Fashion Is Freedom


Book Description

The inspiring true story of how courage, a dream, and some needle and thread can change a life forever... Since she was young, Tala Raassi knew her fate lay in fashion. But growing up in her beloved homeland of Iran, a woman can be punished for exposing her hair in public, let alone wearing the newest trends. Despite strict regulations, Tala developed a keen sense of style in backroom cafes and secret parties. She never imagined her behavior would land her in prison, or bring the cruel sting of a whip for the crime of wearing a mini-skirt. Tala's forty lashes didn't keep her down – they fanned the flames of individuality and inspired her to embrace a new freedom in the United States. As she developed her own clothing label, her exploration into the creative, cut throat community of Western fashion opened her eyes to the ups and downs of hard work, hard decisions, and hard truths. Fashion is Freedom takes us on a journey that crosses the globe, from Colombia to Miss Universe, and inspires women everywhere to be fearless...




Dressed for Freedom


Book Description

Often condemned as a form of oppression, fashion could and did allow women to express modern gender identities and promote feminist ideas. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox examines how clothes empowered women, and particularly women barred from positions of influence due to race or class. Moving from 1890s shirtwaists through the miniskirts and unisex styles of the 1970s, Rabinovitch-Fox shows how the rise of mass media culture made fashion a vehicle for women to assert claims over their bodies, femininity, and social roles. She also highlights how trends in women’s sartorial practices expressed ideas of independence and equality. As women employed new clothing styles, they expanded feminist activism beyond formal organizations and movements and reclaimed fashion as a realm of pleasure, power, and feminist consciousness. A fascinating account of clothing as an everyday feminist practice, Dressed for Freedom brings fashion into discussions of American feminism during the long twentieth century.




10 Steps to Fashion Freedom


Book Description

Would you like to make a better first impression? Would you like to feel more comfortable in your clothes? Though your closet is full, do you still have trouble finding something to wear? Renowned image development consultants Malcolm Levene and Kate Mayfield are here to help in 10 Steps to Fashion Freedom, a groundbreaking guide based on their exclusive ten-step image therapy program. Malcolm, dubbed the “Freud of Fashion” by The New Yorker, and his partner, Kate, have written a practical, engaging book that breaks through trends, hot looks, and instant makeovers to get to the heart of how you can develop your own style. Instead of trying to figure out the must-have items of the season or where you fall on the color chart, you will get help from Kate and Malcolm in facing your worst image fears and uncovering and developing a style that is totally your own. As they do for the top executives who go through their personal style development program, Malcolm and Kate teach you how to discover your own individual style and become comfortable with your image from the inside out. This book will show you how to: * Identify your passions * Create a personal style statement * Confront image challenges from the past * Take a field trip to discover your aesthetic tastes * Banish color myths * Undergo a complete closet analysis * Celebrate with an informed shopping trip Malcolm and Kate also share inspiring stories of clients who have completed the program and achieved a more sophisticated image and an empowered sense of personal style. You no longer have to buy someone else’s taste, hire someone to pick out your clothes, or drape yourself in designer labels to feel secure. Take it from the experts—fashion independence is only ten creative steps away!




Wearing the Trousers


Book Description

The story of women's liberation as told by their changing dress – in the public gaze and in private




I.M.


Book Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “In I.M., Isaac Mizrahi puts his life to paper with the same mix of spirit and wryness as the designs he popularized.” —Vanity Fair Isaac Mizrahi is sui generis: designer, cabaret performer, talk-show host, a TV celebrity. Yet ever since he shot to fame in the late 1980s, the private Isaac Mizrahi has remained under wraps. Until now. In I.M., Isaac Mizrahi offers a poignant, candid, and touching look back on his life so far. Growing up gay in a sheltered Syrian Jewish Orthodox family, Isaac had unique talents that ultimately drew him into fashion and later into celebrity circles that read like a who’s who of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: Richard Avedon, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Wintour, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Meryl Streep, and Oprah Winfrey, to name only a few. In his elegant memoir, Isaac delves into his lifelong battles with weight, insomnia, and depression. He tells what it was like to be an out gay man in a homophobic age and to witness the ravaging effects of the AIDS epidemic. Brimming with intimate details and inimitable wit, Isaac's narrative reveals not just the glamour of his years, but the grit beneath the glitz. Rich with memorable stories from in and out of the spotlight, I.M. illuminates deep emotional truths.




Dress Codes


Book Description

A law professor and cultural critic offers an eye-opening exploration of the laws of fashion throughout history, from the middle ages to the present day, examining the canons, mores and customs of clothing rules that we often take for granted




Liberated Threads


Book Description

From the civil rights and Black Power era of the 1960s through antiapartheid activism in the 1980s and beyond, black women have used their clothing, hair, and style not simply as a fashion statement but as a powerful tool of resistance. Whether using stiletto heels as weapons to protect against police attacks or incorporating African-themed designs into everyday wear, these fashion-forward women celebrated their identities and pushed for equality. In this thought-provoking book, Tanisha C. Ford explores how and why black women in places as far-flung as New York City, Atlanta, London, and Johannesburg incorporated style and beauty culture into their activism. Focusing on the emergence of the "soul style" movement—represented in clothing, jewelry, hairstyles, and more—Liberated Threads shows that black women's fashion choices became galvanizing symbols of gender and political liberation. Drawing from an eclectic archive, Ford offers a new way of studying how black style and Soul Power moved beyond national boundaries, sparking a global fashion phenomenon. Following celebrities, models, college students, and everyday women as they moved through fashion boutiques, beauty salons, and record stores, Ford narrates the fascinating intertwining histories of Black Freedom and fashion.




Stylish Dress Book


Book Description

Japanese craft books are loved the world over for their beautiful and practical design, unique aesthetic, and their clear, meticulous and educational instruction. Translated into English for the first time, Stylish Dress Book contains 26 projects for beautiful dresses and blouses. Elegant and loose-fitting, the pieces in this book are designed to be worn in any season and are suitable for women of all ages. The easy-to-follow instructions are accompanied by detailed diagrams and gorgeous full-colour photographs. The full-sized pattern sheets have been adapted for Western sizing and run from AU 6 - 16. IMPORTANT CORRECTION: Correction: The sleeve pattern piece for Dress Y, pictured p. 34, How to Make p. 82, is missing from the pattern sheet. Clik the link in the left side navigation pane to download the Y Sleeve pattern piece.




Variety


Book Description




Libertine Fashion


Book Description

Libertine practices have long been associated with transgression and social deviance. This innovative book is the first to focus fully on the relationship between libertinism as a social phenomenon and as a form of fashion. Taking the reader from early modernity to the present day, Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas reveal how the connection between clothing and the taboo, the erotic, and the forbidden is at the heart of "libertine fashion". Moving from the decadent courts of Charles II and Louis XV to the catwalks of the 21st century, Libertine Fashion examines literary and sartorial figures ranging from the Marquis de Sade and Lord Byron to Oscar Wilde, Josephine Baker, Colette, and Madonna. Focusing on libertinism as a sartorial practice and identity, this book traces the genealogy of the concept through the proto feminists of the English Reformation, the hedonistic decadents of the fin de siècle, and the Flappers of the Roaring 20s. The historical arc traverses the 1970s era of punk and glam, the shapeshifting personae of David Bowie, and the “disciplinary regimes” of Jean-Paul Gaultier. Looking at libertine practices and appearances with fresh eyes, this bracing and original book affords many new insights into transgressive style, and of the relationship between sexuality and clothing. Accessible and thoroughly researched, Libertine Fashion uses a multidisciplinary approach that draws on historical literature, film, fashion, philosophy, and popular culture. Offering a historical and philosophical grounding in contemporary forms of identity and dress, it is essential reading for students and scholars of fashion, gender, sexuality, and cultural studies.