fashion

Never have I come across a book that is a simultaneous delight and delicious read. Every profile of each trendsetting lady brims with founts of information and inspiration on how and why these 14 remarkable women became icons of style. Describing them as style pioneers would be an understatement. They created classics born from their lifestyles and tastes, grand or modest --- 'living like an indelible individual' and leaving for the whole world to emulate and regard what they've created as style references to themselves and their images. What even made the book poignant is the well-incorporated pacing and focus into the particular situations of their personal lives. That is an important and integral part that provokes and makes every reader, design and style enthusiast comprehend well why these women, however unconscious they are, became icons. They carried themselves well. They had natural panache. They knew what fitted and worked for them. They stood firm with their orientations and preferences. In the end what they left the world was more than staples in design, but lessons on effortless originality, dignity, self-esteem and self-confidence all inevitably contribute to an image that is revered and will never be rusty. These women and this book is fabulously classic!

Coco Chanel, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Diana Vreeland...these names recall the very essence of style. But, author Annette Tapert also celebrates the style of less well known women such as Rita Lydig, Millicent Rogers, and Mona Bismarck. Each chapter celebrates a different lady with wonderful photographs and detailed text of their lives and what made them the "women who defined the art of living well". Also recommended is Tapert's follow-up book "The Power of Glamour" which looks at the women of film, as opposed to the women of society. Both are great books about great women!

You need this book if you love fashion. I wish the book was larger; that's my only wish! Some people say they wish there were more colored pictures, but early photography was B&W; for one reason, it captured the nuances of the clothing, and I guess color photography wasn't as prolific in the times that some of these ladies had their heyday. This book is interesting both to READ and to LOOK at! You will pick it up several times a year just to drool over the lovely pictures and re-read the lives and choices of these ladies. It's my very favorite book on style, and I have Ultimate Style: Helena Rubenstein: Over the Top; Oscar de la Renta; Shocking: Elsa Shcaparelli; and I even count Happy Times (Lee Radziwill) as one of my style books. I recommend all of these books, by the way! Also get D.V., Diana Vreeland: The Bazaar Years, and Vreeland if you like Diana Vreeland--=she's a really interesting style icon. Someone needs to put together an exhibit on her for the Metropolitan Museum (since she was the longtime curator of their Costume Institute and she made it what it is today, as far as I can tell from what I've read...incredible style, imagination, and flair!) Please buy this book; you won't regret it. It's a glimpse into a bygone era that still fascinates us and calls on us to imulate it.