Fashion 101: A Crash Course in Clothing explores over 300 pieces of clothing in five categories: dresses and skirts, tops and coats, pants and shorts, shoes, and underthings. For each garment the author describes what it looks like, who made it, who made it hot, and "how to rock it" (otherwise known as how to bring it up to date).
Intermixed with the standard information on each garment, there are historic tidbits. Did you know that the term preppy was invented by author Erich Segal in his novel Love Story (and movie of the same title)? You can learn about "preppy," and other clothing terms in this fun book on fashion for teens.
In many ways, Fashion 101 is the ultimate vintage guide. Erika Stadler gives you the history of each clothing style and then tells you have you can update each piece and make it something your friends would kill to own.
I'm not especially fond of the illustrations. Overall they work pretty well, but the illustrator Ariel Krietzman has a tendency to only partially detail the sketches, leaving blotchy white sections on many of the drawings. This doesn't enhance the sketches, on the contrary, it detracts from them. For this sort of book, a clear, completely detailed sketch or photo would have been more helpful.
I wasn't sure that author could create such an overview and turn into something actually useful, but she pulled it off. I'm suitably impressed. The artist and her illustrator did their homework. Although I wish they showed photos of before and after the "update," they do a great job giving a thorough crash course on fashion, just as they promise.
Fashion 101 is a great little book that anyone interested in fashion, sewing, and design should have on their bookshelf. If you are looking for an in depth primer, this isn't it, but if you're looking for a great fashion overview with some interesting ideas and twists, then this is the book for you.
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