This compendium of how to sew mens clothes is extensively illustrated with black and white drawings and diagrams. This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience.
#531855 in eBooks 2004-01-01 2004-01-01File Name: B00B8KHTGY
Review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Kate Moss is showcased with McQueen Jacobs she still has no personality.By D. MatlackThis is a very light read and not exactly the in-depth reporting a reader might hope for.Despite the chapters alternating between Marc Jacobs; Alexander McQueen and Kate Moss I would say the author really wanted to write a book on Kate Moss; unfortunately other than being a clothes horse and doing mountains of drugs and having tons of indiscriminate sexual encounters; Kate Moss lacks the personality to really carry a full book. So the author decided to flesh it out by accentuating Kate with two designers who happened to work and party with her. Jacobs and McQueen are odd choices. On the one hand Callahan is attempting to portray three influential characters that defined the 90s; so why did she feature Marc Jacobs who peaked in the 80s; got it all wrong and blew his career in 93 when he jumped on the Grunge bandwagon the year after it was over? Jacobs fails to not only come across as interesting but his career pretty much flatlines throughout the rest of the 90s. How is that shaping an era?McQueen really does take off in the 90s and is interesting; inspiring; terrifying and tragic - and unfortunately gets better coverage elsewhere. Particularly in "Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano" by Dana Thomas. In here he is mostly a tangent; providing more than shocking sex;drug and rock-n-roll tidbits -which Kate and Marc are primarily only capable of as he and Isabella Blow are trotted out for emotional and intellectual filler.The book was just fine for those looking for tabloid level entertainment as the author seems to struggle with trying to create a more serious statement piece but has made an unfortunate choice in choosing two people who are devoid of personality and a third who has so many psychological issues going on that to do proper justice would to undertake and overwhelming research project and quite frankly; Callahan clearly wants a simpler read that tells itself.Not bad; not great and Callahan touches on designers that would have clearly been more interesting. For example I now want to find really good books about Isaac Mizrahi and Tom Ford; whom actually flourished in the 90s.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Prepare to dive in deepBy JCNldquo;No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness;rdquo; Aristotle once said and itrsquo;s within this dichotomy that Champagne Supernovas thrives. Seasoned journalist Maureen Callahan takes us back to the 90s and into the footsteps of three tortured souls who inspired; revolted; and shaped a worldrsquo;s culture on a scale likely; probably; never to be repeated.We meet Kate Moss; the ldquo;rough little diamondrdquo; with eyes like ldquo;E.T.;rdquo; she was on her own at 14 and by nineteen had defined the look of the timesmdash;heroin chic. And Alexander McQueen; a high school dropout tragically uncomfortable in his own skin; in the face of adversity he only worked harder and hardermdash;yet always felt like an impostor on his own stage. And finally; Marc Jacobs; estranged from his well-to-do family; raised by his grandmother; steered by Perry Ellis; he was on his way toward a fashion empire at age 25; all thanks to a smiley face sweater.In these pages; we ride the roller coaster with them; up; up; from rags to riches until we cross the precipice of success and keep climbing; knowing all the while that what goes up; must come downhellip;Champagne Supernovas is resplendent with powerful; efficient writing; revealing Callahanrsquo;s deep insight into the world of her story. Take; for example; this description of Kate Moss and Johnny Depp: ldquo;Both cultivated an arid cool: Kate was the accidental supermodel; Depp the punk-rock Beat poet who just happened to be a movie star. Both wore their staggering beauty with disinterest; even as their attempts to mar it with greasy hair and bad habits only underscored its imperviousness.rdquo;Prepare to dive deep into Champagne Supernovas; to live fast; fall hard; and emerge thirsty for breath. This is why Moss; Jacobs; and McQueen still captivatemdash;and always will.17 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Creativity...madnessBy Jill MeyerIve often wondered if creativity was a byproduct of madness...or the opposite. Does it take a certain madness to be creative or does creativity cause madness; driven mad by the creative demons? Im being a bit metaphysical here and I cant prove a damn thing; but I know that most of the creative geniuses in "Champagne Supernovas" by Maureen Callahan barely survived the 1990s.Callahan highlights clothing designers Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs; as well as the fashion model Kate Moss. McQueen died a suicide in 2010; after creating some of the most avant garde fashion; both for his own label and that of the venerable house of Givenchy. (I think of Audrey Hepburns fabulous clothes when I think of Givenchy; not spray paint and designs modeled by a double amputee model.) Alexander McQueen; who dumped his real first name; Lee; in favor of his more chi-chi middle name; Alexander; was a depressive; drug taking mess; who was known for his savagely mean nature. His treatment of his - supposedly - closest friend and first muse; Isabella ("Issie") Blow as she wallowed in her own depressive state until her suicide in 2007; is indicative of a malignant nature. (I do think that Isabella Blow - she of the ultra-odd hats and boas - is perhaps the saddest person in the book. There are several biographies out on her and she seemed like a sad; well-meaning; dependent person who was ill-treated by the creative geniuses who used her as a muse.)Kate Moss; the "model" of the 1990s and later is the "bad-girl" whose slight body and plainish face set off the clothing of McQueen; Jacobs; and the other designers. Her insouciance; whether on the cat-walk or in the clubs; made her a role-model of that was "now". Women of all ages wanted to wear what Kate was wearing.American designer Marc Jacobs is the third of the creatively mad trio. He is still alive - unlike Alexander McQueen - and still designing. He designed his own line; and; until 2013; was the head of Louis Vuitton.All three - McQueen; Moss; and Jacobs - shared both creative genius and an insatiable appetite for drugs and liquor and sex. Kate Moss has rarely been sober; even when pregnant with her daughter; Lila. The amount of cocaine they went through - both alone and with friends - is astounding. All tried stints in recovery facilities; with varying degrees of success. But was their creative output driven by drugs and genius? Would they have been half so creative if theyd been sober and sane? I dont know and Im not sure Maureen Callahan knows; either. She writes of McQueen; Jacobs; and Moss as cautionary tales. And whats left from these tales is a bit of sadness that the demons of the three were so present in their genius.