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Books Related to Madeleine Vionnet Betty Kirke - ISBN: 0811819973
fabulous! - Rated
This is a serious book. I doubt I can do it justice! It's huge, for a start, and gives a comprehensive biography of the designer from her earliest years to the end of her life. Also a wonderful work of fashion history, it tells of the birth of couture and the modern fashion designer, how the Paris salons were run and much, much more.
The many photographs show the designs, unusually, as they were worn by the people who bought them in the 1920's and 30's as well as on museum mannequins.
The patterns, or more accurately diagrams, show using origami like lettering how Madeleine Vionnet cut her fabric as it was draped on a doll and how the resulting fantastical shape was then stitched and twisted to produce the elegant garments we feel we already know due to their lasting influence on design. Be warned though, although the patterns come with instructions for making up, there are no measurements applied to the diagrams and to actually reproduce any of them would take someone very skilled and almost as intuitive as Vionnet herself!
The authors of this book were many years in producing it and state in the introduction that sadly the great Madame Vionnet died shortly before it's publication. It serves as a wonderful tribute to one of the greatest names in 20th Century fashion and is an all round marvel of entertainment and instruction. I can't think of anything that would have made it better.
A must to understand the construction of 1930's designs - Rated
This book is 'wonderful'. It gives clear outline patterns with good instructions for an experienced dressmaker that can easily be adapted to the construction of designs by Erte. It also gives a very interesting biog of Madeleine Vionnet, and her design portfolio.
