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Magnificent home tomes even include some Northwest classics
Saturday, November 25, 2000
By SUSAN PHINNEY
Call this the year of the house book. They've been piling up for months. So have fashion books, but they're definitely in second place. But these are not the only topics to get glamour treatment from publishers.
Lavishly illustrated books abound. Here's a list of favorite hardcovers to give, or add to your personal wish list:
"The American House" by Robin Langley Sommer (Thunder Bay Press, 256 pages, $24.98).
Starting with the crude shelters of Colonial settlers, our homes have been multicultural collages.
Sommer explains how the Dutch built with brick and stone, while Scandinavian immigrants used woodworking skills. Georgian style was flourishing in England about the time this country was being colonized, influencing many early structures.
An added pleasure is discovering many Pacific Northwest homes in this book, such as a Shaw Island homestead, the chateaulike Pittock Mansion in Portland and the "classic carpenter gothic" Starrett house in Port Townsend.
"The Aloha Shirt" by Dale Hope with Gregory Tozian (Beyond Words Publishing, 211 pages, $45).
Colorful shirts are a vehicle for this unique look at 20th-century Hawaii. Vintage photos, newspaper clippings, profiles and interviews with the people who created Hawaii's garment industry make this is a treat for anyone who's experienced Hawaii by wearing an out-of-character "aloha" shirt and loving every minute of it.
Read about the sophisticated, highly trained artists who created the prints, feast on hundreds of colorful shirts and savor the photos of Hollywood stars who helped make these shirts an international fashion.
"Dressing Up Vintage" by Tracy Tolkien (Rizzoli, 160 pages, $35).
This is one of several books on vintage clothes published this year, a good indication that thrift-shop dressing has hit a new high.
Tossing on a 1950s jeweled cardigan, or resurrecting ethnic styles from the hippie '60s has become chic - especially among women who can afford to wear almost anything, including vintage beaded bags, Pucci prints and platform shoes.
Tolkien, owner of a top-notch vintage clothing store in London, tells readers not only what's hot and why, she includes an international where-to-shop list including a surprising number from Washington state.
"People & Pearls" by Ki Hackney and Diana Edkins (Harper Collins, 226 pages, $40).
Today there's not a political wife, socialite or hard-working woman professional who doesn't have pearls. As the late Coco Chanel said, "Pearls stand for understatement and subtle glamour." Pearls also "exist outside the whims of fashion," according to the authors.
They trace the evolution of pearls as a favorite accessory, from Queen Elizabeth I to Josephine Baker, Grace Kelly to Princess Diana. Even Amelia Earhart wore signature pearls.
Included with the history and lore are buying tips for real and simulated pearls, and instructions for their care.
"Giorgio Armani" organized by Germano Celant and Harold Koda with Susan Cross and Karole Vail (Guggenheim Museum, 383 pages, $85).
This hefty volume accompanies Armani's retrospective currently on view at New York's Guggenheim Museum.
Twenty-five years ago, Armani deconstructed menswear to bring soft tailoring to men and women and helped Italian ready-to-wear achieve international status.
His style is often described as "androgynous," but to look at 25 years of his clothing for men and women, it's clear that he understands femininity.
This is a quality book that needs two hands. Heavy paper and fine reproduction fool the eye into thinking there really are fabric swatches attached to sketches. Only when you reach out to touch are you reminded they're just part of the photo.
"The Angler's Life" by Laurence Sheehan with photographs by William Stites (Clarkson Potter, 240 pages, $50).
This "lifestyle" book, from the folks who gave us "Living With Dogs," contains 30 stories and more than 300 color photographs for and about people who "live to fish."
Fishing lodges, angler's homes, collections of fishing gear, even a New York restaurant cleverly disguised as a fishing lodge are lavishly recorded. It covers fly, ocean and ice fishing and includes a state-by-state resource guide of stores, museums, libraries and on-line information sources.
"Casual Power" by Sherry Maysonave (Bright Books, 229 pages, $29.95).
This is a map through today's "business casual" minefield. Its subtitle is "How to power up your non-verbal communication and dress down for success."
Business attire changed dramatically in the 1990s as companies moved away from blue suits, and techno-revolutionaries made shorts and flip-flops working attire.
Maysonave details six kinds of casual categories, includes a quiz to determine if the reader is too casual or too dressy, and offers shoe-care tips and a packing guide.
One of her best lines is: "Women are more easily disempowered with casual dress than men." This is a must for working adults, especially those just getting on a career track.
"Aprons: Icons of the American Home" by Joyce Cheney (Running Press, 144 pages, $24.95).
There are young generations who don't know aprons were once wardrobe essentials -- protective clothing sometimes used like baskets to gather eggs, hold kindling or cradle garden produce.
Aprons started to die in the 1960s, the end of the stay-at-home moms era, and the dawn of wash-and-wear clothing.
This sweet, nostalgic book takes us from 1930s "grandma" aprons that resemble backless dresses, to silly little "cocktail" aprons from the 1950s. The author tells how to date a vintage apron by color, style and fabric. She also shares apron memories from authors and journalists.
"Flowers: The Book of Floral Design" by Malcolm Hillier (DK Publishing, 516 pages, $40).
Hillier, a British floral designer, is devoted to natural bouquets featuring texture and color rather than stylized shapes. His book is both informative and inspirational.
A "Flowers in Civilization" chapter depicts how arrangement styles evolved. In another, Hillier shows how to wire test tubes together for a small-flower vase. And his Christmas swag is verrry non-traditional.
Add a plant directory that adds all kinds of specific information and help, and even an amateur can assemble a bouquet that won't die in stages. Magnificent.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
· Bumbershoot: Be sure to book some time for the festival's lively literary lineup
· Books: 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running'
· Northwest Bookshelf
· New York Times Best-sellers
· Books: 'The Grift'
· Books: 'The Man Who Ate the World'
· Books: 'The World in Six Songs'
· Books: 'The First Billion is the Hardest'
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