Haute Couture

Rating:
Summary: Another winner from the Met, Martin and Koda!
Review: Another gorgeous book--I love the photography and the details you are shown. I love the fact that they cover the era from the 1890's right up to today and don't favor one era over another. An equally fabulous book by Richard Martin and Harold Koda is "Dior". They are both among my favorites.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful pictures, abysmal text
Review: I could not agree more with the review by "Reader from Spain". I buy a LOT of costume/fashion books and hardly ever review them, but felt moved to do so for this book because the text is so dreadful. The photographs are stunning, as are the garments pictured, but the words are really quite atrocious (to steal a line from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!). The text is utterly pretentious and so badly written that I (an editor) checked several times to see whether it had been translated from a language other than English - it is that stilted. Obviously a book like this is bought mostly for the pictures, but the text is so disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Contains excellent photographs- from Dior to present day.
Review: It contains beautiful color photos of the couture garments design by the following houses: Balenciaga, Chanell, Dior, Jacques Fath, Gianfranco Fere, Hubert de Givenchy, Aliz Gres, Jacques Griffe, Christian Lacroix, Carl Lagerfeld, Jeanne Lanvin, Patou, Poiret, Saint Laurent, Schiaparelli, Ungaro, Versace, Madeleine Vionnet & the House of Worth.

The table of contents lists "History, Atelier, Dressmaking, Tailoring, Technique, Embroidery, Lace and Tulle and Featherwork.

I strongly recommend this book because it contains the works of many designers, and the photos of these beautiful creations are taken "up close".