Charm, grooming and style – that’s what the modern woman wants to achieve. Novelties and the latest trends excite and surprise, but without understanding the history of fashion and the rules of constructing a closet is difficult to achieve a harmonious image. In order to understand the basics and complexities, we have gathered for you a selection of the best books on the topic. Dive into the fashion past, arm yourself with practical advice and improve your style!
We believe that beauty is a source of power and privilege for women. A kind of currency. But is it really attainable? What is the flip side of beauty – when it causes suffering? What happens when a woman who is considered beautiful loses her beauty with age or by coincidence? And, in the end, who decides what and, moreover, who is beautiful?
The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Hired as a personal assistant to one of the most influential fashion editors, a young woman finds herself in the most unglamorous position at arm’s length from the unpredictable and impossible tyrant boss. In this work environment, looks mean everything, and the heroine needs a complete makeover. She swaps her hiking boots for 11-inch Manolos, Armani skirts for $100 each, and her briefcase for a Prada briefcase. Welcome to a world where trivialities like manicures and pedicures, hair and even tanning are not trivialities at all, an industry where beauty can determine a person’s future and destiny. A million girls would die for this job. But is it worth selling your soul?
The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton
The novel is set in the late 1800s, a time of prosperity and growth in America, the so-called “Golden Era. The novel’s protagonist, Newland Archer, is a lawyer in one of New York’s most prominent “old money” families.
Newland is about to marry the perfectly beautiful and well-bred May Welland and becomes unhappy when his cousin arrives from abroad – entangled in scandal, he threatens to taint the wedding ceremony. Then Newland discovers that as beautiful as the bride is, she is innocent and unsophisticated. His idea of beauty begins to change, soon Newland falls in love with Countess Olenska.
“The Age of Innocence” won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize and made Edith Wharton the first woman to win the award. A truly beautiful story.
Look at Me, Jannifer Egan
The story is about Manhattan model Charlotte. She is only 35 years old, but she aspires to look younger in an industry for which her prime time is a thing of the past. Charlotte is involved in a car accident that destroys her face, which is fully restored, but Charlotte doesn’t look the same as before. What’s it like for an established beauty to become unrecognizable, virtually a stranger to everyone?
Luxury Fashion: A Global History of Heritage Brands, Caroline Cox
Without knowledge of the past, you cannot build the future–a fundamental principle in mastering any topic. Fashion is no exception, so we recommend diving into this illustrated guide. Its compiler, a recognized expert on the subject, has compiled full biographies of 50 fashion houses, detailing the entire historical process. The most sophisticated connoisseurs of fashion speak highly of this book!