Books don’t have to be big to be powerful. We have a handful (literally) of tiny books – to make you laugh, sigh, be informed and generally make your world a little brighter – one small book at a time…
Books don’t have to be big to be powerful. We have a handful (literally) of tiny books – to make you laugh, sigh, be informed and generally make your world a little brighter – one small book at a time…
We will start with the informing bit. The Le Snob guide to Tailoring is a must have for every well dressed man.
Quite literally, it a pocketful of information that helps with the business of looking good in a suit. From trying on a suit, to understanding fabrics, to trouser lengths and even buying bespoke suits, this is a book with something to say on all thing suit-related.
It is everything (and a bit more besides) you could possible hope to know about suits and their history and it the perfect book for the man who has everything, except maybe a well-fitting suit. He will have after he has read this book!
Just a note – this book is packed full of technical information – but all in a format that anyone can digest. You don’t have to know anything about suits to understand this book.
The Le Snob Guide to Tailoring by Simon Crompton is published by Hardie Grant books. It is a tiny $14.99 and available now.
All my friends are dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John. Well, there is a book title to grab you! It did me when I found it in amongst all the fabulous things at IKO IKO in Wellington. I was on the hunt for a small gift for my son who has a rather perverse sense of humour – and perverse this book is.
Written with its tongue firmly planted in cheek and its sense of humour firmly twisted at a strange angle, this book will have you both groaning and laughing out loud in equal measure. There really isn’t any point in my trying to explain this strange little stream-of-consciousness book – suffice to say that it is brilliant. I love leaving it lying around the house to watch visitors tentively pick it up and frown as they start reading it, then end by laughing all the way through the rest of it. It has an awful lot of laughs for such a small picture book. Will be loved from 6 to 106. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John is published by Chronicle books, $25, and available now.
I just love this next book. Little Red Riding Hood: The Brothers Grimm, illustrations by Daniel Egneus. It takes the simple children’s story written by the Brothers Grimm and turns it into a luscious visual feast for grown ups; painted in moody blues and striking reds with fine ink work all the way through. The words themselves become works of art as the type changes with the pictures and mood of the book. This is the unabridged version of the tale, with a visionary interpretation by renowned artist Daniel Egneus. It is both stunningly beautiful and romantic, with just a tiny bit of horror thrown into the mix. Little Red Riding Hood with illustrations by Daniel Egneus is published by Harper Collins. It is $29.99 and available now.
We have two more traditional fairy tales being given a more modern treatment. Interestingly this book has the author before the title – Christian Lacroix and the Tale of Sleeping Beauty by Camilla Morton. I love the name plate at the beginning of the book saying “This Fashion Fairytale belongs to Princess (insert your own name) Who would sleep for (how ever long you hope to wait) years if it meant she would meet her Prince.”
Fashion writer Camilla Morton re-imagines one of our favourite “Once upon a time” stories blending it with the real life story of the famed fashion designer. The illustrations are vintage Lacroix, with a huge variety of styles included in the book – painting, sketching and collage – all used to great advantage. Please note this isn’t a child’s book, this is firmly for the adult princess (or prince) who loves fashion, art and fairy tales. Christian Lacroix and the Tale of Sleeping Beauty by Camilla Morton is published by Harper Collins. It is $34.99 and is available now.
Viktor and Rolf Fairy Tales by V Horsting and R Snoeren is the first book by ground-breaking Dutch designers Viktor and Rolf. It is a stunningly illustrated by the designers themselves.
Their surreal fairytales feature a lonely disco hedgehog, a magical golden dress (of course we ALL need one of those), and a little girl with bright red hair, as well as many other memorable characters. This is a sumptuous book that should be required reading for all the fashion conscious – or pretty much anybody with a hankering for a bit of gorgeous escapism. The book is published by Hardie Grant Books, retails for $29.99 and is available now. It was just so coveted that we couldn’t even get a copy to review – we just had to go look on the Internet to get our Viktor and Rolf fix – may you be a bit luckier…
By Anya Brighouse
23 October 2011
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