamour presents founding member Mary Wilson’s unparalleled collection, showcasing thirty-two of the group’s most eye-catching gowns, meticulously reassembled and photographed on the Grammy Museum stage. Detailed captions accompany each photograph, providing information about the design, fabric, and embellishments of each ensemble, as well as the occasion on which each was first worn. In addition to the fashion history of The Supremes, the book chronicles the evolution of the group and celebrates the cultural icons they became. Engaging and insightful narrative text by Mary Wilson and close personal friend Mark Bego is interspersed among hundreds of archival photos. Packed with anecdotes and insights, Mary Wilson tells the complete story of The Supremes, both on- and off- stage, from their founding in Detroit in 1959 as The Primettes to their 1964 breakthrough hit, “Where Did Our Love Go,” and from the departure of Diana Ross to The Supremes’ disco hits of the 1970s. Supreme Glamour builds a complete picture of the charm, sophistication, and magic of The Supremes.




Jackie Ormes


Book Description

In the United States at mid-century, in an era when there were few opportunities for women in general and even fewer for African American women, Jackie Ormes blazed a trail as a popular artist with the major black newspapers of the day. Jackie Ormes chronicles the life of this multiply talented, fascinating woman who became a successful commercial artist and cartoonist. Ormes's cartoon characters (including Torchy Brown, Candy, and Patty-Jo 'n' Ginger) delighted readers of newspapers such as the Pittsburgh Courier and Chicago Defender, and spawned other products, including fashionable paper dolls in the Sunday papers and a black doll with her own extensive and stylish wardrobe. Ormes was a member of Chicago's Black elite in the postwar era, and her social circle included the leading political figures and entertainers of the day. Her politics, which fell decidedly to the left and were apparent to even a casual reader of her cartoons and comic strips, eventually led to her investigation by the FBI. The book includes a generous selection of Ormes's cartoons and comic strips, which provide an invaluable glimpse into U.S. culture and history of the 1937-56 era as interpreted by Ormes. Her topics include racial segregation, cold war politics, educational equality, the atom bomb, and environmental pollution, among other pressing issues of the times. "I am so delighted to see an entire book about the great Jackie Ormes! This is a book that will appeal to multiple audiences: comics scholars, feminists, African Americans, and doll collectors. . . ." ---Trina Robbins, author of A Century of Women Cartoonists and The Great Women Cartoonists Nancy Goldstein became fascinated in the story of Jackie Ormes while doing research on the Patty-Jo Doll. She has published a number of articles on the history of dolls in the United States and is an avid collector.




Vintage Glamour in London's East End


Book Description

This stunning collection of glamorous photographs by legendary Boris Bennett reflects a desire by the subjects to be transported from their East London surroundings. Vintage Glamour In London's East End is the first monograph of this prolific photographer's work, and will be of particular interest to London's Jewish community, as they were often Bennett's subjects. However, interest in this remarkable book will also come from fashion buffs; the costume and glamour used in Bennett's photography is richly detailed and sumptuously lit.