Best 9 books about fashion ever written

Today’s women and men are increasingly striving to look their best—to be better groomed and more stylish. And the latest fashion trends are contributing to this as never before. But without simple rules for constructing a personal wardrobe and at least a little understanding of fashion history, achieving the desired harmonious image is quite difficult.

The best books about fashion and style will help you get to grips with the basics of this field and its more complicated professional aspects. With their help, you will learn effective tools and be able to improve your style. Remember, fashion is an essential part of the world of art, and it takes effort to understand its intricacies.

Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior

The striking books about fashion and taste, written in 1954, have become even more sought-after over time. The couturier shares tips on how to tie a scarf or comprehend an elegant gait. He teaches women the three cardinal rules of wardrobe design: simplicity, grooming, and good taste. It is one of the most popular books about fashion styling. It is one of the best best books about fashion history.

Best book for Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior
Best book for Little Dictionary of Fashion by Christian Dior

This is a concise but informative guide to femininity. The book illustrates wonderful photographs and drawings and will make a good gift for both style-conscious women and those who desperately need it.

The Dress: 100 Ideas that Changed Fashion Forever, Marnie Fogg

One of the best books about fashion and style cannot fail to include this book. It helps to know about fashion styling. Its author, a fashion expert, teacher, and media consultant believes that it is the dress that is the protagonist of fashion history, so he looks at the process of costume development through this particular outfit.

Best book for The Dress: 100 Ideas that Changed Fashion Forever, Marnie Fogg
Best book for The Dress: 100 Ideas that Changed Fashion Forever, Marnie Fogg

The book shows how fashion trends and ideas have emerged, changed, disappeared, and come back over time. This is a chic-branded edition. Each style has a separate chapter detailing the nuances of the cut, the history of its origins, and the special features of its production. It turns out that the types of clothes did not depend only on the designer’s imagination. Many facts in the book will interest the reader and help to take a different look at her wardrobe. Cover-up, 300 glossy pages, and hundreds of colorful photos make this book a worthy addition to any fashionista’s collection.

Dress Code: The Naked Truth About Fashion by Mari Grinde Arntzen

This book looks at the industry from a different perspective, showing its essence and the major issues of all time. Marie Arntzen argues that fashion develops because of two opposing desires of man—to be different and not to stand out too much.

Best book for Dress Code: The Naked Truth About Fashion by Mari Grinde Arntzen
Best book for Dress Code: The Naked Truth About Fashion by Mari Grinde Arntzen

People tend to adorn themselves, and sometimes they can go too far in trying to stand out. The fashion world is characterized not only by fine toilets but also by overproduction, large-scale environmental problems, and blind brand worship.

Love. Style. Life, Garance Dore

If you love light and inspiring books, you need to check out this one. The book is the first print by photographer, illustrator, and fashion blogger Garance Dore. She generously shares the secrets of perfection and beauty with her readers. But her work is unlike any other of its kind in the fashion world. There is no dull advice or dry facts here. 

Best book for Love. Style. Life, Garance Dore
Best book for Love. Style. Life, Garance Dore

The talented woman tells a story of her journey. Through it, she teaches us to be mindful of ourselves, love, and treasure precious moments. Once you have immersed yourself in the pages of the book, you can hardly distinguish Dore’s story from your own experiences. Her story is a confession. Her book is the life story of each of us individually. This books about fashion industry will change your perspective about the history of fashion.

Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style, Jérôme Gautier

The book offers material for every taste: original sketches of legendary outfits, photos of the first Channel shows, and backstage shoots of iconic collections. This book is a veritable encyclopedia of style because the images presented here are examples of ideal taste. If you do not know how to match a classic jacket, for instance, then feel free to ask the professionals for their advice.

Best book for Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style, Jérôme Gautier
Best book for Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style, Jérôme Gautier

 This books about fashion is also a brief biography of the founder of the fashion house, Coco Chanel herself. The facts of her life are closely intertwined with the stages of development of the company and the creative taste of the great Mademoiselle. Do you know who was the first to wear the little black dress? Why did Jacqueline Kennedy love Chanel clothes so much? Did you know that Paris has even erected a monument to the tweed suit? Find the answers to these and other questions.

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, Justine Picardie

Coco Chanel’s biography is still shrouded in mystery and myth. The fact is that the founder of the fashion house told completely different stories from her life, sometimes contradicting each other. Justine Picardi decided to gather all the legends in one book, juxtaposing them with facts and trying to find the truth.

Best book for Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, Justine Picardie
Best book for Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, Justine Picardie

 The reader will discover the secrets of Chanel’s art, along with the story’s biography, the creator of Chanel No. 5 and the Little Black Dress, the tweed jacket and jewelry collection Bijoux de Diamants, the inspiration for the woman who built a fashion empire from scratch, and who brought about a fashion revolution in the 20th century.

100 Ideas that Changed Fashion, Harriet Worsley

This books about fashion will reveal everything you didn’t know before about style, dress, and appearance. And not only will it reveal, but it will certainly surprise you by giving you details that you didn’t know before. It is one of the best fashion books for students.

For example, did you know that the tradition of marrying in white dresses didn’t appear until the end of the nineteenth century? And do you know how trousers for women first appeared? Or that the era of clothes with microelectronics is approaching? When you open this book, you’ll delve into the world of fashion from its very beginning. 

Best book for 100 Ideas that Changed Fashion, Harriet Worsley
Best book for 100 Ideas that Changed Fashion, Harriet Worsley

From the days when women wore corsets and men wore powdered wigs to today when it costs nothing to go out in a bikini. Learn not only about past and present trends and fashions but also how clothes were created, how ideas came about, why they were created, and where many of today’s items that we wear all the time come from.

In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine, Alberto Oliva, Norberto Angeletti

Vogue magazine is one of the most popular in the world, dedicated not only to style and beauty but also to life, inspiration, and ideas. This book is a narrative of an interesting history of the most influential magazine in the fashion world. It brings together the best archival photographs and magazine covers from different times by talented artists, photographers, and illustrators. 

Best book for In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine, Alberto Oliva, Norberto Angeletti
Best book for In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine, Alberto Oliva, Norberto Angeletti

This is the story of how an enterprising New Yorker, Condé Nast, took charge of a struggling society magazine in 1909 and turned it into the most glamorous fashion magazine of the twentieth century. The book contains interviews with editors and photographers, first-person accounts, and excerpts from articles by famous writers. This illustrated collection is an important part of fashion history.

House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival, Deborah Ball

This book should be read by everyone interested in the history of high fashion. Deborah Ball’s book “The House of Versace” captures, from the first lines, a very dynamic narration. You get the impression that you are reading a detective novel, but not a dull listing of biographical facts.

Best book for House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival, Deborah Ball
Best book for House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival, Deborah Ball

The book tells the story of the legendary family and the creation of the Versace fashion house. The author of the book worked for many years in Milan as a correspondent of the Wall Street Journal and offers to delve into the narrative, which contains hundreds of interviews with family members, lovers, and rivals of Gianni Versace, famous models, with the most influential persons in the fashion industry.

Summing up

We hope that this compilation will help you better navigate the vibrant fashion world, learn history, get acquainted with the biographies of legendary couturiers, and develop your style. Getting acquainted with these books is a real pleasure. You can be inspired by the beautiful photos and illustrations and gain useful new knowledge, learning a little more about fashion every day.

James Baxter
James Baxter

Author of this Article

James Baxter is professional ghostwriter, online marketer at Best Essays Education essay writing service and blogger, who loves sharing his experience and knowledge with readers. His hobby is photography and travelling, so he has already been to 35 countries.

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