Over the last four decades, the fashion modeling industry has become a lightning rod for debates about Western beauty ideals, the sexual objectification of women, and consumer desire. Yet, fashion models still captivate, embodying all that is cool, glam, hip, and desirable. They are a fixture in tabloids, magazines, fashion blogs, and television. Why exactly are models so appealing? And how do these women succeed in so soundly holding our attention? In This Year's Model, Elizabeth Wissinger weaves together in-depth interviews and research at model castings, photo shoots, and runway shows to offer a glimpse into the life of the model throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Once an ad hoc occupation, the "model life" now involves a great deal of physical and virtual management of the body, or what Wissinger terms "glamour labor." Wissinger argues that glamour labor-the specialized modeling work of self-styling, crafting a 'look,' and building an image-has been amplified by the rise of digital media, as new technologies make tinkering with the body's form and image easy. Models can now present self-fashioning, self-surveillance, and self-branding as essential behaviors for anyone who is truly in the know and 'in fashion.' Countless regular people make it their mission to achieve this ideal, not realizing that technology is key to creating the unattainable standard of beauty the model upholds-and as Wissinger argues, this has been the case for decades, before Photoshop even existed. Both a vividly illustrated historical survey and an incisive critique of fashion media, This Year's Model demonstrates the lasting cultural influence of this unique form of embodied labor.

Provides tables, charts, and formulas used by machinists, engineers, designers, and toolmakers, featuring coverage of drills, tapers, screws, gears, weights, tool steels, and shop prints.

A fascinating exploration of the emblems which persuaded Scotland's most famous queen to execute the most important surviving textiles in the history of European embroidery.

While the topic of sustainability in textile manufacture has been the subject of considerable research, much of this is limited to a focus on materials and practices and their ecological impact. Padovani and Whittaker offer a unique exploration of the textile industry in Europe from the perspective of social sustainability, shifting the focus from the materiality of textile production to the industry's relationships with the communities from which the products originate. Featuring six in-depth case studies from design entrepreneurs, artisans and textile businesses around Europe, from Harris Tweed in Scotland to luxury woollen mills in Italy, Sustainability and the Social Fabric explores how new centres of textile manufacturing have emerged from the economic decline in 2008, responding creatively and producing socially inclusive approaches to textile production. Case studies each represent a different approach to social sustainability and are supported by interviews with industry leaders and comparisons to the global textile industry. Demonstrating how some companies are rebuilding the local social fabric to encourage consumer participation through education, enterprise, health and wellbeing, the book suggests innovative business models that are economically successful and also, in turn, support wider societal issues. Essential reading for students of textiles, fashion, design and related subjects, this book will demonstrate how a business ecosystem that focuses on inclusive growth and social innovation can lead to sustained mutual benefit for textile industries and their local communities.

Exploding Fashion examines the impact of innovative pattern-cutting in several key examples of 20th century fashion design. With over 200 illustrations, it 'explodes' designs by 6 game-changing fashion designers from the world's leading fashion houses, and reverse engineers them in order to understand how they work. Written by a curator and professor at Central Saint Martins, London's premier college of art and design, this is the first comprehensive exploration of how a traditional design process can enter into a dialogue with new concepts, illuminating haute couture and pret-a-porter methods for a visually-driven digital age.

An examination of the fabrics, garments and cloth of the Iberian Middle Ages, bringing out in particular the international context. The Medieval Iberian Peninsula, encompassing various territories which make up present-day Spain and Portugal, was an ethnic and religious melting pot, comprising Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities, each contributing to a vibrant textile economy. They were also defined and distinguished by the material culture of clothing and dress, partly dictated by religious and cultural tradition, partly imposed by rulers anxious to avoid cross-ethnic relationships considered undesirable. Nevertheless, textiles, especially magnificent Islamic silks, crossed these barriers. The essays in this volume offer the first full analysis of Iberian textiles from the period, drawing on both material remains and historical documents, supported by evidence from contemporary artwork. Chapters cover surviving textiles, many of them magnificent silks; textile industries and trade; court dress and its use as a language of power and patronage; the vast market in utilitarian textiles for lower-status clothing and furnishings; and Muslim and Jewish dress. It also considers Arabic and Jewish texts as sources of information on textiles and the Arabic garment-names which crossed into Spanish. Particular emphasis is given to the the different ethnicities of Iberia and their influences on the use and trade of garments (both precious and common-place) and textiles.

Textiles are the most ubiquitous, diverse, and consistently creative art form on the planet. This major new work comprises more than one thousand images that highlight the beauty, subtlety, simplicity, or complexity of textiles created around the world. Based on knowledge accrued over a lifetime of immersion in the textile arts, Mary Schoeser s definitive text offers sweeping insight into the role that textiles have played throughout human civilization. The juxtaposition of historical and contemporary examples highlights the skill and imagination of textile designers through the centuries as well as the remarkable range of achievements. Detailed images and informed captions illustrate the variety and allure of textiles, and the informative descriptions include histories of private collections, underscoring the importance of context for appreciating the exquisite detail of fabric and cloth. An extensive resource section provides valuable information about museum and textile associations across the globe."

A guide to harnessing the world of nature to create sustainable textile art. Textile artist Alice Fox shows how to work with found, foraged, gathered and grown materials to create fabulous textile pieces that are inspired by, and made from, nature. She encourages crafters to be open minded and experimental, using local (and sometimes) unconventional materials, working with the seasons and learning what materials are available at different times of year to ground artists in natural cycles and integrate creative activity with a strong sense of place and character. Alongside advice on growing your own plants (such as flax or nettles) for creative work, the book is packed with practical ideas for foraging - from weeds, dandelions and other plants useful for making cordage, or leaves that can be stitched, quilted and shaped into vessels, to grass, wool, plastics and mud that can be gathered and delightfully repurposed by the textile artist. Other ideas for found materials include stones, shells and wood that can be wrapped or woven into, as well as a multitude of urban treasures that find a new life in creative hands. Alongside advice on growing your own plants (such as flax or nettles) for creative work, the book is packed with practical ideas for foraging - from weeds, dandelions and other plants useful for making cordage, or leaves that can be stitched, quilted and shaped into vessels, to grass, wool, plastics and mud that can be gathered and delightfully repurposed by the textile artist. Other ideas for found materials include stones, shells and wood that can be wrapped or woven into, as well as a multitude of urban treasures that find a new life in creative hands.

An updated edition of this indispensable reference, surveying the history of textiles from 25,000 years ago to the present. The history of textiles, more than that of any other artefact, is a history of human ingenuity. From the very earliest needles of 50,000 years ago to the smart textiles of today, textiles have been fundamental to human existence, and enjoyed, prized and valued by every culture. Silks from China, cottons from India, tapestries from Flanders, dyes from South America - the appeal of different weaves, colours and patterns was long a motivation for trade, the exchange of ideas and sometimes even war. Mary Schoeser's groundbreaking book, now revised and updated to incorporate new research, presents a chronological survey of textiles around the world from prehistory to the present. It explores how they are made, what they are made from, how they function in society and the ways in which they are valued and given meaning as well as reflecting on the environmental challenges they present today. World Textiles offers an invaluable introduction to this vast and fascinating subject for makers, designers, textile and fashion professionals, collectors and students alike.

Textiles connect a variety of practices and traditions, ranging from the refined couture garments of Parisian fashion to the high-tech filaments strong enough to hoist a satellite into space. High-performance fabrics are being reconceived as immersive webs, structural networks and information exchanges, and their ability to interface with technology is changing how the human body is experienced and how the urban environment is built. Today, textiles reveal their capacity to transform our world more than any other material. "Textile Futures" highlights recent works from key practitioners and examines the changing role of textiles. Recent developments present new technical possibilities that are beginning to redefine textiles as a uniquely multidisciplinary field of innovation and research. This book is an important tool for any textile practitioner, fashion designer, architect, interior designer or student designer interested in following new developments in the field of textiles, seeking new sustainable sources, or just eager to discover new works that reveal the potency of textiles as an ultramaterial.

The Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric is a comprehensive handbook covering everything there is to know about designing and printing fabric. The book walks readers through the entire fabric design process, from finding inspiration, through step-by-step tutorials on how to design a pattern (both digitally and by hand), looking at different printing methods (such as digital printing, screenprinting, monoprinting, stamping, stencilling, resis dying, painting and inkjet printing), to establishing and developing a fabric collection, and approaching a manufacturer. The Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric is full of advice from established fabric designers with clear, easy to follow step-by-step tutorials. Textile design is a competitive industry and learning how to design fabric is something that both designers and crafters with an avid interest in fabrics are keen to learn more about. Companies such as Spoon Flower (spoon.flower.com) have emerged, offering customers an affordable way to design and print their own fabric: upload a design and they digitally print the fabric for you. This accessibility means fabric design is increasingly popular.

Now available in a compact paperback edition, this book remains the most comprehensive survey of African textiles on the market today, illustrating in over 570 spectacular colour photographs the traditional, handcrafted, indigenous textiles of the whole continent. Covering, region by region, the handmade textiles of West, North, East, Central and Southern Africa, African Textiles outlines the vast array of techniques used as well as the different types of loom, materials and dyes that help to create these sumptuous textiles. With a useful glossary and map, a guide to collections open to the public, and suggestions for further reading, this book provides a wealth of information on the rich art of African textiles.

William Morris is well known for his unmistakable tapestries, furniture, fabrics, wallpaper and even stained glass. His work has now been used for over 150 years on many more decorative as well as functional products. The William Morris Everyday Pen Set from Galison include 3 capped pens decorated with iconic Morris patterns.

In an era of increasingly available digital resources, many textile designers and makers find themselves at an interesting juncture between traditional craft processes and newer digital technologies. Highly specialized craft/design practitioners may now elect to make use of digital processes in their work, but often choose not to abandon craft skills fundamental to their practice, and aim to balance the complex connection between craft and digital processes. The essays collected here consider this transition from the viewpoint of aesthetic opportunity arising in the textile designer's hands-on experimentation with material and digital technologies available in the present. Craft provides the foundations for thinking within the design and production of textiles, and as such may provide some clues in the transition to creative and thoughtful use of current and future digital technologies. Within the framework of current challenges relating to sustainable development, globalization, and economic constraints it is important to interrogate and question how we might go about using established and emerging technologies in textiles in a positive manner.

This book brings together our present-day knowledge about textile terminology in the Akkadian language of the first-millennium BC. In fact, the progress in the study of the Assyrian dialect and its grammar and lexicon has shown the increasing importance of studying the language as well as cataloging and analysing the terminology of material culture in the documentation of the first world empire. The book analyses the terms for raw materials, textile procedures, and textile end products consumed in first-millennium BC Assyria. In addition, a new edition of a number of written records from Neo-Assyrian administrative archives completes the work. The book also contains a number of tables, a glossary with all the discussed terms, and a catalogue of illustrations. In light of the recent development of textile research in ancient languages, the book is aimed at providing scholars of Ancient Near Eastern studies and ancient textile studies with a comprehensive work on the Assyrian textiles.

The patchwork is an apt metaphor for the region not only because of its colourfulness and the making of something whole out of fragments but as an attempt to make coherence out of disorder. The seeking of coherence was the exact process of putting together this book and foregrounds the process of Caribbean societies forging identity and identities out of plural and at times conflicting and contested groups that came to call the region home. Within the metaphor of the patchwork however is the question, where are the vernacular needlework artists within the visual art tradition of the Caribbean? The introduction sets out to both clarify and rectify this situation, and several common themes flow through the following essays and interviews. Themes include that that the land and colonization remain baseline issues for several Caribbean artists who stage and restage the history of conquest and empire in varying ways. That artists in the region amalgamate as part of their practice and seem to prefer an open-endedness to art making as opposed to expressing fidelity to a particular medium. That artists and scholars alike are dismantling long-held perceptions of what Caribbean art is thought to be, and are challenging boundaries in Caribbean art. These are among the issues addressed in the book as it looks at ecological concerns and questions of sustainability, how the practices of the artists and their art defy the easy categorization of the region, and the placement of women in the visual art ecology of the Caribbean. The latter is one of the most contested areas of the book. Readers should come away with the sense that questions of race, colour, and class loom large within questions of gender in the Jamaican art scene and that the book, dedicated to Sane Mae Dunkley, aims to insert vernacular needleworkers into the visual art scene in both Jamaica and the larger Caribbean. Audience will include researchers and scholars of Caribbean and African diasporic art, college students, those interested in post-colonial studies, Caribbean artists, art professionals interested in a wider, globalized view of contemporary art; students curious to know about the many phases of art production throughout the Caribbean. General readers interested in the culture of the region.