Are you a Black Southern Belle who loves fashion and decor? Why not merge those two loves together and add some fashion inspired style to your home decor collection. To get you started, we are sharing a few of our favoriteA�African American Fashion Books To Add to Your Collection. From vintage to modern, there is nothing better than learning more about the history of fashion and these books will do just that and also will look great on your coffee table or in your office.
5 African American Fashion Books To Add to Your Collection
Stylin’: African American Expressive Culture, from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit
For over two centuries, in the North as well as the South, both within their own community and in the public arena, African Americans have presented their bodies in culturally distinctive ways. Shane White and Graham White consider the deeper significance of the ways in which African Americans have dressed, walked, danced, arranged their hair, and communicated in silent gestures. They ask what elaborate hair styles, bright colors, bandanas, long watch chains, and zoot suits, for example, have really meant, and discuss style itself as an expression of deep-seated cultural imperatives. Their wide-ranging exploration of black style from its African origins to the 1940s reveals a culture that differed from that of the dominant racial group in ways that were often subtle and elusive. A wealth of black-and-white illustrations show the range of African American experience in America, emanating from all parts of the country, from cities and farms, from slave plantations, and Chicago beauty contests. White and White argue that the politics of black style is, in fact, the politics of metaphor, always ambiguous because it is always indirect. To tease out these ambiguities, they examine extensive sources, including advertisements for runaway slaves, interviews recorded with surviving ex-slaves in the 1930s, autobiographies, travelers’ accounts, photographs, paintings, prints, newspapers, and images drawn from popular culture, such as the stereotypes of Jim Crow and Zip Coon.
38 Profiles of Afro-American designers and textile artist from 1850 to the present. @ designers are from jamaica, W.I., 1 is from Ghana. Featuring Ann Lowe who designed Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress, and Elizabeth Keckley, who designed for Mary Lincoln. others are profiled domonstrating their srtruggles & contribution to the world of fashion.
Soul Style : Black Women Redefining the Color of Fashion
On these pages you’ll find more than 101 reasons why “Black is Beautiful”. From the sultry stars of film and television to the sexy divas of fashion and music, this book pays tribute to those women who are changing the way America defines fashion and beauty.
Full-color photographs from such top photographers as Steven Meisel, Gilles Bensimon, Paolo Roversi, and George Holz showcase unforgettable Black women at the forefront of style and beauty–woemn who have helped lift the self-esteem of sisters everywhere. SoulStyle features the newly annoitned and the continuously crowned royalty of fashion.
Arranged in categories from Glamour Girls to Hip-Hop chic, Seventies Goddesses to Supermodels, these remarkable photos are accompanied by insightful biographies and commentary from leading arbiters of fashion and style. The book is distinct, sensual, and extraordinary. Each chapter is a candid and provocative look at the influences these women have had on popular culture.
Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models
Recounts the history of African Americans as fashion models, describes the difficulties they faced and the ways they have changed the modeling field, and profiles Dorothea Towles, Joey Mills, Beverly Johnson, Iman, and others.
Fancy Party Gowns: The Story of Fashion Designer Ann Cole Lowe
A beautiful picture book about Ann Cole Lowe, a little-known African-American fashion designer who battled personal and social adversity in order to pursue her passion of making beautiful gowns and went on to become one of societya��s top designers.
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Michiel is a Black Southern Belle living a lowcountry life. I love all things fashion, home decor and southern! When I am not running around doing fun stuff for Black Southern Belle, I live in antique stores and have a minor obsession with historic homes :)
