Vintage Style: Iconic Fashion Looks and How to Get Them

by Sarah Kennedy

Deconstructing the distinctive style of 25 fashion icons from Marlene Dietrich and Audrey Hepburn to Diana Ross, this guide analyses their clothing, hair and make-up and advises on how to shop for vintage items to recreate their period look.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Kayli]

An interesting style guide that covers 25 different looks ranging from the 1920s to today. Author Sarah Kennedy pairs vintage icons with clever style titles (if you will) such as Ice Princess for Grace Kelly and Hollywood Glamour for Elizabeth Taylor etc. She then provides color palettes, fabric options, clothing and accessory choices and hair and makeup tips for that given look. There is a general body type chart to line up with the icons so that you can kind of see where you fit but I didn't find that completely necessary, especially for things like shoes and jewelry. I enjoyed flipping through and reading the style icons I was most curious about. I also liked that Kennedy included modern day equivalents for the vintage icon (for example, January Jones, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosamund Pike for Grace Kelly) and cited specific movies and fashion moments. The only spot where I felt this style guide fell flat was actually pairing things together. I wish there were a few pages of style examples using basic items you could find at Target or something because not all of us can afford vintage. Or, for those who can, how to piece things together so you don't look like you're wearing a costume. I would recommend this as fun read for fashion fans and for people looking to change their style up. I gave this book 3.5 stars but rounded up to four out of five stars.

[Carlton Book Publishing]

Vintage Style

ICONIC FASHIONS LOOKS AND HOW TO GET THEM
by Sarah Kennedy


“Steal the style” of 25 fashion icons, from Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot to Twiggy and Debbie Harry

Revealing the secrets of the twentieth-century’s chicest women, this book will help you copy the classic looks that professional stylists and celebrities return to time and time again. Vintage Style looks back at the 25 most iconic women of the past century and how to emulate their looks with up-to-the minute fashion advice. Each look, whether it's Brigitte Bardot's Bombshell, Audrey Hepburn's Ingénue or Grace Kelly's American Classic, is deconstructed. Along with key information on the vintage designers and fashion styles of the time, there are styling tips, hair and makeup techniques and shopping lists to aid in acquiring vintage and reproduction pieces.

Each chapter opens with an image of the icon of each style, plus images of similarly styled celebrities or models. Advice is tailored for each look; for instance, the Bombshell is all about simple clothes, heavy on hair and make-up, whereas the Ingénue relies on a fitted, ideally couture, silhouette.

The book includes:
Key designers and silhouettes that helped define each look
Ideas for accessorizing, including jewellery, shoes, handbags and scarves
Practical how-tos for hair and makeup
Style and shopping
Directory of vintage boutiques and hair and make-up stylists.

The author is available for interview:
Sarah Kennedy is the author of The Swimsuit and a contributing author of Vintage Fashion. Based in New York City, she works as a freelance journalist for women’s magazines, including Red and Grazia in the UK and Marie Claire in the USA.

[Liz]

I couldn't even finish this book. It had a lot of information, for sure, absolutely, and I'm keeping it as a resource book but the information wasn't well presented. The author name dropped designers, styles of clothing, specific outfits of said women, terminology, all without explaining them, or including pictures. As a result, I had to keep stopping to google what or who these things or people were, and my final straw was when she referenced two outfits of Elizabeth Taylor, but did not include photos, I had to stop. I can't honestly spend an hour or so googling each item just to understand what Kennedy is talking about, while reading this book. The information is GREAT, she knows her stuff, but unless she's willing to include more photographic references so we can know what Taylor's "white daisy cut-out hot pants complete with matching boots" or Jackie O's "printed Pucci empire-line mini-dress" looked like, or footnotes/asides/whatever to explain what the heck a "swagger coat" or a concertina pleat or knickerbockers are, the book is, quite frankly, not helpful.

[Nen Simmons]

The book is well written and researched by someone who clearly has a passion for fashion. The selection of fashion icons is interesting rather than obvious, and it is nice to find out about some of these famous and sometimes ground-breaking women. Overall though, I found the book disappointing. As someone who finds putting an outfit together very difficult, and dreads clothes shopping, I was hoping to use the book as the source of inspiration. However, even after carefully reading each chapter I didn't really have a "feel" for any of the looks, let alone whether they would suit me, how to put them together, or how to make them work for an occasion other than fancy dress. I think the main problem is there just aren't enough photos to get a full idea of each of the looks. The text is very detailed, but frequently refers to key looks or iconic outfits that aren't pictured.
Finally, categorising Marianne Faithful as a "rock and roll girlfriend"is just patronising.

[Susannah]

A great anthology that covers key fashion icons, and key fashion looks, over the past century. Key icons include Louise Brooks, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot and Debbie Harry. Author Sarah Kennedy also explains how to replicate their look in vintage clothes to look for, styling and make-up and hair. Recommended for anyone who is into fashion icons from the past and wants to incorporate the essence of different decades into their wardrobe.