Stylishly Drawn!

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blue-eyedcalico

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Inspired by the “summer reading” thread, I decided to go to the library to find something to read this summer. I’ve always been an avid reader, but finding time to read while caring for an active toddler, constantly on the go, is a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, I was able to find the ideal book. A picture book with just enough text for me to digest and learn from.

The book is “Stylishly Drawn, Contemporary Fashion Illustration”, by Laird Borrelli published in 2000. It features the work of 29 of the world’s top fashion illustrators.

What I hadn’t realized until reading this book was that fashion illustration had become a dying art, until recently, that is. Over the past twenty years, these illustrators (such as Piet Paris, Jean-Philippe Delhomme) have sparked a renewed interest in fashion illustration.

“The decline in fashion illustration can be traced back to the late 1930s when Vogue began to replace its celebrated illustrated covers with photographic ones… The preference for photography over illustration became most marked in the 1950s.” The author contends that this parallels the shift from haute couture (known for collaborations between artists and designers) towards pret-a-porter.

Then in the 1980s, as photographic images became gritty and ‘in-your-face’ (think heroin-chic), magazines started showing more fashion illustrations, a refreshing counter to the explicit photographs.

The following illustrators are featured in the book:

Ruben Alterio, Francois Berthoud, Tobie Giddio, Mats Bustafson, Kareem Iliya, Tanya Ling, Lorenzo Mattotti, Piet Paris, Hiroshi Tanabe, Ruben Toledo, Robert Clyde Anderson Carlotta, Amy Davis, Jean-Philliippe Delhomme, Jeffrey Fulvimari, Kiraz, Anja Kroencke, Jordi Labanda, Demetrios Psillos, Maurice Vellekoop, Liseloote Watkins, Jason Brooks, Michael Economy, Yoko Ikeno, Maxine Law, Thierry Perez, Graham Rounthwaite, Kristian Russell, Ed Tsuwaki.

An ideal book for people who love fashion and art.


carol
 
Ooooooooooooooo I want!
That sounds SO yummy and a decadent read.
Thanks for the tip Carol...

Off to Amazon I go!

Michelle
 
That sounds like a good read.

I remember in school where it was so stressed how important the rendering was. Many times we wouldn't even get to the costumes being actually made, but the "idea" and the finished drawings were the goal. Maybe it would seem pointless to some, but not really, since the point was that a lot of the folks could sew to varying degrees, but to decide if you really wanted to be a costume designer, or a fashion designer, you had to have the ability to express your ideas in a way that they would be comprehensable to others. Not that your ideas weren't any more valid if not, but you would end up working solo and would end up doing a lot of repetition based on miscommunication.

I think it is a good thing for more of the general public to see fashion illustrations to appreciate clothing designs as art versus, causes people to choose their clothing more selectively with appreciation, versus as a "disposable, throw away" commodity

Chris
 
I've always enjoyed looking at fashion illustrations. The first ones I remember were the illustrations from the barbie doll clothes catalog back in the 60s. The illustrated barbie had so much personality - how she posed with the accessories that came with the outfit.

Later, in the 70s when I started looking at pattern books to pick out a pattern to sew, I found I preferred a pattern that used a photo of the garment on a live model rather than an illustration because it showed better how the outfit would look on a real person.

carol
 
I've always enjoyed looking at fashion illustrations. The first ones I remember were the illustrations from the barbie doll clothes catalog back in the 60s. The illustrated barbie had so much personality - how she posed with the accessories that came with the outfit.

Later, in the 70s when I started looking at pattern books to pick out a pattern to sew, I found I preferred a pattern that used a photo of the garment on a live model rather than an illustration because it showed better how the outfit would look on a real person.

carol
 
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