For as long as I can remember, I've been in love with books. There's literally a photo album with a variety of pictures of me reading. Everywhere: hallway, bathroom, bed, bus, classroom... one teacher once made the remark in a parent-teacher meeting that I hurried to get my work finished so I could read. She also said that when I found a particular lesson boring, I would start reading a book under my table.
Needless to say, years later, I still love books!
I'm a bit of a sewing book hoarder, but I also love books that are purely inspirational.
Today, I want to introduce you to 5 books from my collection that inspire me, over and over again!
La Mécanique des Dessous - Une histoire indiscrète de la silhouette
This book is the companion book to the exhibition I visited at the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris in 2013. It's filled with a history of underwear and an overview of the changing styles in fashion, made possibly by underwear, through the centuries, mostly in Western Europe.
Not only does it has amazing photographs, the history and texts are also a very good read giving information on the history of underwear. That is, if you can read French.
La Mécanique des Dessous, Denis Bruna, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 2013, ISBN 9782916914428
The Fashion Book
The fashion book was gifted to me by my brother, last christmas. It's a small but heavy book, containing influencers, designers and icons in fashion. Each page showcases one (textile/fashion) designer or style icon and a matching picture. It's great to browse through this little book and get to know new designers and people.
The Fashion Book, Phaidon Press Limited, London, 2014. ISBN: 9780714867977.
You can find it at
bol.com or
Book Depository.
Madame Grès - Sculptural fashion
Madame Grès is famous for her amazing draping skills and beautiful garments. This book showcases her work with beautiful pictures and interesting articles on her work and life.
This book was released as a companion to the Madame Grès exhibition at MoMu Antwerp in 2012. I visited both this exhibition and the original exhibtion at Musée Bourdelle in Paris in 2011 and both were beautiful!
Madame Grès - Sculptural fashion, Olivier Saillard. Lido, Antwerpen/Amsterdam, 2012. ISBN: 9789491376276
Find it at Book Depository (I must add that I bought it at a much lower pricepoint, so I'm curious to find out what happened that makes this book so expensive now!)
Dries Van Noten - Women's collection Spring/Summer 2009
This isn't a real "book" but it is the catalogue of Dries Van Noten's S/S 2009 collection. By far my favorite collection Dries Van Noten has ever made. The prints, the draping, the shapes... going through this catalogue makes my heart pitter patter with joy. Below are two shots from the book and there's also an addendum with all the accessories. Insert a heart emoji right here.
Maisons De Haute Couture
Maisons de Haute Couture is a compilation of behind the scenes shots and articles from Paris great couture houses. In the book you'll find photographs shot at Chanel, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and many other houses such as Stéphane Rolland, Franck Sorbier, Ralph&Russo...
This is a big book, including beautiful pictures. I kept it on my bedside table for a while. It surely made for some sweet dreams those nights...
Maisons De Haute Couture, Désirée Sadek & Guillaume Laubier, Editions de La Martinière, France, 2015. ISBN: 9782732470245
I have the French version, but
this is the English one, available at bol.com
These are 5 of my favorite, inspiring books. Do you have a favorite book you go to when you are in need of inspiration?