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Fashion as Communication

What kinds of things do fashion and clothing say about us? What does it mean to wear Gap or Gaultier, Milletts or Moschino? Are there any real differences between Hip-Hop style and Punk anti-styles? In this fully revised and updated edition, Malcolm Barnard introduces fashion and clothing as ways of communicating and challenging class, gender, sexual and social identities.
Drawing on a range of theoretical approaches from Barthes and Baudrillard to Marxist, psychoanalytic and feminist theory, Malcolm Barnard addresses the ambivalent status of fashion in contemporary culture. He looks at the producers, consumers and critics of fashion, exploring the tensions between haute couture and high culture, and asking how meanings are generated, and by whom.
Examining concepts such as culture, meaning, class, gender, reproduction and resistance, Malcolm Barnard demonstrates that fashion is not an innocent form of communication, and uncovers the ways in which clothing can be used both to create and contest identities. The new edition features new illustrations, a glossary of key terms and suggestions for further reading and research.
Fashion as Communication by Malcolm Barnard
ISBN: 0415260183

The House of Klein

The House of Klein for the first time tells the inside story of the rise of a fashion legend and the mammoth empire he built. Calvin Klein is the world's most well-known (and successful) fashion designer and has created one of the most recognizable brands in existence, but the tale of his ascendancy to the top of the fashion industry has never been fully told.
The House of Klein is the warts-and-all expose of a boy from the Bronx who made his name synonymous with high fashion by making his brand synonymous with sex. This book offers an informed, insider's account of the defining moments of a fashion legend's life, a life circumscribed by personal and professional struggle.
Fashion writer Lisa Marsh pulls no punches in presenting the true story of this mammoth of the clothing industry, complete with corporate battles, lawsuits, petty personal vendettas and backroom dealings. Lisa Marsh reveals the underbelly of the glittering world of high fashion-a world characterized not so much by beautiful people and wild parties, as it is by money and power, above all else. The House of Klein brings to life this compelling figure through the author's own research and interviews with the man himself, as well as with other figures in the industry-such as Isaac Mizrahi-who finally come clean about the man behind the brand.
Lisa Marsh (New York, NY) focused on the bottom line instead of the hemline while working at the New York Post covering the fashion and retail beat. A veteran of the fashion industry, Lisa Marsh began her career in journalism writing financial news stories for the fashion industry bible Women's Wear Daily.
The House of Klein: Fashion, Controversy and a Business Obsession by Lisa Marsh
ISBN: 0471455636

Miss Julia's School of Beauty

Miss Julia's wildly popular escapades have kept readers coming back again and again. In Miss Julia Meets Her Match, she finally succumbed to Sam's charms and became Mrs. Murdoch. Will marriage dampen this proper lady's sense of adventure? Fortunately for her growing legion of fans, the answer is no. In Miss Julia's School of Beauty, Hazel Marie is organizing a beauty pageant to raise money for the sheriff's department and enlists Miss Julia's help in teaching the contestants etiquette and poise. Between settling into a new, unfamiliar home and refereeing the squabbles between Sam's housekeeper, James, and her beloved Lillian, Miss Julia could use a distraction. But when Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd - who are still in residence at her old homestead - have a dangerous domestic mishap that only she can set right, Miss Julia packs up and moves back home, Sam in tow.
Just when everything seems to have returned to almost normal, the town erupts with rumors about a marriage mill that may be performing fraudulent ceremonies. What would the town think if they found out Sam and Miss Julia might be living in sin?
Ann B. Ross's five previous novels in this series include Miss Julia Meets Her Match, Miss Julia Hits the Road, Miss Julia Throws a Wedding, Miss Julia Takes Over, and the first book, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. Ross holds a doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and has taught literature at UNC, Asheville.
Miss Julia's School of Beauty by Ann B. Ross
ISBN: 067003388X

History of Beauty

What is beauty? What is art? What is taste and fashion? Is beauty something to be observed coolly and rationally or is it something dangerously involving? So begins Umberto Eco's journey into the aesthetics of beauty, a journey in which he explores the ever-changing concept of the beautiful from the ancient Greeks to today and questions the values that accompany the way we today register beauty, both past and present.
While closely examining the development of the visual arts, and drawing on works of literature from each era, he broadens his enquiries to consider a range of concepts, including the idea of love, the unattainable woman, natural inspiration versus numeric formulas, and the continuing importance of ugliness, cruelty, and even the demonic.
In this, his first illustrated book, Professor Umberto Eco offers a layered approach that includes a running narrative, abundant examples of painting and sculpture, and lengthy quotations from writers and philosophers of each age, in addition to comparative tables.
History of Beauty by Umberto Eco
ISBN: 0847826465