Harold Koda Livres

From the emblematic designs of Madame Grès to Isadora Duncan’s dance costumes and the avant-garde gowns of Yves Saint Laurent, the Greco-Roman classical tradition of dress has clearly inspired and influenced the worlds of art and fashion. This beautifully illustrated book explores the continually evolving influence of classical dress through the ages, presenting a historical survey of this fascinating theme. Featured works include paintings, photographs, sculpture, and decorative objects from Greek and Roman times to the present as well as garments dating from the eighteenth century and recent creations by designers such as Tom Ford of Gucci and Issey Miyake.Published in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art

What woman can resist imagining herself in a beautiful designer dress? This title presents 100 fabulous gowns from the permanent collection of the renowned Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, each of which is a reminder of the ways fashion reflects the broader culture that created it.

Over time and across cultures, extraordinary manipulations of the body have occurred in a continuing evolution of the concept of beauty. Fashion can be seen as the practice of some of the most extreme strategies to conform to shifting concepts of the physical ideal. Various zones of the body—the neck, the shoulders, the bust, the waist, the hips, and the feet—have been constricted, padded, truncated, or extended through subtle visual adjustments of proportion, less subtle prosthesis, and, often, deliberate physical deformation.This stunning book shows that an undeniable if uncanny beauty abides in the bundled cylindricality of a geisha tottering on raised geta or clogs; the tea-tray supporting bustle of an 1880s French visiting dress; the double-door expanse of eighteenth-century panniered court gowns; the bound feet and caged nails of aristocratic Manchu women; the neck-extending chokers of the Masai, of Edwardian beauties, and of John Galliano’s designs for Dior; or the waist suppression of the sixteenth-century iron corsets and the cinches of early-nineteenth-century dandies. The photographs of fashion are augmented by paintings, prints, and drawings, including caricatures by Gilray, Cruikshank, Daumier, and Vernet.

A captivating retrospective of 20th-century styles, this original survey explores the social context of fashion with informative text and over 70 striking images. Profiles include the newly emancipated woman of the 20s, WWII-era glamour girls, flower children of the 60s, the 80s cult of fitness and perfection, and the dawn of the 21st-century obsession with celebrity styles.

"With over 200 images of t-shirt 'messages', T: A Typology of T-shirts looks at those individuals who stand out in a crowd through their choice of the message on their back. These photographs are not just about the T-shirt. With their combination of pictures and words these messages reveal much about the identity of the wearer. They tell us who they are, who they want to be and what they want us to know about them - their hopes, ideals, political views and personal mantras. Consequently the book is also a revealing and intriguing insight into the concerns and obsessions of our twenty-first century society. By photographing from the back, Barnett challenges the time-honoured tradition of the portrait being of the face and tests whether body type, dress and demeanour can tell us just as much as any facial expression might. Begun in 2009, the project has taken Barnett to cities and tourist spots throughout the United States and Europe to record the ever-changing messages... The book includes texts by leading art critc, Marvin Heiferman, and by Harold Koda, Head Curator of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York"--

This catalogue offers the first comprehensive study of James’s life and work, highlighting his virtuosity and inventiveness as well as the colorful cast of benefactors and clients who supported him.

In a book with 175 color illustrations, the author aims to show the similarities between fashion designers Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli, including their preferences for exotic colors, interesting textiles and prints, their bold approach to style and accessories and much more.