>> A new crop of books, full of stylish inspiration. From an insider's guide to the hidden gems of NYC, to a book cataloguing the work of the world's first fashion photographer, here's our list of the best — and chicest — fashion books of the Summer.
Click through to see the slideshow.
Calling all aspiring fashion designers! Hokey Croquis is here to save you a lot of time with its Fashion Flat Sketchboard ($15). The cool thing about this sketchpad is the pre-made croquis form disappears when you photocopy or scan your design. That means, no more tracing or light boxes. Really, we tried out the pretty, high quality paper ourselves and it actually works. Now, you're one step closer, and faster, to your runway dreams.
To see more images of the Hokey Croquis sketchpad, read more
Check out this fun fashion interview from OnSugar blog British Style Bloggers.
Working on the Save Luella campaign, I came across this wonderful image (below) and discovered the fashion illustrator Derek Cardigan, who has a blog here: http://derekcardigan.blogspot.com/. He's obviously very talented, creating his images with hand drawing and then colouring them on Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Flash — ahh I wish I was spiffy with these computer programs! The man himself is very friendly and kindly let me ask him some questions.
To read the rest of the interview and see more drawings, read more
Whether they admit it or not, everyone loves sneaking a peek at something they're not supposed to see.
Fashion historian Laird Borrelli's new book Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers ($27) facilitates just that, by giving us a look at designer's sketches that aren't meant for public consumption.
The newly released book features 250 original sketches from 50 of the world's top designers, including Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Phillip Lim, Rodarte, Christopher Kane, and Giambattista Valli. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into this one.
To see a preview of what's inside, read more
Here is an oldie but goodie. I got this Style Dictionary illustrated by Ruben Toledo, $23, for Christmas years ago. If you have been enjoying our Style Glossary this is up your fashion education alley.
The illustrator, Ruben Toledo, is one of my favorite fashion illustrators. You may recognize his unique style from the Nordstrom ads and their clever whimsical illustrations. He is married to the designer Isabel Toledo who is the new designer at Anne Klein. Page-by-page Toledo illustrates fashion terms through colorful imagery; I received it as a gift and it is indeed a great gift to give!
