Reading Robyn
I am a lover of libraries, a reader of everything, a girl easily swayed by pretty pictures, and overall just your average, nerdy fairy princess.
2013 is the year I'm finally keeping up a regular reading blog Reading Robyn! There I post extended versions of my GR reviews so be sure to check that out!
I always seem to be on the move having lived in seven cities and counting in my nineteen years. I'm not on the run from the law as many have assumed (at least I don't think so), but moving around has given me an appreciation for how places make stories and people make memories. While change is inevitable, books are the friends that I take with me from place to place. They comforted me when I was sick, they push me to continue to learn and grow into myself, and most importantly they opened me up to the possibilities of living in thousands of places all at once.
I primarily read YA fiction, as well as a lot of graphic novels and manga. However, I tend to be this combination of odd reads, so expect the unexpected!
Cheesy Life Quote: "In this world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself." - Frantz Fanon
I just love looking at beautiful art! My love of fashion is directly influenced by my love of art. In my experience very little really separates the two and this book only cements that idea. It's this love of pretty things that has me addicted to websites like Pinterest, Style, and Etsy. While I'm among the few that are still clinging to my beloved fashion magazines trying to get past all the advertisements to the meaty bits for my couture cravings. Even with all the competition what has me loving 100 Years of Fashion Illustration is that here I got to see something entirely different then anything I've ever experienced with fashion. It's a trip through time and design as you're presented with all these amazing illustrations of beautiful women in beautiful dresses. With each image there is also a little write up about the cloths, when it was drawn, by who, and for what purpose. It's great to see the illustration and then actually learn about the cloths being shown. It's more then what I expected! Attribution is one thing, but the research put into the cloths themselves is very interesting. There are also full 4 page essays throughout the book that talk about the time periods giving us readers a look at the production, history, and specific events that influenced fashion. I'm not all raves about this book though. The formatting was completely wasteful of the space it had and frustratingly so! It could have easily been better formatted to fit more into less space. One example is where there are pages with an image that takes up the top 40-50% of the page and then below it is half a page of white space. Then the blurb is at very the bottom of the page. I could fit my whole hand laid flat across the page and not cover anything but the white space between the image and the short blurb. More then enough room to work with. There are other ways this book finds to waste space that is just baffling. You don't want a book like this to feel too crowded, giving such beautiful work space to breath is a good thing, but you also want it to be an immersive and stunning experience. The amount of white space was overwhelming.This leads into my biggest complaint: the price. This is the sort of book you want to own and absorb inspiration from. I could picture this on my table no problem, even with my frustrations with the white space, but with a $50 Canadian price tag that definitely won't ever happen. I know table top books generally go for a lot, but I've seen other collections produced better and for less.It's disappointing to end on such a negative note, so I'll say this again. I really did love the content of this book. It's so amazing to see the artistry that goes fashion and see the illustrations that just bring the cloths to life in a whole new way!