NEW YORK, Sep 4, 2014/ — Today is the first day of New York Fashion Week. At the Lincoln Center where Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (the official name of the show) photographers are the pit; their digital cameras ready.
The editors are on their seats; from the front row, all the way to the standing area, almost everyone is armed with a smartphone. Everyone in the audience is ready to capture the latest collection to be shown on the runway.
In the internet age of Instagram and Twitter, the latest looks are broadcasted to the whole world in seconds. Hence, it is hard to imagine that just 100 years ago, it takes weeks, even months to see the latest fashion from Paris.
Fashion shows are intimate affairs; there are very few photographers, if there are any. Illustrators rule the day as they make drawings of the looks that are coming out of the runway.
It’s this almost forgotten history of fashion that made me notice the new book by Megan Hess, “The Dress: 100 Iconic Moments in Fashion
” has no photographs. All the dresses were drawn and interpreted by Megan Hess’ artistic eye.
Though very modern, the book has an old world charm, beginning with the gilded cover with its elegant script. What follows are 100 colored illustrations of iconic dresses presented with short, sweet and concise explanations for each dress.
With six chapters dedicated to the Designers, Icons, Weddings, Music, Film, and Oscars, interspersed with historical anecdotes, famous quotes, and scene-setting landscape illustrations, THE DRESS: 100 ICONIC MOMENTS IN FASHION highlights the moments that made fashion history and left a lasting legacy.
Many of these dresses are not the most expensive or exclusive of the array; some are ridiculous and shocking, and others simple and classic, but each has something in common with the rest: their uncommon influence on the world of fashion. This book is an illustrated love letter to the dresses that made history!
© The Dress: 100 Iconic Moments in Fashion
