Customer Reviews

Haute Couture

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It contains beautiful color photos of the couture garments design by the following houses: Balenciaga, Chanell, Dior, Jacques Fath, Gianfranco Fere, Hubert de Givenchy, Aliz Gres, Jacques Griffe, Christian Lacroix, Carl Lagerfeld, Jeanne Lanvin, Patou, Poiret, Saint Laurent, Schiaparelli, Ungaro, Versace, Madeleine Vionnet & the House of Worth.

The table of contents lists "History, Atelier, Dressmaking, Tailoring, Technique, Embroidery, Lace and Tulle and Featherwork.

I strongly recommend this book because it contains the works of many designers, and the photos of these beautiful creations are taken "up close".

The clothes are superb and are very nicely photographed. In many cases, there are photos of fascinating details as well as a shot of the entire dress. But the prose is just as awful as the gowns are lovely. Not since Rex Reed got laughed off the pages of American periodicals have I encountered such pretentious and ignorant use of my native language. I would think that a major museum could afford a real writer.

I could not agree more with the review by "Reader from Spain". I buy a LOT of costume/fashion books and hardly ever review them, but felt moved to do so for this book because the text is so dreadful. The photographs are stunning, as are the garments pictured, but the words are really quite atrocious (to steal a line from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!). The text is utterly pretentious and so badly written that I (an editor) checked several times to see whether it had been translated from a language other than English - it is that stilted. Obviously a book like this is bought mostly for the pictures, but the text is so disappointing.

Another gorgeous book--I love the photography and the details you are shown. I love the fact that they cover the era from the 1890's right up to today and don't favor one era over another. An equally fabulous book by Richard Martin and Harold Koda is "Dior". They are both among my favorites.