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| Vogue & Butterick's Designer Sewing Techniques NY: Simon & Schuster, c1994. 126 p. |
I'm back from my August break -- and one of the things I did during August was visit many thrift stores, discovering fun new sewing things, like this sewing book from the 90s.
I love reading books from the 80s and 90s. The illustrations are so fun, and I enjoy the retro feel. This book was actually quite good in content as well, and had a focus I hadn't expected. It's written as part of the Sewing Today series, tied to the show on PBS at the time. It talks about various popular designers, and then features some of the designer details they are known for, showing techniques for how to incorporate these yourself. The instructions and photos are really clear and I found some cool ideas to explore further.
The designers they feature fully with interviews/images are:
- Donna Karan
- Calvin Klein
- Linda Allard for Ellen Tracy
- Claude Montana
- Geoffrey Beene
- Victor Costa
- Todd Oldham
- Bill Blass
And there there is a little blurb at the end about Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, and Belleville Sassoon, just to show off some more techniques.
Following each, there is a bit about some of their notable techniques, like pockets, linings, closures/buttonholes, set in sleeves, bias binding, hems, waistlines, patchwork, zippers, tailored collars, lace, denim, and more. I found this an enjoyable read, with a variety of useful tips, interesting designer highlights, and great photos. There is a list at the end of all the Vogue and Butterick patterns used to illustrate the book, all out of print now but so intriguing to look up, including a Karl Lagerfeld Vogue jacket which I am sure is probably going for a fortune on Ebay these days ;)
I especially enjoyed the section on Todd Oldham, who I wasn't as familiar with as some of the others, and his use of colourful patchwork and novelty buttons. I think a lot of his styles would be in fashion again now. And they certainly give sewists some ideas! A really fun book that you can also look through via the Internet Archive if you are interested.
This book sounds fascinating, thanks for the review! Also thank you for the internet connection.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many great sewing books to explore on Internet Archive :)
DeleteI was recently scrolling through the current patterns on the website of that conglomerate pattern company and missing the days of the designers. Today it's hard to believe that so many great names like Balmain, Valentino, Dior, etc created patterns for "home dressmakers," but we used to take it for granted. I'm really looking forward to reading this book if I can track it down.
ReplyDeleteRight? I love the designer patterns - Ralph Rucci is a fave rom more recent years. I have a few of the older ones, like Oscar de la Renta, Yves St Laurent, Dior, etc. and treasure them.
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