I'm writing a book on vintage style....

[NicolettaRose]

I am writing a book on vintage style, and was just wondering what you gals, as vintage lovers would love to see in a book on vintage clothing. One of my purposes with this book is to introduce vintage style giving my readers a historical perspective behind the styles, give tips on how to wear it, etc. What would you like to see in a book like this that you have not seen in any other vintage books? I also plan to include a chapter or two on vintage home. My book covers vintage from the 1910's-1980's.

Any suggestions would greatly appreciated!! TIA!!

 

[Girl Friday]

Wow, that sounds really cool! The things I have had the hardest time trying to find examples of are more casual clothes and hats, or clothes you would wear while camping, or doing other activities. There are plenty of examples of the more glamorous side of things thanks to Hollywood.

 

[Viola]

Maybe a reference for the definition of a style, and its timeline? Like "a mermaid skirt is such-and-such, it looks like this, it was MOST popular during..."

That way those of us who are just starting to put a wardrobe together know what to look for in either unmarked vintage or retro-style new pieces, and we're not left at the mercy of Ebay labels as far as what something is or putting together an outfit that isn't a little bit of every decade.

-Viola

 

[berrybuzz]

I agree with Girl Friday...

Hollywood rarely shows the true mix of fashion and style worn regularly in America (still true today). I'd love to see more of what people actually wore on a day to day basis.
Basically go beyond the Hollywood/LA/NYC stereotypes to the core of America's fashion. What did people wear in Miami during the war? Phoenix? Seattle? Lansing? etc. etc. etc.

Who were the couture designers of the era...the Vera Wang's, the Vuitton's, the de la Renta's?
What were the popular brands and labels...the Old Navy and Abercrombie and Fitch of that era?

That's what I want to know...Oh, also a general guideline of clothing design.

peplums, shirring between the bust and shoulders, puff or french sleeves all help identify sterotypical 40s fashion.

yeh....expand on this...

 

[JazzBaby]

Great idea NicolettaRose! I agree with focusing more on the casual side. Most women have few occasions when they can go for the full-on Hollywood glamour look so it's nice to get a better idea of how people dressed casually back then.

 

[NicolettaRose]

I could do both a dress up and dress down section, maybe what to wear for each occassion, IE going camping, walking the dog, going to the oscars, sleeping, having lunch at a resterant, going to a resort hotel, etc etc. I could also include a section on travel. My book is really for all lovers of vintage, from the girl who likes to pick up pieces at Salvation army for a couple of bucks to the serious vintage fanatic who wears full on vintage everyday.I think that vintage clothing is so unique in how people wear it, and everyone approches it differently.

 

[RetroModelSari]

A little fashion dictionary would be great to put in, too with all those fashion-expressions and short explanations.

 

[Paul]

This sounds a great idea.
I think a great book over just a good one has to have good depth to hold the interest say of the ladies here who may have a good knowledge already and will learn something new from it, yet also not be to involved as to put off people from reading it who have never thought about vintage before and try and capture there attention and show the merits of wearing vintage and how accessible it is for them.

I think it would be good to see a few photos of ladies wearing vintage today even mixed with modern, in a every day environment, then a line or two caption just to prove that they are real ladies and not just fashion collectors showing off a collection.

 

[Lady Day]

So do you have publisher interest? Any you are thinking of submitting to? Self publishing?

Got researchers lined up to work on specific outlines of the book?

A lawyer for permission to reproduce pictures?

A desiger for the book/cover/etc?

An idea of how many chapters?

!910-the 80s, thats a lot of ground, are you gonna work in volumes or blanket the big trend setters in each year/decade/season/news worthy trend?

Is it gonna be historical, or more of a coffeetable book for fun?

Talking to any fashion historians for content? That would be good.

An idea on dementions? Might wanna keep that in mind.

Are you looking into commissioning anyone to do illustrations for the book, or you just the text gal?

How many other book like this out there are there? Do you know how they sold?

And when you say 'vintage style' do you mean the sub culture of it in todays society, or the HISTORICAL style of the eras past?

Just curious?

LD

 

[NicolettaRose]

So do you have publisher interest? Any you are thinking of submitting to? Self publishing?

Got researchers lined up to work on specific outlines of the book?

A lawyer for permission to reproduce pictures?

A desiger for the book/cover/etc?

An idea of how many chapters?

!910-the 80s, thats a lot of ground, are you gonna work in volumes or blanket the big trend setters in each year/decade/season/news worthy trend?

Is it gonna be historical, or more of a coffeetable book for fun?

Talking to any fashion historians for content? That would be good.

An idea on dementions? Might wanna keep that in mind.

Are you looking into commissioning anyone to do illustrations for the book, or you just the text gal?

How many other book like this out there are there? Do you know how they sold?

And when you say 'vintage style' do you mean the sub culture of it in todays society, or the HISTORICAL style of the eras past?

Just curious?

LD

To ansewer your questions:

I would be submitting this book to an agent, they can route it to the best publisher in the market, I am a fiction writer by occupation, so I have dealt a lot of with publishers/agents.

1. I am a historical fiction writer who generally does her own research, so it will be only me who is doing research for this book.

2. I don't think a lawyer is generally used for images rights, but I could discuss that with a friend of my fathers who is an attorney.

3.The designer for the cover is generally hired by the publisher, not by the author.

4.Its going to be around 10-15 chapters, but it will be broken down into, into sub topics and eras, the layout is going to be orderly and user friendly for the reader.

5.To cover the 1910's-1980's, I am going to break it down it to era, a cover the historical happenings of those years, and how they relate to fashion, along with some of the major componants and trends of those years. I also have a section broken down into decade to help people decide what era thier garment came from if they need to date it.

6. This book is going to be a 'how to' book with tips on vintage clothing, and be a historical book as well, with lots of history of style and fashion.

7.I have talked to a lot of people ( historians/vintage experts) in research for this book.

8. The dimentions are generally decided by the publisher.

9. I have not thought about illustrations at this point, but it is a good idea.

10. There are some books like this out there, but I have found most of them to be be disappointing, they also don't carry the scope of what mine will carry. There is one I read recently called something like Alligators, Old Mink and New Money, its a great book, but more of a autobiography of the writer then an actual book on vintage clothing, although she does try to offer some tips. How the book while be sold, is completely up to my publisher.

11. This book is for anyone who is interested in vintage style, from the novice to the expert. For the novice I would hope to give them a primer on vintage style, for the expert, I would hope to broaden thier horizens.

 

[pigeon toe]

Sounds really exciting! I hope it works out for you, it sounds like a lot of work! Like the others have said, I would really like a look at what average women wore in different regions.

Are you going to be writing solely about women? I know my boyfriend is trying to figure out what working class men, specifically mechanics, would have worn during work and their downtime in the 40's and 50's. So if you are going to include menswear it would be great if you spoke about stuff other than perfectly tailored suits, cos I doubt all men could afford that back in the day.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more about this!

 

[Kim_B]

2. I don't think a lawyer is generally used for images rights, but I could discuss that with a friend of my fathers who is an attorney.

If you didn't plan on discussing it with a lawyer (preferably a copyright lawyer), where did you plan on getting your images to use? Unless you hire a photographer to shoot specifically for you...but then you'd still have to negotiate the copyright with the photographer...like Shelley, I'm just curious...

 

[Brooksie]

I think a section in the book talking about foundation and undergarments through the different eras would be good also...heck an entire book could be written about those especially if a person went into the history of them and all, i actually had seen a book about the history of undergarments but i never did get it and now i wish i did.

LB

 

[ohairas]

I think there's plenty of books on corsets and undergarments... wish I had time to read them all!
http://www.amazon.com/Corsets-Crinolines-Norah-Waugh/dp/0878305262
(scroll down to what other customers also bought..)
Nikki

 

[NicolettaRose]

If you didn't plan on discussing it with a lawyer (preferably a copyright lawyer), where did you plan on getting your images to use? Unless you hire a photographer to shoot specifically for you...but then you'd still have to negotiate the copyright with the photographer...like Shelley, I'm just curious...

Right now I am just writing the book, so I am not thinking about images. I might either use photographs of my own, or forgo images all together, I will see when I get to that point, which I am not at yet.

 

[LizzieMaine]

As a published author myself, I can confirm that getting image rights can be the most frustrating part of doing a book -- any publisher is going to require releases in writing, up front, for anything you plan to use. So it's a good idea to take that into consideration right from the beginning -- in my own case, it took almost as long to round up all the clearances as it took to actually write the manuscript.

 

[pretty faythe]

IMHO if I was to buy a book one vintage style that had tips on how to wear it, then I would want images as guide.

Right now I am just writing the book, so I am not thinking about images. I might either use photographs of my own, or forgo images all together, I will see when I get to that point, which I am not at yet.

One of my purposes with this book is to introduce vintage style giving my readers a historical perspective behind the styles, give tips on how to wear it, etc.

 

[Lady Day]

As a published author myself, I can confirm that getting image rights can be the most frustrating part of doing a book -- any publisher is going to require releases in writing, up front, for anything you plan to use. So it's a good idea to take that into consideration right from the beginning -- in my own case, it took almost as long to round up all the clearances as it took to actually write the manuscript.

Yes!!
Man, the do take forever, dont they. Thats why I was asking if you had some sort of dimentions in mind. Depending on if this is gonna be a factual dry accound, or pizazzed up with photos, then that might be a good guide.

Good luck!

LD

 

[Joie DeVive]

I have to agree with Pretty Faythe. I read books on fashion history regularly, but honestly, I tend to skip ones with no illustrations. Fashion is such a visual and tactile field, without any illustration, I find it a bit dry and abstract.

That's just my preference. I have seen plenty of books on fashion history out there that have no illustrations. However, I think people new to vintage would be much more attracted to a book with some type of illustration. I would guess that pictures of some variety, would increase the marketability of your book significantly.

Just a thought.

 

[NicolettaRose]

Well then I will put illustrations in. Right now, I am not really worrying so much on illustrations, more what the text of the book is going to be.