Books on Couture-The Art of Haute Couture by Victor Skrebnesky

The Art of Haute Couture by Victor Skrebnesky
Exerpt from the book:"God is in the details" is as applicable to haute couture as it is to architecture. Illustrated with Victor Skrebneski's breathtaking closeups of the master couturiers' finest creations, this sumptuous volume goes behind the seams to reveal the exquisite details and special techniques that raise fashion to the level of true art. The book examines the ingenious ways couturiers work with line, texture and ornament to create sweep and volume, draping and pleating, illusion and drama. All of the major designers of the twentieth century are represented, including Adolfo, John Anthony, Balenciaga, Balmain, Geoffrey Beene, Chanel, Dior, Erte for Poiret, Louis Feraud, Ferre, Galanos, Givenchy, Charles James, Lacroix, Lagerfeld for Chanel, Lanvin, Laroche, Claude Montana, Nina Ricci, Yves Saint Laurent, Scaasi, Scherrer, Schiaparelli, Ungaro, Valentino, Venet, Versace, Vionnet, and Vera Wang…

Madeleine Vionnet (Harcover) by Betty Kirke $63.00
This oversized book is costume historian Kirke's singular achievement, over 20 years in the making, and includes interviews with Vionnet (1876-1975) herself. The sexy, slinky bias-cut dresses associated with the 1930s were invented by Vionnet to move with the body and show every curve. Over 400 illustrations?45 in color?include archival photographs and magazine illustrations. A unique feature is the inclusion of 38 cutting patterns produced between 1917 and 1938. Cutting clothes for a woman's body was a geometric puzzle for Vionnet, and chapters are arranged by the rectangles, quadrants, and triangles that composed the gowns. Even surface decorations and furs were intricately cut. The "queen mother of haute couture" retired in 1939, but designers ever since have looked to her for inspiration. This expensive book is well worth the price for fashion and design collections.
Exerpt from the book:#034;…Vionnet was a maverick dressmaker who invented new pattern - making techniques, used a small wooden doll instead of sketches to work out her designs, and eschewed corsets for her models in favor of the body's natural form. In her twenty-year career, she created over twelve thousand garments, changing the course of fashion with her innovative and sensuous designs.…"

Haute Couture Definition -
the houses or designers that create exclusive and often trend-setting fashions for women; also: the fashions created