A sumptuous survey of vintage fashion and couture from the 1910s to today. Vintage Fashion and Couture: From Poiret to McQueen tells the story of fashion through the work of its key design talents and the memorable women who have worn their designs. It explores designers' careers through a dazzling range of clothes and accessories, and explains what makes each item so desirable and why it was so important for the fashion world. It describes the designers' role among their contemporaries, and their influence on the world of fashion. The author, a world-renowned expert in vintage fashion, organizes the book by decade with each chapter focusing on a number of important designers and the most influential style icons. Fashion pieces are shown in color photographs with descriptive captions that include the current vintage price range, making it a practical resource for vintage shoppers. The designers and style icons in the book are: 1910s : Poiret, Lucille, Fortuny, Gallenga, Paquin, Liberty & Co. Style icon: Lillie Langtry - 1920s : Patou, Lanvin, early Chanel. Style icon: Baba d'Erlanger - 1930s : Schiaparelli, Molyneux, Mainbocher, Vionnet. Style icon: Duchess of Windsor - 1940s : War & Fashion in Europe, the emergence of American designers, Dior's New Look. Style icon: Lauren Bacall - 1950s : Balmain, Balenciaga, the death of Dior and the emergence of Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel's post-war look. Style icon: Grace Kelly - 1960s : Mary Quant, the Boutique Movement, the Space Age comes to fashion, Pop and Op Art influences, Givenchy, Design in America. Style icons: Twiggy, Audrey Hepburn - 1970s : Biba, Ossie Clark & Celia Birtwell, Yves Saint Laurent, the birth of Rive Gauche. Style icon: Bianca Jagger - 1980s : Valentino, Body Map, Roberto Capucci, Azzedine Alaïa, John Galliano, Mugler, Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garçons. Style icon: Princess Diana - 1990s : Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Martin Margiela, Junya Watanabe, Bodycon, Antony Price. Style icon: Kate Moss - The New Century : Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane. Style icon: Daphne Guinness. The final section, Buying Vintage, is an inside look in which the author, a world leader in vintage fashion, reveals how and where to buy the best vintage pieces, as well as how to spot fakes and forgeries. Kerry Taylor knows fashion. With her own fashion auction house, she has seen more fashion than most. That is what puts her in such good stead to profile fashion through the ages... Dozens of photos highlight the book, along with a section at the back of the book telling readers where to find some of the vintage pieces featured. There is also a section on spotting forgeries of designer fashions because that is big business also. If you enjoy fashion and the origins of style Vintage Fashion and Couture will be a book you will find most fashionable. ( Shelf Life 2014-06-01) A vintage fashion expert at Sotheby's in London, Taylor has depth of field to match her impeccable eye. (She) gives the reader something that fashion alone doesn't: perspective. ( Times Illinois Edition 2013-12-24) Like a well-curated exhibit, this book tells you not just who the influential fashion creators were in the 20th century, but the style icons who wore their designs... an informative, entertaining mix of history and style. ( Sunday Denver Post 2013-12-01) Kerry Taylor was one of the youngest auctioneers in Sotheby's history, and is still Textile Consultant to Sotheby's and regularly assists major museums with valuations. In 2007, the Guardian voted her one of their 'women of the year'. She has been profiled in British Vogue and The New York Times . Introduction My love of fashion began early -- I still possess a 1930s sequined capelet for which I saved up my pocket money. I remember the wonder of the first flapper dress I handled that came into Sotheby's for valuation in 1979, how the sequins caught the light, and the sheer weight of the beadwork. It seemed to capture a lost moment in time. I've handled hundreds of them over the years but I still find them mesmerizing, especially if they carry a couture label hidden down a side seam. I have had the pleasure of handling antique pieces by Charles Frederick Worth right the way through to cutting-edge 21st-century examples by Junya Watanabe and everything in between. I have been privileged to handle fabulous single-owner collections, including the wardrobes of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Honourable Daphne Guinness, Jerry Hall, and Marie Helvin as well as historically important pieces belonging to Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ava Gardner. But it's the garments themselves, even without these wonderful provenances, that are so special. I have not been able to include examples by every major designer in this book and I apologize for that in advance. However, I have tried to give an impression of the market as a whole and where possible have used actual examples that I have sold at auction. What is