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3 reviews for:
Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers
Jay Jorgensen, Donald L. Scoggins
4.15 AVERAGE
3 reviews for:
Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers
Jay Jorgensen, Donald L. Scoggins
4.15 AVERAGE
Books like this can so often go wrong: not enough illustrations to convey a sense of what you're looking at, not enough text to feel you learned anything, badly written (dull), etc. ... but not here. This was a fun, entertaining, instructive read, in a great big form that really showed off the costumes, and gave room for a considerable amount of information.
At first I was a little daunted by some of the biographical matter—I could care less if Famous Designer A was born to hard-working almond farmers in the midst of the Depression, etc—but then something strange happened ... these stories kicked into a sort of mythic fairy tale quality. The hero's humble upbringing. Their surprising encounter (which propels them into Hollywood costume design). The encounter with the monster (controlling producer, irrational actor, etc.). Their thrilling success, and inevitable fall (or if you're William Travilla, your later thrilling success on TV).
Falls shy of 5 stars because I didn't laugh or cry or marvel at the prose--it's well done and engaging, but not a masterpiece.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
At first I was a little daunted by some of the biographical matter—I could care less if Famous Designer A was born to hard-working almond farmers in the midst of the Depression, etc—but then something strange happened ... these stories kicked into a sort of mythic fairy tale quality. The hero's humble upbringing. Their surprising encounter (which propels them into Hollywood costume design). The encounter with the monster (controlling producer, irrational actor, etc.). Their thrilling success, and inevitable fall (or if you're William Travilla, your later thrilling success on TV).
Falls shy of 5 stars because I didn't laugh or cry or marvel at the prose--it's well done and engaging, but not a masterpiece.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This book is undoubtably the epic accomplishment it appears at first glance. The scale is incredible and is a total education in the history of cinematic costume design. It’s a brilliant place to start for a wide overview.
Five stars, no question, as this goes well beyond being simply a coffee book with pretty pictures. Things I would change though would be including an image of an outfit if it has extensive discussion, which was not always the case. I would have also liked pointers on what is the most iconic film, or top films, for a designer, as a display of their style/talent. I tried to write up a list as I went, but there were times I was left guessing what films to watch.
Five stars, no question, as this goes well beyond being simply a coffee book with pretty pictures. Things I would change though would be including an image of an outfit if it has extensive discussion, which was not always the case. I would have also liked pointers on what is the most iconic film, or top films, for a designer, as a display of their style/talent. I tried to write up a list as I went, but there were times I was left guessing what films to watch.