Malotke Sews

This week's book review is a pattern making book focused solely on menswear! Gareth Kershaw's " Patternmaking for Menswear " is one of my favorite menswear patterning books. It's made for with professionals and students in mind, and provides an excellent step by step guide for different classic menswear patterns. I thoroughly enjoy the layout of the book. First it starts with short introduction to patternmaking for contemporary menswear. It describes how "working on these garment silhouettes you will learn the basic principles of patternmaking" and can then use those as your building blocks to alter and create your own patterns (Kershaw). I like how the introduction walks you through menswear over the years and how silhouettes have changed. After this you're given five chapters that encompasses the entire process for you. Chapter One focuses on the prep work for patternmaking - what you should have, what the different terms mean, how to take measurem...

Today's review is the Design Museum's " Fifty Dresses that Changed the World ." First published in 2009 by Conran Octopus Ltd, the text is written by Michael Czerwinski and has been reprinted a couple of times. At a little over 100 pages, this little book is a great reference for iconic dresses that any costume designer or fashion designer should recognize. I really enjoy the variety and the feeling that it does capture the dresses that did in fact change the world . The layout of the book is consistent with information and descriptions on the left and a lovely photo on the right. The book description explains that each dress appraisal explores " what has made their iconic status and the designers that give them a special place in design history" ( Amazon ).  The book is in chronological order for the dresses they selected to feature. It opens with the Delphos pleated dress from 1915 and then carries on over the decades and it ends with an LED Dress by Husse...