V & A Publishing

From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps and girdles to garters, Underwear: Fashion in Detail gets up close to some of the most intimate items in the V&A. The book traces the evolution of underwear, from rare examples dating from the sixteenth century and the exaggerated shapes of eighteenth-century courtly undergarments, to Dior's curvaceous 'New Look' girdles to contemporary lingerie by Agent Provocateur and Rigby and Peller. Meticulous colour photography shows these fascinating garments in close detail, while intricate line drawings reveal their construction. The book also highlights the work of designers such as Vionnet and Westwood, who have taken influence from underwear for their own outerwear creations.

Founded as a boutique mail-order service in 1963, Biba — the brainchild of designer Barbara Hulanicki — quickly gained cult status, and outgrew several London premises before landing at 99 — 117 Kensington High Street in 1973 as 'Big Biba', 'the most beautiful store in the world'. This book tells the story of the Biba years, from the first ensembles, through the four iconic London shops, to the eventual flourishing of a lifestyle brand that revolutionized British retail and fashion culture. Featuring a wealth of previously unpublished material, including early fashion illustrations by Hulanicki and full-colour facsimiles of the six luxurious Biba catalogues, The Biba Years investigates the innovative ethos of the company — the first retailer to bring affordable fashion to the young consumers of the 1960s and '70s. Extensive garment photography documents the unique Biba 'look', while archival images provide a glimpse into the glamorous surrounds of the hugely popular London stores. An ideal companion to A to Biba: The Autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki (V&A, 2007), this beautiful book incorporates many personal insights from the designer and her contemporaries at Biba, and includes new illustrations by Hulanicki created specially for the publication. The Biba Years provides the last word on a fashion phenomenon, whose extensive impact on the fashion industry can still be felt today.

Published to accompany a headline exhibition at the V&A, this book is the definitive celebration of the extraordinary photographic career of Horst P. Horst (1906 — 99). One of Vogue's most prolific and creative contributors, Horst worked in Paris and New York, photographing fashions by leading designers and making portraits of the century's stars. His important work made outside the realms of fashion photography is also included here. Horst excelled at nude studies and still-life photography, fusing Hellenic and Surrealist motifs and drawing inspiration from artists such as Salvador Dali. He captured the exquisite simplicity of natural forms — plants, shells and stones — transforming them into abstract kaleidoscopic collages. His little-known travel photographs reveal his fascination with ancient cultures, landscapes and architecture and, in later years, Horst photographed some of the world's most beautiful homes for Vogue and House & Garden. His work epitomizes the interconnections between art, fashion and high society. Today, Horst's photographs continue to inspire art directors and photographers, and he ranks alongside Irving Penn and Richard Avedon as one of the great masters of twentieth-century photography. Accompanies the V&A exhibition Horst: Photographer of Style, 6 September 2014 to 4 January 2015.

This delightful colouring book brings one of the V&A's favourite collections into your home. Drawn by Emily Sutton, illustrator of the best-selling Clara Button books, each page is based on a dolls' house from the V&A Museum of Childhood and is ready for you to personalize. The book is a journey through the rooms of a perfect dolls' house, from front door and reception to bedroom, via toy room, bathroom and pantry, and there is plenty to explore and make your own. Designed to be by turn charming, witty and fun, this is a perfect present and a fantastic souvenir.

The Art Nouveau movement overlapped with late Arts and Crafts in the 1890s and early modernism in the 1910s, combining the exquisite workmanship and natural forms of the former with the innovative materials, forms and practices associated with the latter. Art Nouveau Fashion provides a fascinating introduction to the style, defining it, and placing it in design history by focusing on a number of important designers — Worth, Lucile, Paquin, Poiret — and key topics, such as clients and artists, jewellery and accessories, and advertising. Art Nouveau fashion questioned conventional gender norms with daring flamboyance, presenting women in suits, influenced by tailored menswear, for the street and overtly seductive lingerie for the boudoir. Fashionable corsets manipulated female bodies into increasingly artificial forms, while advertising seduced consumers with images of scantily clad women. The movement's radicalism and openness to diverse design influences directly influenced the counter-culture of the late 1960s, inspiring boutiques in London's fashionable Carnaby Street and San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. Art Nouveau fashion continues to resonate today — and this book presents it with a wealth of unseen images and historic sources.

Synonymous with cool elegance and impeccable good taste, Grace Kelly remains a style icon of the twentieth century. This book is the first to explore exclusively Grace Kelly's personal style and how she carefully cultivated her public image through dress. The three sections, looking at Grace Kelly as an actress, bride and princess, introduce her unrivalled wardrobe, from spectacular film costumes, meticulously tailored suits and American casual wear, to glamorous ballgowns designed by couturiers such as Givenchy, Balenciaga and Dior. A fascinating range of illustrations, including film stills, dress details and formal portraits, accompany H. Kristina Haugland's engaging text as it charts Grace Kelly's unique influence on twentieth century fashion.

Spanning four centuries, the V&A's Fashion Collection is the most comprehensive in the world, housing unrivalled collections of dress, accessories, shoes and hats from the seventeenth century to the present day. This concise volume perfectly encapsulates the collection, from rare eighteenth-century gowns and exquisite eighteenth-century bodices to 1930s evening wear, post-war couture and show-stopping ensembles by contemporary designers. Fashion designers represented include Charles Frederick Worth, Madeleine Vionnet, Cristobal Balenciaga, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Mary Quant, Stephen Jones, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen.

Painting has always been regarded by the Chinese as a supreme art, its merits equal to those of poetry and philosophy. The tradition can be traced over 2,500 years, but — from very early on — many Chinese paintings were made to be viewed on a temporary basis, displayed for just a few hours, or perhaps several weeks. The masterpieces of the form have been seen very rarely, and then only by few, particularly in the West. This spectacular book accompanies a major V&A exhibition that brings together some of the world's masterpieces on silk and paper — many of which will be displayed only for a short time. Presenting works from the richest and most representative collections in the world, the book is an authoritative guide to these great works, and includes the best paintings by the greatest masters as well as those by lesser-known artists. Written by a team of international scholars, the book explains the background against which Chinese painters worked, as well as the original social context of the paintings and their display in the palace, temple, studio or tomb.

Over 500 baroque and later ivories from the V&A's outstanding collection are illustrated and discussed in this scholarly catalogue. This publication includes every ivory sculpture made after 1550 from a collection comprising German, Austrian, Netherlandish, British, French, Italian, Scandinavian, Russian and Spanish pieces, as well as examples from the Philippines, Goa, Sri Lanka and South America. The range of objects is extensive: statuettes, reliefs, tankards, boxes, cabinets, snuff rasps and cutlery handles are all represented. These small-scale sculptures might render dramatic scenes from mythology, present exquisitely carved portrait likenesses on a small scale, or depict religious narratives. The high quality of the V&A's holdings is readily apparent; leading ivory sculptors to be found here include Francis van Bossuit, Benjamin Cheverton, Balthasar Griessmann, Joachim Henne, Johann Christoph Ludwig Lucke, David Le Marchand and Balthasar Permoser. In addition to detailed entries on each piece, the Introduction summarises the history and techniques of baroque and later ivory carving, while indexes of subjects and artists, in addition to a comprehensive bibliography, provide a full scholarly apparatus.

Photographer, costume designer, avid diarist—Cecil Beaton was also a “romantic royalist” whose glittering photographs of Queen Elizabeth II were among the most widely published portraits of the 20th century. This fascinating book explores Beaton’s long relationship with the Queen and the royal family, and describes how his royal portraits shaped the monarchy’s public image from the 1930s to the late 1960s. It is a celebration of Beaton, the enduring flair of his portraits, and the myriad sources of inspiration that resulted in photographs so powerful that they molded the world’s perception of a mother, princess, and monarch.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the world’s greatest museum of art and design, with a vast collection that been an unparalleled resource for designers for 150 years. This new series of pattern books presents the range of the V&A’s superb collections. Beautifully designed, accessible, and informative– perhaps a little quirky – they are a repository of ideas for designers of all kinds, but also a collection of desirable gift books. Included in each volume is a CD of all the images shown within--to be redrawn, reworked, or even licensed for further use. The books are available individually or in a beautiful decorative slipcase.

A to Z of Hollywood Style brings together style advice from the good, the bad and the beautiful to explore the allure of some of the world's best-loved film stars: Alfred Hitchcock on elegance, Sophia Loren on sex appeal and Edith Head on how to make a woman more beautiful. This book includes the opinions of critics, designers and film directors, as well as the actors themselves. Including Joan Crawford's five fashion rules and Marlene Dietrich's tips for dressing on a budget, A to Z of Hollywood Style is packed full of stylish tips for would-be starlets, or simply those who long for a more glamorous age.

For almost a century, the name of Chanel has been inextricably linked to elegance, modernity and fashion innovation. It was Chanel who single-handedly made striped jerseys and loose trousers chic, costume jewellery desirable, the little black dress the height of sophistication, and tweed suits a staple of every stylish woman's wardrobe. In this beautifully illustrated book, dress historian Amy de la Haye celebrates Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel as the couturiere who changed the way stylish women everywhere dress, then and now. She examines the creative output of this most famous of fashion houses, from its infancy in the 1920s to the present day as it continues to prosper under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld.

This exciting book presents a unique insight into Constable's working process through the V&A's unparalleled collection. It places the artist in the context of his historical and ongoing influence and charts Constable's progress, from his early works to the oils that helped to define our idea of the English countryside. It presents afresh two of the V&A's star works, the vibrant full-size oil sketches for The Hay Wain and The Leaping Horse, which will be shown for the first time since their revelatory cleaning. Both will reveal their original colours and tonalities for the first time in living memory, and will be shown with a spectacular selection of the artist's small oil sketches, supplemented by an exquisite series of his watercolours and drawings.

The Cult of Beauty focuses on a period at the end of the nineteenth century when a group of artists, architects and designers found themselves linked by the search for a new Beauty. The Aesthetic Movement, as it came to be known, united romantic bohemians such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, along with maverick figures such as James McNeill Whistler. The Cult of Beauty brings together the finest pictures, furniture and decorative arts of this extraordinary era, setting them in the context of this glittering cast of characters. This beautiful book also reveals how artists' houses and their extravagant lifestyles became the object of public fascination. The influence of the 'Palaces of Art' created by Rossetti and Morris, Lord Leighton and others led to a widespread revolution in architecture and interior decoration, while Oscar Wilde made his name promoting the idea of 'The House Beautiful'.

This bestselling fashion classic now available in cloth-bound special edition. Illustrated with delightful photographs and drawings, this beautiful book is the perfect gift for both the style-conscious and the desperately in need! Hardy Amies' skilful eye guides you safely through style decisions on everything from blazers and brogues to skiing and sandals.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the world’s greatest museum of art and design, with a vast collection that been an unparalleled resource for designers for 150 years. This new series of pattern books presents the range of the V&A’s superb collections. Beautifully designed, accessible, and informative, these little books are a repository of ideas and inspiration for designers of all kinds. Included in each volume is a CD of all the images shown within--to be redrawn, reworked, or even licensed for further use. The books are available individually or in a beautiful decorative slipcase. The Fifties The Fifties produced some of the most inventive and innovative twentieth-century pattern designs as the emerging trend for abstraction in the fine arts--as exemplified by Miró, Calder, and Klee, for instance--acted as a stimulus for many European and American designers.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the world’s greatest museum of art and design, with a vast collection that been an unparalleled resource for designers for 150 years. This new series of pattern books presents the range of the V&A’s superb collections. Beautifully designed, accessible, and informative, these little books are a repository of ideas and inspiration for designers of all kinds. Included in each volume is a CD of all the images shown within--to be redrawn, reworked, or even licensed for further use. The books are available individually or in a beautiful decorative slipcase. William Morris William Morris's world-famous designs possess a timeless quality and appeal that is surprising in work created over 120 years ago. He began designing patterns in the 1860s, for his own use and as part of an effort to improve the general standards of decorative design.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the world’s greatest museum of art and design, with a vast collection that been an unparalleled resource for designers for 150 years. This new series of pattern books presents the range of the V&A’s superb collections. Beautifully designed, accessible, and informative, these little books are a repository of ideas and inspiration for designers of all kinds. Included in each volume is a CD of all the images shown within--to be redrawn, reworked, or even licensed for further use. The books are available individually or in a beautiful decorative slipcase. INDIAN FLORALS Luscious patterns derived from plants and flowers have been used in India for centuries. Lotus flowers and floral meanders are seen in third-century Buddhist sites, and were given an additional dimension by European prints and books that made their way to the sub-continent in the early seventeenth century

In Qing Dynasty China (1644-1911) there were clear rules on what to wear on different occasions. Official dresses were worn when the emperor performed sacrifices and other important rituals. Auspicious dresses were for New Year, birthdays, and weddings; military dresses for troop inspection; traveling dresses for hunting and royal visits to provinces; and ordinary dresses for events of a non-celebrative nature, such as mourning. When not performing public duties, however, the imperial family could freely choose which garments to wear. This book showcases both the official robes and accessories as well as the more casual but still beautiful clothes created for the fashion-conscious court ladies.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the world’s greatest museum of art and design, with a vast collection that been an unparalleled resource for designers for 150 years. This new series of pattern books presents the range of the V&A’s superb collections. Beautifully designed, accessible, and informative, these little books are a repository of ideas and inspiration for designers of all kinds. Included in each volume is a CD of all the images shown within--to be redrawn, reworked, or even licensed for further use. The books are available individually or in a beautiful decorative slipcase. Digital Pioneers After World War Two computers offered the opportunity to explore innovative ways of creating images that would demonstrate an unexpected purity in their natural patterning, symmetry, and order.

Christian Dior rocketed to fame with his first collection in 1947 when the 'New Look' took the world by storm. This charming and modest autobiography gives a fascinating and detailed insight into the workings of a great fashion house, while revealing the private man behind the high-profile establishment. It is also a unique portrait of the classic Paris haute couture of the 1950s and offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes. Dior details his childhood in Granville, the family and friends closest to him, his most difficult years and sudden success, as well as his sources of inspiration and creative processes.

This new, beautifully illustrated study is the first to give a broad picture of the pottery trade in the 17th to 19th centuries, covering all the main types of ware. It provides an overview of how trade influenced production and explores themes such as fashions for collecting and the export market. English Pottery sets out to fill the gap between the literature increasingly preoccupied with specialised areas of British ceramics, and recent catalogues which examine private collections of fine hand-picked specimens. Based around the comprehensive collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which curators began to assemble as early as the 1840s, the book explores the wider story of the development of British ceramics, dividing the subject variously by material, form, decoration and broader themes. Methods of manufacture are fully explored, as well as the trade in pots and the passion for collecting. Intended as a companion to Hilary Young's English Porcelain 1745-1795, this book is wider in scope and provides a much-needed overview of the richness and variety of the British ceramic tradition.

Ornament has been central to Western culture for thousands of years, and surrounds us every day, whether on buildings, clothes and accessories, cars or corporate products. Behind this desire to decorate lies a need to give meaning to the things we make and live with: to make them distinctive and give them added value.»The V&A Book of Western Ornament» tells the story of European ornament from 1450 to the present, from its decorative origins to its relevance in the consumer culture of today.