the cheap date guide to style

here comes another installment of ...reviewed by me, for you, as yet another book has been added to my (severely clogged and nearly sagging) bookshelves!

***

the cheap date guide to style by kira jolliffe and bay garnett: i first read about this book in a blog entry written some time ago by miss susie bubble of style bubble. of course, susie being far more eloquent than i could ever be, describes the book to a tee:

After I read through the whole thing in about an hour, I concluded that for me, the book would be better named 'Style Affirmation.' The book, far from adopting a 'Do this, don't do that' methodology is about encouraging a unique personal style, cultivating eccentricities and really putting your own stamp on things.

in other words, this ain't your typical style guide...it's a completely different animal, one that celebrates realness, quirkiness, risk-taking, and being offbeat, if that's your way. or really, whatever your way is, if it's really *you*. it's probably not for those people who need a lot of help trying to figure out who they are, but rather, a little mutual-admiration for those who already embrace the beat of their own style drummer and create their own look or looks.
the book has an imperfect, scrapbook-like, teen-magazine-in-the-80s-sort aesthetic, and is filled with loads of photographs that have a flash-lit, harsh, "i took them with my little old point-and-shoot film camera" style, i.e. the whole affair is not a high-fashion glamorously glossy and perfec production, and is thus approachable. it's more grassroots, like an anti-fashion fashion magazine in the form of a book. inexplicably, in it's realness, it takes on a magical chicness and honest glamour.
(fyi: bay (a british-born stylist) and kira are hard-core thrifters from way, way back, and together they penned a style zine called "cheap date", which apparently focused heavily on secondhand shopping and gained a sizeable cult following. the book is a result of that zine's success, from what i can garner.)

one of things about the book that really makes it for me are, as susie also mentions, are the quotes peppered throughout, from the authors, and from other style mavens. here some words from the book i quite like. in fact, they are sentiments i am forever beating to death in this blog and over at wardrobe_remix, ad nauseam:

"Stylishness is elusive, yet everyone is innately stylish. It boils down to confidence about your appearance. One things for sure: there's no specific type of dressing that's more stylish than another....style - to state the bleedin' obvious - is in you. It's not something you can buy."

"For anything to be stylish, there has to be an honesty behind it."

***

i love this quote by the recently deceased eccentric british stylist isabella blow:

"I think thinking is stylish. Looking is stylish. Culture is stylish. I think you need to be inspired by something in order to look good...I think style is about a person recognizing what their best features are."

***

when asked what inspires him, karl lagerfeld said:

"Everything. Inspiration comes from having open eyes."

and when anna piaggi was asked the same thing, she said:

"I take inspiration from myself."

***

"Being stylish is a way to project whatever we like, to be who we want to be in our fantasies and to manipulate reality."

"There are no rules...By listening to your own opinion, the possibilities are endless."

***

"style affirmation", indeed. thanks, susie.

rare bird of fashion (and) pattern magic

ah, books. i love me some books! two recent additions to the ye olde bits and bobbins bookshelf...reviewed by me, for you!

***

rare bird of fashion: the irreverent iris apfel by eric boman: not too long ago, i was gushing about the release of a book about iris apfel, remember? i'm happy to announce that i finally have that hot haute tome in my hands, having ordered it from amazon.com last week. and it's everything i'd hoped it would be, and more: this glossy and glamourous coffee table-sized hardback is filled with snapshots of iris wearing her clothes (these were not costumes, and ms. apfel is, by her own words, NOT just a collector of clothes, these are things she actually wore) coupled with a whole section about ms. apfel's life and how her clothes figured into that life, and fabulous quotes interspersed with photographs of her ensembles. she was, and still is, even in her twilight years, joyous, thoughtful, intelligent, unafraid to push boundaries and express herself through her clothing! again, i am not one for "style icons" in the traditional sense, but ms. apfel, as i have said before in that aforementioned post, is a major exception to that rule o' mine.
here's a small peek inside the book, at some lovely ensembles that she has worn, and some terrific quotes from iris that strike a huge chord with me personally:

***

and on the subject of making fashion, in the most fundamental sense...

pattern magic by nakamichi tomoko: i read about this little gem on fashion incubator, a great blog about the ins and outs and secrets behind sustainable clothing and sewn product manufacture, and had to score a copy. it's japanese, but the illustrations and diagrams in the book are rather clear, so much information and inspiration may be gained. i am flatly, gushingly in love with the garments shown as examples in this book...so sculptural, so dimensional. clothing made with this kind of eye transcends merely being a covering for the body and crosses over into the realm of wearable art, in the most sophisticated of senses. this little book will long hold a place of reverence among my patternmaking and draping books, if for nothing else besides reminding me of the possibilities inherent in the design and process of clothesmaking, my chosen art/craft in this lifetime.
a peek inside what makes this book so amazing:

knit(ting)books

so, in addition to the collecting of old craft books, patterns, and pamphlets, i also fancy love to snap up choice new craft titles. i've just added a few new and interesting books to my collection, all having to do with knitting...

knitprovisation by cilla ramnek: not really so much a book of patterns, but more of a book of inspirations and ideas intended to inspire. the photographs inside are of children and teens and are shot in a very flat, interestingly flaw-filled way that reminds me of avant-garde arty fashion magazine shots, and the whole book sort of has a very european or japanese aesthetic, i'd suggest. sort of a wabi-sabi feel, perhaps? there's a sense of the ugly made beautiful in this book, which of course appeals to me personally: i am very often a champion of that which others might find offensive or declasse. in knitprovisation, ramnek often mixes found knit or crocheted textiles together to make "new" garments, or adds embellishments. the resulting garments have a very hand-hewn, folkloric, magpie sort of feel. this book probably won't appeal to everyone, especially those who have a very minimal sense of style or those who expect everything to be "perfect" and "beautiful" in the traditional sense, or people who want explicit instructions on how to make something. but it might appeal to those who "think outside the box" and innovate when it comes to the process of creating.

***

fitted knits by stefanie japel: if you have been a knitter and have been bopping around the 'net for a few years, you probably know stefanie, the knitting maven who's the blogger and designer behind her line of patterns, called glampyre knits. by and large, her knits are extremely stylish, practical, wearable, flattering, and relatively easy to knit. most of her designs feature a super easy top down raglan-sleeve style construction which often features the inclusion of "darts" and other full-fashioning marks that serve to make her knits fit a woman's form exactly, in the way that darts and other shaping device work in wovens. what does this mean? no more boxy, unflattering knits. most of the designs have a minimal or classic feel, and at times a little Victorian sort of edge.

***

twinkle's big city knits by wenlan chia: twinkle has become the go-to designer for chunky knitwear with a downtown feel. chia's new book is full of the aforementioned, in spades. all this chunk love has been illustrated in a dynamic mainstream fashion mag sort of way, with a lithe model leaping and writhing around for the camera to show off the giant-gauge goods. these big gauges aren't for everyone, but those knitters who embrace the bold might just be so brash. my favorite knit in the book? the "incredible skirt", with it's graduating color and organic feel.

edited to add on 3/2/2007: upon further examination of twinkle's new book, i noted that sizing only goes up to 34" (fitting up to a 37" bust, according to the sizing notes on page 78). shame on you, wenlan chia! i think your sizing scheme is out of touch with current average sizes of women and also a bit size-ist as well. a slightly wider range of sizes (perhaps up through 38 or 40?) would have been a smarter move on your part, and would perhaps make your beautiful book more salable in the long run, to a wider audience of fashionable knitters.