Isabelle de Borchgrave

Meant for adults, this book is an interesting meld of pop-up book and paper dolls. Throughout the book you will find removable fashion figures and accessories, all beautifully rendered in watercolor from the Early Egyptians to the High Fashion Couture Houses of today. Although this book is of great interest to fashion lovers and costumers, there is one thing that bothers me as a pop-up book lover; most of the flaps that lift do not reveal anything beneath them, which is sad because they would have added so much more to the design (and my enjoyment) of this book. My favorite pop-up is the spread of the Court of Marie Antoinette, I am particularly fond of the clothing of that period.… (more)

Book Description
Fashion-agrave; la Mode is a sumptuous jewel of costume and fashion history seen through a dazzling parade of dolls that pop up on the page, accompanied by extraordinary interactive apparel, such as removeable fans, parasols, and shoes. The costumes in the book are created by Isabelle de Borchgrave and are based on her one-of-a-kind, hand-painted paper dresses.With short texts and numerous costumed figures that pop up in three dimensions, the book is organized chronologically into themes: Egypt and the beginning of costume, the Elizabethan period, 18th-century France, the Victorian Opera, the kimono, Chanel and the liberation of women's clothing, and fashion as art (Fortuny and Miyake).The text is written by Dorothy Twining Globus, Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Also included are enthusiastic essays by such notable fashion authorities as Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Myra Walker, and Sue North.… (more)