Whether you are fed up of reading about 'Gatsby style', or all the hype of the film release has only fuelled your love of the period further, The Twenties in Vogue gives a fascinating insight into that period. As the name might suggest, it's a compilation of material that appeared in Vogue over that decade: the glamorous resorts, the stunning interiors, the society ladies such as Daisy Fellowes, Lady Diana Cooper and Lady Ottoline Morrell and the stars of the period, like Josephine Baker, Charlie Chaplin, Louise Brooks, Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson, who wrote the foreword to the book. It's a great thing to dip in and out of, in a few idle moments when you just need a quick shot of glamour. I'm also selling the follow-up volume, The Thirties in Vogue.
Daphne Sets a Fashion is the story of a girl working in a fashion house in the 1960s and was originally published in 1965. It's part of a series meant to inspire career girls (other books feature careers such as being an air hostess, a hair dresser and, thankfully, a doctor). Daphne is an in-house designer who has to tackle the copyists ripping off her designs. Gripping stuff.
Not fashion, but too nice not to mention, Country Walks is a compact little beauty put together by London Transport in 1971 to encourage people to visit the outer edges of London and some of its beautiful countryside. There are thirteen different walks to try out, around areas such as Epping Forest, St Albans, Caterham and Leytonstone. Part of the fun is seeing how these areas have changed over the last 40 years.
Shots of Style is an absolutely swoon-worthy book. It's a big, glossy book with over 150 fashion photographs. All the greats are here: Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Norman Parkinson, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Helmut Newton ... the list goes on and on. And there's a host of beautiful faces you'll recognise too: Twiggy, Penelope Tree, Dovima, Dorian Leigh, Barbara Goalen, Jean Patchett... Inspiring stuff!
Finally, one of the smartest books about fashion I've ever read: A Fashionable Mind by Kennedy Fraser. I wrote about this book a couple of years ago - it's a collection of column Fraser made for The New Yorker over the 1970s, and covers all the twists and turns of fashion in that period, from longer skirt lengths to architectural fashion.
Do ask me if there is any particular out-of-print fashion book you're after - it might well be sat in the huge pile of books still waiting to go up in the shop.
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