The Design Museum

No they didn't.

A book best bought with spare change 2nd-hand and best looked at in fleeting idle moments or longer tipsy ones. Modern hats, many of them designed for Hollywood movies or worn only on the catwalk, almost all of them ephemeral. Clever design with remarkable craftsmanship displayed in good photography described in text that occasionally falls into twaddle.

Other books in the publisher's Design Makes Changes! series are 50 Typefaces That Changed History, 50 Traffic Signs That show more Changed International Relations, and 50 Teapots That Changed Marxist Analysis. show less

No qualm: I have a thing for women shoes, an attire I find as sexy and endearing as it can be dazzling and frivolous. This publication by the Design Museum (London, UK) is not about women shoes specifically though, but, shoes as a whole. Here's a fascinating piece of clothing indeed, whose design can be as creative as it can be surprising... And I am not the only one thinking so! According to the Design Museum itself, their retrospective on Manolo Blahnik back in 2003 (this was published in show more 2009) 'holds the record for the exhibition that attracted more visitors in any one week than any other'... Well!

This is not their retrospective about Blahnik though; although, of course, some of his creations are being displayed (e.g. his famous Campari 'Mary Jane'...). This is about 50 iconic shoes which, from the late 19th century up to the early 21st century, have made a massive impact upon popular culture. From the Converse to Ferragamo and Dr Martens to Vivienne Westwood, here's a romp indeed where fashion meets practicality, and frivolity is put side by side with purely ergonomic concerns. The reader is walked through it all like guided through an exhibition -pictures of shoes illustrated by short yet instructive little vignettes.

For whose interested in fashion, here's a nice little book. show less

I've read a few other books about influential dresses, so a lot of the material covered here was not new. All the basics were covered from Chanel's flapper dress to YSL's Mondia-inspired art piece and beyond, but the presentation lacked the glamour and sophistication of other sources.

It was delightful. Nearly every dress I could say - Yes! I know that dress. Now explain it to me. I thought the authors did a moderately good job of that.