Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That’s Right for Your Body: The sweet yet knowledgeable and even assertive fashionistas who are the hosts of the hit cable TV show What Not to Wear set their precepts down in print in this delightfully upbeat and decidedly informative primer for both men and women. Their firm, understandable, and workable advice is underscored by their desire not to change anyone’s body type–no preaching about dieting here–but simply to get people to understand their own body types and dress appropriately for the best effect. Kelly and London take 15 real women and 8 real men as “subjects,” representing all types of bodies, from “bigger on top” to “barrel-chested,” and with both illustrations and text, they suggest, for each subject, three outfits to wear for work, weekend, and evening. This book should be regarded as fun reading, not as a chore; the authors’ approach to fashion is not as an arcane code capable of being grasped only by certain enlightened people. In their hands, fashion is not only about looking good but also about having a good time while doing so.

This new detailed guide to learning the skills and techniques of drawing modern fashion and figure is also a rich reference source for a broad range of modern garments and accessories. Extensively illustrated, this introduction teaches by example, the power of drawing as a means of communication and expression and strives to show students how to perceive things in order to be able to draw them correctly. The first section is dedicated to drawing the human figure, while the second portion deals with how to draw a wide range of modern garments and accessories and the types of techniques used to render them convincingly and elegantly in different fabric designs and textures. This volume offers a complete presentation of proportions of the croquis, draping the figure, accessories, flats, and features an encyclopedia of details, how to draw textiles and real clothes, the art of illustration, and computers and fashion drawing. For designers, fashion professionals, teachers and students of fashion.

Luxury Fashion Branding: Trends, Tactics, Techniques - Book Description

“Luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends.” These words, spoken by Gabrielle Coco Chanel in the early twentieth century, remain as true as ever in our current society. Luxury fashion has seeped into every sphere of our consumer society. It has become the norm to aspire towards attaining the delectable goods of brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Dior. This desire is further heightened by the fact that fashion has been made more available to the masses by brands like H&M and Zara who continuously offer luxury-style goods at lower prices. Also, globalization and technological and communications advancement have made fashion even more accessible. Consumers can now shop at will on the Internet, access a wide variety of goods and exchange instant brand experiences. These have made the average fashion consumer savvy, demanding and restless. To put it mildly, the luxury consumer and the luxury landscape have changed!

What do these imply for luxury fashion brands? A changing sector currently undergoing an important market evolution, internal management shifts and rapid expansion, in dire need of strategic business direction.

Luxury Fashion Branding is the groundbreaking first book of its kind that addresses the business of luxury fashion from a strategic viewpoint. It critically analyses the essential aspects of the luxury fashion sector from tracing the origins of luxury fashion to assessing its consumers, retailing tactics, branding and marketing strategy, business modelling and e-retail.

Presented in a clear language with pictorial illustrations, Luxury Fashion Branding will make an engaging reading for anyone who wishes to learn about the captivating business of turning functional products into objects of desire.

Dress Like a Million (On Considerably Less): A Trend-Proof Guide to Real Fashion - Dressing like a million is easy when you’ve got a million to spend. The challenge is trying to do it on a budget. With her top-selling fourth book, Dress Like a Million, fashion guru Leah Feldon, guarantees that every woman can meet the challenge with ultimate style.

In Dress Like a Million, Feldon gives you all the tools you need to put together a look that is not only effortless, flattering, and relatively inexpensive, but also one that is timeless, perfectly suited to your body type, and packed with personal style. With snappy text, fun illustrations, and unique insights, Feldon entertains as she informs—a winning combination that has marked her as one of the best style writers in the business.

Feldon has been on the fashion scene for more than twenty years, as a stylist, designer, image consultant, journalist, author, and television host. She has dressed models, celebrities, and real people alike, and if there’s one thing she has learned in her varied career it’s that money is not the deciding factor of style and chic. Know-how is. InDress Like a Million she shares her considerable knowledge and shows you how savvy, smarts, and a good sense of self can give you equal footing with any Park Avenue princess.

Dress Like a Million has the definitive word on: Building the perfect wardrobe with the right look for every occasion Dressing up and down with taste and style Flattering your individual body type Hair and Make-up do’s and don’ts The final word on color theory How to choose timeless classics Sixteen basics every woman needs in her wardrobe.

IQONS is a new on-line fashion community with the aim of replicating the impact on fashion that MySpace had on music. The free on-line community enables communication and promotion of everyone from inspirational recognisable designers, stylists and photographers to fashion fans and consumers.

Co-Founder, Rafael Jimenez stated at the launch, “The on-line global communication took off last year, with MySpace becoming an inspiration for highlighting music talent and we thought, how could we apply that to fashion?”

The site officially launched to a global audience in London this week, coinciding with London Fashion Week. The site already had an experimental launch over the past two months, hosting events in Paris and New York and proved an immediate hit, attracting thousands of like-minded fashion fans.

Who is behind IQONS?

Rafael Jimenez – Co-Founder
Born in Venezuela, and based in Paris, Rafael worked at Comme des Garcons for eight years where he occupied different roles in sales and marketing leading to the birth of the Guerilla Store. These stores would open for one year in unusual locations and be run by partners with no previous experience in retail. This concept rose in response to the slick, “marbled-floor” environment habitually used in fashion. Rafael then moved on to a personal project, Plan 8 Ltd, a company aiming to create innovative marketing and commercial strategies for fashion designers and brands. In 2004, he met Suran Goonatilake and started collaborating on two key projects that Suran founded; The Centre for Fashion Enterprise and Bodymetrics.

Suran Goonatilake – Co-Founder
Suran is the Chairman and co-founder of Bodymetrics, a company pioneering the use of body-scanning and virtual reality technologies in fashion. At Selfridges, in Oxford Street, and in Harrods, Knightsbridge, customers can get their body-scanned and order perfect-fitting designer jeans and women’s luxury suits. He was previously a co-founder of the Centre for Fashion Enterprise (CFE), a ground-breaking initiative based in London that finances and nurtures high-growth fashion designers. The CFE pioneered a new model of building luxury fashion companies and drew upon lessons Suran learnt in technology start-ups and practises from the film and music industries. In June of 2005, Suran was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s birthday honours list for his services to Entrepreneurship.

Diane Pernet – Co-Mentor Iqon
Diane Pernet has pioneered the use of the Web as a medium for fashion communication through her highly influential Blog, www.ashadedviewonfashion.com. With a background as a fashion critic and a video journalist, Diane has opened the doors for new fashion talent and ideas globally. Her Blog is mandatory reading for anyone in fashion whether they are a new designer starting their career in Paris or an established magazine editor tracking street fashion in Seoul. Having started the on-line fashion-media revolution through her Blog, now Diane is partnering with IQONS to continue her exciting journey.

Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style - The massively popular Project Runway, with over 2 million viewers every week, introduced the world to a new fashion authority: Tim Gunn. As the show’s style consultant, Tim has won over television audiences everywhere with his unique brand of honest, incisive advice. He’s been featured in Entertainment Weekly, the New York Post, and Metro, and is quickly on his way to becoming a household name. Now, for the first time, readers everywhere can benefit from Tim’s fashion wisdom in Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style.

Tim discusses every aspect of creating and maintaining your personal style, all in the witty and reassuring voice that millions of fans adore. Hot topics include how to dress for everyday occasions, how to shop (from designer to chain stores to vintage), how to mix your best “fashion cocktail,” how to buy clothes for a man, how to be your own best fashion designer, and much more. Whether you’re a seasoned fashionista or a style neophyte, Tim can show you how to “make it work!”.

About the Author
Tim Gunn is one of the stars of the hit Bravo reality show Project Runway. He is the Chair of the fashion design department at Parsons, The New School for Design. He lives in New York City. Kate Moloney is the Assistant Chair of fashion design at Parsons, The New School for Design. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

The Shopping Bags: Tips, Tricks, and Inside Information to Make You a Savvy Shopper - A hip and thrifty shopping guide that combines the usefulness of Consumer Reports with the fun and flair of the hit TV show The Shopping Bags.

Appealing to the people who bought bestsellers like the Lucky Shopping Manual or Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, this witty guide will teach you how to recognize deceptive marketing tactics and shop wisely—be it at the mall, the grocery, the drugstore, or even at an electronics superstore. Whether you are shopping for lipstick or lawn mowers, you’ll learn exactly what to look for before you buy. Including plenty of entertaining sidebars and tips from the likes of Jamie Oliver (on food) and Donatella Versace (on fashion), The Shopping Bags is the perfect accompaniment to any shopping trip.

Did you know:
o Your expensive designer lipstick may have been made at the same factory as a more affordable drugstore brand?

o Words like “dermatologist approved” and “noncomedogenic” are not regulated— manufacturers can use them any way they want.

About the Author
Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic are award-winning journalists, news anchors, and hosts of the TV show The Shopping Bags, which has won two Leo Awards and been nominated for three Gemini Awards. They live in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Secondhand Chic: Finding Fabulous Fashion at Consignment, Vintage, and Thrift Stores - In recent years, increasing numbers of people have become aware of something that impecunious but savvy folks have known for a long time: You don’t have to be rich to wear high-quality, high-fashion clothing. You just need to know how and where to shop for it at incredible, bargain prices–secondhand, vintage, consignment, and thrift stores.

Christa Weil goes the whole nine yards here, explaining how to spot quality, understand labels (and fakes!), and find your size when labels are missing. She knows which flaws are easily fixed, how to organize your wardrobe, how to look “done” without looking “overdone,” how to care for your clothing and accessory treasures, and even how to make money on your unwanted clothes.

For anyone who likes to dress well and get an incredible bargain in the process (and who doesn’t?), this is an indispensable guide. Weil’s light, conversational writing style and her numerous hilarious asides (like “Why Socks Disappear in the Wash”) make this an entertaining and lively book to read or browse.

What woman wouldn’t want to find a designer original at a fraction of its original cost or some long-gone artifact from another fashion era? With that goal in mind, Weil packs her guide to the secondhand clothing market (consignment, vintage, and thrift) with so much detail and coursework that one should have a Ph.D. by book’s end. Weil insists that a good secondhand shopper needs to study fabrics, design qualities, and designers to make the most of the shopping experience. She recommends field trips to high-end department stores and boutiques to evaluate specific designers, with note-taking essential.

The Pocket Stylist: Behind-the-Scenes Expertise from a Fashion Pro on Creating Your Own Look - A celebrity fashion stylist reveals the tricks of her trade and shows women of all sizes how to pull together their own polished, individual look.
Whether she’s petite, average, or plus size, every woman has experienced the frustration of searching for flattering clothes. In The Pocket Stylist every reader can have a consultation with her own personal stylist and use the author’s behind-the-scenes wardrobe wisdom:

- Taking her true measurements—from eight different body zones—to ensure an attractive fit based on the reader’s unique silhouette and the proportions that will flatter it best

- Why ready-to-wear isn’t, and how and when to use a tailor for a custom fit

- The best fabrics for your unique silhouette

- How to balance trends with the classic, indispensable pieces that are the backbone of any well-conceived wardrobe

- What “closet archaeology” can unearth and reveal about your wardrobe needs

- Why the right lingerie makes a critical difference in the fit of your clothes

- Tips from other experts on the beauty principles that ground your everyday look, Bobbi Brown and Sonja Kashuk for makeup and Kevin Mancuso for hair—offer backstage access

- Accessories that give an outfit an individual look and that no versatile wardrobe should be without

Best of all, The Pocket Stylist features specifically edited shopping lists for various body types. Four “styled” looks for each silhouette—from jeans-casual to cocktails—illustrate ideal proportion and fit. The reader becomes Kendall Farr’s client and will learn to shop and dress herself like a pro. The Pocket Stylist delivers the behind the camera expertise of a veteran stylist in one purse-size indispensable guide.

Related Link: New York Fashion Design Colleges at Design-Training.com

Fashion: From Concept to Consumer - Organized according to the design and marketing processes in the fashion industry, this textbook offers complete coverage on product processes and global influences on the evolution of the entire fashion industry. Lively reading material is enhanced with the author’s unique anecdotes from her professional experience.

Amazon review:
“From Concept to Consumer” is the first book I recommend to people who are truly interested in the business of fashion. Even though the book is a textbook it is an easy and fast read. One of the best features of this book is the sequential order format. The author takes you step by step through the development of the fashion process BEFORE a single garment is made by briefly describing fashion forcasting, research, color, fabric and trend analysis. The next process explains how raw materials for fabrics are chosen, processed and produced into textiles. Learn about the marketing of these textiles on the international market and to major apparel manufacturers. All of this takes place before the designer even starts to design a collection! Take a look inside the channels of garment distribution and on to us the consumer. This book provides a realistic insiders view in to the industry which is often glamorized by high profile designers and media spokespeople. Folks the business of fashion is a solid industry just like any other and in my opinion even more interesting than all the fluff and the sizzle.