Not your average coffee table books.

As a perpetual student and lover of books, I make it a point to go to a bookstore every couple of weeks.  It's kind of like a form of yoga for me, in that it is relaxing, I love the smell, and I'm giving myself the chance to learn something, either from a book or about myself.  I've always said that I hope bookstores stay in business for as long as I'm alive and don't die with the advancement of digitil books and technology.  My favorite book store in Chicago was The Book Table in Oak Park.  I always found something right up my alley or discovered something I hadn't heard about yet when I went in there.  In Memphis, I always go to the Booksellers at Laurelwood, formally Davis-Kidd.  All the staff there is so nice and hospitable (as they should be, being Southern men and women..) ANYways, I bring up bookstores because there are a few books dedicated to fashion that I hope to see on the shelves of my favorite bookstore soon.

Classic Hollywood Style

by Caroline Young

Hollywood's hold on the pulse of fashion is influential even today.  This book highlights 35 films that have influenced not only fashion but also style in their own time and continue to inspire today.  Not only is the character from one of my favorite movies, "Bonnie and Clyde" with the gorgeous Faye Dunaway, on the cover of this book, but I am also so excited that a book has been written about the actual costume designers of some of the most iconic movies of our time.  So many know of the little black dress from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or the little white dress from "Seven Year Itch", but how often does anyone hear the accounts of the designers who sketched them or the costume production team that so fatefully choose those garments.  Expect to see this book in bookstores on October 16th.

Grace: A Memoir

by Grace Coddington

The memoir of the beautiful Grace Coddington, creative director of Vogue, is bound to be filled with a story worth taking note of for any aspiring fashion die-hard. Out on November 20th, Grace is the memoir of a woman who rose through the world of fashion as a young model in London and would eventually become the right hand woman of Anna Wintour. Her creative vision has shaped the pages of Vogue for many years and a peak inside the world of Grace Coddington is certain not to disappoint.

Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex, and Disco

by Roger Padilha and Mauricio Padilha

My first encounter with the work of Antonio Lopez was the drawings included in the Charles James exhibit at the Chicago History Museum last fall. This book cronicles the life and influence of Antonio Lopez.  He created a vast collection of illustrations, photos, and paintings working with some of the most revered and respected designers, including Yves Saint Laurent and Versace among many more.  This book by Roger and Mauricio Padhilha, with an introduction by Andre Leon Talley, an epilogue by Anna Sui and contributions from Bill Cunningham, is the first of its kind featuring Antonio Lopez and will certainly be a must have for the collections of historical institutions as well as fashion moguls worldwide.  Look for it on September 4th!

The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisted

by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld

This book is definitely the most coffee table-esque out of the others just because it mainly features photos.  However, as a forever follower of anything Lagerfeld touches, I will definitely be checking this book out.  This book does reflect on the timelessness of Coco Chanel's oringinal design of the "little black jacket" and its versatillity, so there is definitely some historical referene and provenance to this book.  It also features some of my fashion icons, such as Yoko Ono and SJP, wearing the jacket in their own way. This book is due out on August 25.

Downton Abbey

On the recommendation from my wonderful boss at the Chicago History Museum, Meghan Smith, I spent the majority of Sunday watching "Downton Abbey," a series put out by PBS as part of their Masterpiece Classic series. It is currently on Netflix Instant Streaming for anyone who wants to check it out for themselves. I was intrigued first and foremost because Meghan said the costumes were fantastic, and secondly because the time period it is set in, the 1910s, pre-WWI, is possibly my favorite period in history for a collection of reasons. As I began to watch the episodes I was delighted by the plot line, along with the costumes, which were designed by Sussanah Buxton. The story of Downton Abbey consists of an old world Victorian family, the Crawley's, and the world that they and their servants live in. The story is filled with scandal, betrayal, love, family duty, and inheritance against a backdrop that consists of a traditional 19th century family and their servants trying to maintain order and propriety in a social atmosphere that is rapidly changing. Needless to say, I was completely enveloped by the aesthetic and the story, and was disappointed to find out that the second season of the series is not due out until next year.

Dress during the Edwardian Period, the first decade of the 20th century, reflected much of the same aesthetic as dress had during the last half of the 19th century. This aesthetic was a highly-corseted, conservative look with a high neckline, long sleeves, and long skirts. The most prominent silhouette at the beginning of the 20th century was a "S-Shape" silhouette. This look had an exaggerated bust and bosom and tiny waist and was created through the use of tight corseting. The costumes of Lady Violet Crawley are reminiscent of this style of dress even though by 1912, the time the series begins in, this silhouette had been largely replaced by a simpler straight silhouette with an empire waist. The fact that Susannah Buxton chose to keep Lady Violet in a more traditional style of dress shows her attention to detail and to the characters themselves, because Lady Violet is and would be in real life if she had existed a very traditional character who is attempting to withstand the radical social changes occurring in the world around her.

The costumes of Lady Mary, the eldest daughter, and her two younger sisters, Edith and Cybil, are much more reflective of pre-WWI dress after 1910. Many women still wore corsets with this style of dress, although they were straight and less restrictive than the corsets required to achieve the "S-shape" of the previous decade. The empire waistline was very prominent as well as oriental influences, as seen in the picture with the chinoiserie style embroidery on Lady Mary's dress.

Just wanted to show one last look at a gorgeous image from the film of the three Crawley sisters. The fashion of the 1910s were changing in ways that had not occurred in the past because changes were happening throughout society for women that had not occurred in the past. Downton Abbey does a wonderful job of capturing the unseen war between the Victorian-minded traditionalists and the social revolutionists that were fighting for change in Europe and America at the time. Look out for my new Favorite Old Thing of the Week coming up in the next couple of days.

Thanks for tuning in,

Jane