A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED • "Reads like a work of fiction, but remarkably, it's all true" (Airmail) • In the tradition of The Barbizon and The Girls of Atomic City, fashion historian and journalist Nancy MacDonell chronicles the untold story of how the Nazi invasion of France gave rise to the American fashion industry.Calvin Klein. Ralph Lauren. Donna Karan. Halston. Marc Jacobs. Tom Ford. Michael Kors. Tory Burch.

Nancy MacDonell Smith explores the origins, meaning, and remarkable staying power of the ten staples of feminine fashion:* the little black dress* the white shirt* the cashmere sweater* blue jeans* the suit* high heels* pearls* lipstick* sneakers* the trench coatTracing the evolution of each item from inception to icon status, she reveals the history and social significance of each, from the black dress's associat...

There are still a few things money can’t buy. Love is one, cool is another. But while love can be left to fate, cool doesn’t need to be. Though it may seem like something you’re born with, cool is actually a code, and you’re holding the key to the code in your hands. It’s all a matter of getting the right facts straight: Why is Jackson Pollock important? What handbag will get you upgraded at the airport? Who is Jacques Derrida and why does he matter? Covering everything from fashion and de...

"This audiobook is perfect not only for people in love with fashion, but also for anyone interested in fashion as art, obsession, and ever-present societal phenomenon."—BooklistA Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.In the tradition of The Barbizon and The Girls of Atomic City, fashion historian and journalist Nancy MacDonell chronicles the untold story of how the Nazi invasion of France gave...

A dazzlingly ambitious history of the ancient world that places women at the center—from Cleopatra to Boudica, Sappho to Fulvia, and countless other artists, writers, leaders, and creators of historyAround four thousand years ago, the mysterious Minoans sculpted statues of topless women with snakes slithering on their arms. Over one thousand years later, Sappho wrote great poems of longing and desire. For classicist Daisy Dunn, these women*—whether they were si...

New York Times-bestselling author Ron Powers offers a searching, richly researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons' battles with schizophrenia.From the centuries of torture of "lunatiks" at Bedlam Asylum to the infamous eugenics era to the follies of the anti-psychiatry movement to the current landscape in which too many families struggle alone to manage afflicted love ones,...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the pages of Vogue to the runways of Paris, this “captivating” (Time) memoir by a legendary style icon captures the fashion world from the inside out, in its most glamorous and most cutthroat moments.“The Chiffon Trenches honestly and candidly captures fifty sublime years of fashion.”—Manolo BlahnikNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Fortune •...

Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who heralded a radical change in American culture and launched the first truly modern decade.The New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted.Flapper is an inside look at the 1920s. With tales of Coco ...

**The definitive—and salacious—history of the iconic hotel that Hollywood stars have called a home away from home for almost a century.“Fascinating, dishy, and glimmering with insight.... This is the definitive book about Hollywood’s most storied hotel.” —Cheryl Strayed, bestselling author of Wild**Since 1929, Hollywood’s brightest stars have flocked to the Chateau Marmont as if it were a second home. An apartment building-turned-hotel, the Chateau has been the bac...

More than two decades ago, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen arrived on the fashions scene when the business was in an artistic and economic rut. Both wanted to revolutionize fashion in a way no one had in decades. They shook the establishment out of its bourgeois, minimalist stupor with daring, sexy designs. They turned out landmark collections in mesmerizing, theatrical shows that retailers and critics still gush about and designers continue to reference.Their approach to fashi...

"The first comprehensive bio of legendary magazine editor Diana Vreeland is a can't-put-down read." — PeopleFrom her career at the helms of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue to her reign as consultant to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vreeland had an enormous impact on the fashion world and left a legacy so enduring that must-have style guides still quote her often-wild and always-relevant fashion pronouncements.Wi...

On November 28, 1973, the world's social elite gathered at the Palace of Versailles for an international fashion show. By the time the curtain came down on the evening's spectacle, history had been made and the industry had been forever transformed. This is that story.Conceived as a fund-raiser for the restoration of King Louis XIV's palace, in the late fall of 1973, five top American designers faced off against five top French designers in an over-the-top runway extravaganza. An au...