Books are always a great source of inspiration, as well as distraction. From notepads to novels and from tutorials to colouring books, here is our top 11 books (old and new) you might want to check out this year!
Dita Von Teese - Your Beauty Mark
It is finally here!! From burlesque show to fashion runway, magazine cover to web video, Dita Von Teese has undergone more strokes of red lipstick, bursts of hair spray, boxes of blue-black hair dye and pats of powder in a month than even the most auspicious drag queen would dream of in a lifetime. Dita divulges the beauty secrets that have earned her a frequent spot on international best dressed lists and high-profile fashion show rosters. In "Your Beauty Mark", Dita takes readers through every step of her many signature looks.
£17 From Amazon
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Sex Sense And Nonsense
The 'Swinging 60s' up close - 60s' style captured in a unique combination of words and pictures from the biggest-selling newspaper of that magical decade. Award-winning journalist Felicity Green brings together a unique combination of fun, fashion and the famous names from the Swinging 60s.
£27 From Amazon
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The Hundred Dresses
The dress is the last bit of femininity in our closets; it's the only item of clothing which (most) men and women don't share. Wearing a dress is a powerful way for women to express themselves--and every style conveys a different message. Inspired by the Eleanor Estes' children's classic The Hundred Dresses, Erin McKean's classic-to-be by the same title, with chic illustrations by Donna Mehalko, is a definitive look at the dresses, vintage and modern, that make an inarguable statement about the woman who wears them.
£15 From Waterstone
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Goddess - The secret lives of Marilyn Monroe
She was born Norma Jeane but the world knew and loved her as Marilyn. Her life was one of unprecedented fame and private misery, her death a tragedy surrounded by mysteries. Drawing on first-hand interviews Anthony Summers offers both a classic biography and a shockingly revealing account of the screen goddess's relations with John and Robert Kennedy.
Under £5 From Amazon (different cover)
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Vogue - Colouring Book
Colouring books are the hype lately so why not trying one... not anyone though. Check this one out. This, the first colouring book from British VOGUE, has been created by award-winning writer, fashion editor, curator and Royal College of Art Professor, Iain R Webb.
Celebrating the centenary of British VOGUE, these hand-drawn artworks are inspired by iconic images from the magazine in the 1950s - an era of hats and matching gloves, haughty elegance and hourglass silhouettes (a period that continues to inspire contemporary designers including Miuccia Prada and Dolce & Gabbana).
£7 From Amazon
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Style Me Vintage - 1940s
The next book in the successful 'Style Me Vintage' series is designed to inspire re-enactors and all those vintage aficionados who admire the classic looks of the 1940s. This beautiful and accessible book looks at how to source and put together 1940s outfits - from how to create the elaborate hairstyles and how to apply the correct make-up to sourcing the right accessories and authentic clothing, even undergarments.
Used copy from £7 on Amazon
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Style Me Vintage - 1940s
Struggling to find an easy hairstyle that will have this wow factor on stage? Hair can be a temperamental thing, but with 100 Awesome Hair Days as your guide you can learn styles that work with your hair, not against it. Whether your hair is fine, flat or frizzy, you will find styles suited to your particular type in chapters dedicated to different types of hair days: Stay-at-Home, Busy, Sporty and Dress-Up. Check them out and find inspiration for the stage.
Used copy from £6.30 on Amazon
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Greetie's New Fashion Sketchbook
Costumes are a big part of a burlesque act but if you aren't a queen when it comes to draw your ideas, it can be frustrating to put on paper this fantastic vision you have inside. Most designers sketch their designs on top of "croquis," or pre-rinted body outlines, it's not cheating! However, until now, the standard croquis for women have shown elongated, stick-thin, unnaturally proportioned, and off-balance bodies. In Gertie's New Fashion Sketchbook, loved house author and fashion-sewing celebrity Gretchen Hirsch teams up with illustrator Sun Young Park to reinvent the traditional croquis for the 21st century, with hundreds of croquis depicting realistically sized and proportioned body shapes in balanced, life-like poses.
£15 From Waterstone
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The Vintage Fashion Journal
The Vintage Fashion Journal is perfect for jotting down ideas when trawling vintage boutiques, galleries, old-school tearooms and flea markets for inspiration. Beautiful drawings of fashion trends and retro accessories from the 1940s to the 1980s are interspersed throughout the pages, along with amusing quotes from famous style icons past and present. With a cloth cover and ribbon fastening, this is an attractive gift for fashionistas, stationery addicts and fans of all things vintage.
£9 From Waterstone or just under £7 From Labyrinth Book (Amazon)
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En Brogue
Do you know the difference between a derby and an Oxford? Tassel loafers or penny loafers? Do you know why brogues have holes in them? From brogues to boots, pumps to penny loafers, slippers to sandals, En Brogue honours fourty styles of shoes with beautiful hand drawn illustrations, quirky photographs and fascinating facts about the history of our favourite flats.
£10 From Amazon or Waterstone
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The Heart of Juliet Jones
New York Discovery! The Heart of Juliet Jones was an American comic strip series created by Stan Drake in 1953. The strip was a soap opera, following the prototype set by Mary Worth but elevated by Drake's exceptional artwork. The figure drawing was characterized by Drake's pioneering use of naturalistic movement and expression, a style he achieved partly through the use of Polaroid photographic reference.
£30 From Amazon or check out your favourite Comic Book Store
