History & Criticism

As featured in Wall Street Journal The most innovative, iconic, and influential products ever designed - from 1663 to the present day Originating from the highly acclaimed and groundbreaking three-volume Phaidon Design Classics, this new book presents...

A New York Times Best Art Book of 2019"A riveting book . . . few stones are left unturned."-Roberta Smith's "Top Art Books of 2019," The New York Times This fascinating and enlightening study of the tie-on pocket combines materiality and gender to...

Foreword by Gerda Floeckinger Vintage Jewellery recounts 120 years of history, including Lalique's Art Nouveau enamelling at the turn of the twentieth century, Cartier's gemstones, Christian Dior's mid-century costume pieces and Harry Winston's diamonds...

Why did the flushing toilet take two centuries to catch on? Why did Samuel Pepys never give his mistresses an orgasm? Why did medieval people sleep sitting up? When were the two 'dirty centuries'? Why did gas lighting cause Victorian ladies to faint?...

One of the last surviving members of the futurist generation, Bruno Munari's Design as Art is an illustrated journey into the artistic possibilities of modern design translated by Patrick Creagh published as part of the 'Penguin on Design' series in...

WITH A FOREWORD BY GRAYSON PERRY Carola Hicks sets out to solve the mystery of one of art history's greatest paintings, The Arnolfini Portrait The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck in 1434 hangs in the National Gallery in London and remains a mystery to...

The Black Experience in Design spotlights teaching practices, research, stories, and conversations from a Black/African diasporic lens. Excluded from traditional design history and educational canons that heavily favor European modernist influences, the...

Iconic views of Glasgow in the latest of Birlinn's series of colouring books, all featuring Eilidh Muldoon's inimitable artwork. Includes: Glasgow Cathedral * Kelvingrove Museum * Riverside Museum * Gallery of Modern Art * Pollok House * People's...

In the mid-1930s, three giants of the international Modern movement, Bauhaus professors Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, fled Nazi Germany and sought refuge in Hampstead in the most exciting new apartment block in Britain. The Lawn...

From their heritage trenches and ubiquitous check to experimental red carpet looks, the House of Burberry is known worldwide for its covetable designs.Sophisticated, simple, and quintessentially British, Burberry is beloved for its remarkable ability to...

In postwar Britain, journalists and politicians predicted that the class system would not survive a consumer culture where everyone had TVs and washing machines, and where more and more people owned their own homes. They were to be proved hopelessly...

Bringing together an international team of scholars, this book offers new perspectives on the impact that the Bauhaus and its teaching had on a wide range of artistic practices. Three of the fields in which the Bauhaus generated immediately...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780262546928Author Ilpo KoskinenFormat PaperbackPage Count 200Imprint MIT PressPublisher MIT Press Ltd

"Arts & Crafts" has come to be a name for a style of decorative arts, but just try to pin it down. It's a huge challenge, because it encompasses such a broad variety of work. Early pieces, such as some of those by William Morris, draw from more ornate...

Tips and techniques for spectacular and sustainable gift wrapping From simple bows and neat corners to Japanese fabric wrapping, this book shows how to wow friends and family with beautifully wrapped gifts while minimising waste. You will learn how to...

'Don't be into trends. Don't make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress...' - Gianni VersaceFrom Elizabeth Hurley's safety pin dress to Jennifer Lopez's plunging green gown, Versace has always been a...

'This riveting behind-the-scenes story of the clothes on our backs is a must-read for clotheshorses everywhere' Harper's Bazaar 'Extraordinary . . . fascinating . . . a wonderful way into history, quite often through the voices of people who don't have...

A *New* Program for Graphic Design is the first Communication Design textbook expressly of and for the 21st century. Synthesizing the pragmatic with the experimental, this volume builds upon mid- to late-20th-century pedagogical models to convey advanced...

Craft is at the very heart of British identity, from stained-glass windows in country churches to the Enid Blyton charm of thatched houses; from Harris Tweed (R) (famously poached by Coco Chanel) to the ceremonial livery worn by horses at Buckingham...

The work of one of the most influential and innovative hat designers of this century. Philip Treacy's career over the last two decades has been prolific and high-profile. A visual delight, this book shares Treacy's favorite designs in 250 striking...

Graduating from Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s, Martin Margiela (and his contemporaries in the Antwerp Six) transformed global fashion with his aggressive restatement of traditional fashion design and a polemical approach to luxury...

In the last half of the 19th century, the women of America were beginning to develop their own sense of style. Although influenced by European fashions and the social and economic changes of the time, they made clothing choices based upon their personal...

Design thinking has created divisions in the discipline: either designers are too theory driven or simply practitioners. Those feeling lost can easily turn to a language meant to inspire creative production in easy to pitch ways, where rhetoric uses...

Poised at the start of the 21st century, we can see clearly that the previous century was marked by momentous changes in the field of design. Aesthetics entered into everyday life with often staggering results. Our homes and workplaces turned into...

In 1881, a writer in the Saturday Review called tattooing 'an art without a history'. 'No-one', it went on, 'has made it the business of his life to study the development of tattooing.' Until now. Painted People is a...

The 1960s witnessed a sustained period of economic growth, consumer spending and stable employment. This hitherto unknown prosperity enabled a market growth in levels of owner occupation and a subsequent boom in the sale of household furnishings and...

The epicentre of classic chic and the home of haute couture, Paris is the capital of elegance.From the iconic luxury of Chanel, Dior and Saint Laurent to the effortless sophistication of the typical Parisienne, the city's look is replicated the world...

A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated examination of dress, clothing, fashion, and sewing in the Regency seen through the lens of Jane Austen's life and writings This lively book reveals the clothing and fashion of the world depicted in Jane...

A highly detailed look at the English country house interior, offering unprecedented access to England's finest rooms. In this splendid book, renowned historian Jeremy Musson explores the interiors and decoration of the great country houses of England,...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780262047951Author Don NormanFormat HardbackPage Count 376Imprint MIT PressPublisher MIT Press Ltd

The Italian colour bible: a gorgeously illustrated exploration of colour and the modern gaze, from an award-winning designer'Fresh and exciting, like an unopened packet of coloured pencils. Countless thought-provoking facts to ponder over, beautifully...

Dior is one of the most revered names in fashion, the archetype of the Parisian couture house. Famous for launching the "New Look," Christian Dior's landmark first collection that marked a sea change in women's dress after the Second World War, Dior is...

Co-published in Association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London This book is a timely and engaging introduction to the way that artists working in all media think about craft. Workmanship is key to today's visual arts, when high 'production...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781786273895Author Steven HellerFormat PaperbackPage Count 216Imprint Laurence King PublishingPublisher Laurence King Publishing

Foreword by Anya Hindmarch Decade by decade, the lavishly illustrated Vintage Handbags recounts over 100 years of handbag history, from Elsa Schiaparelli's mesh bags for Whiting & Davis in the 1920s through the Hermes Kelly bag in the 1950s to the Fendi...

The first monograph on the contemporary French fashion brand Zadig & Voltaire, published on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.Synonymous with an effortless rock and roll style, Zadig & Voltaire is a Paris-based French fashion brand founded by Thierry...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780262543569Author Matthew WizinskyFormat PaperbackPage Count 336Imprint MIT PressPublisher MIT Press Ltd

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780262545211Author Dana CuffFormat PaperbackPage Count 280Imprint MIT PressPublisher MIT Press Ltd

An exquisite ode to color, this book presents the history of Dior cosmetics placed within contexts of fashion and art. Divided into twelve chapters (White, Silver, Nude, Pink, Red, Purple, Blue, Green, Yellow, Gold, Gray, and Black) Dior: The Art...

Published annually from 1906 until 1980, Decorative Art, The Studio Yearbook was dedicated to the latest currents in architecture, interiors, furniture, lighting, glassware, textiles, metalware, and ceramics. Since the publications went out of print, the...