Know It All Fashion: The 50 Key Modes, Garments, and Designers, Each Explained in Under a Minute

by Rebecca Arnold

Most of us have some feeling for fashion and have a vague idea of what’s in and what’s out. Less familiar to most, however, is the way fashion works as a global business. Know-It-All Fashion looks beyond the surface of this billion-dollar industry. Each entry is summarized in under a minute–using nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and one picture. Leading fashion experts provide an engrossing crash course in how the style world works today, alongside an engaging look at the founding fathers (and mothers) of fashion who set it up that way. Every aspect of the modern fashion industry is explored, from haute couture to high street, from catwalk to street style, and from glossy magazine to online blog. Some of the recurring themes behind fashion design are also explored, such as the influence of art, music and sport. Know-It-All Fashion includes everything you need to get style savvy.


The Know It All series   takes a revolutionary approach to learning about the subjects you really feel you should understand but have never gotten around to studying. Each book selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in under a minute.

Other titles in this series include: Know It All Anthropology, Know It All Chemistry, Know It All Classical Music, Know It All Energy, Know It All Great Inventions, Know It All Jazz, Know It All Medicine, Know It All Shakespeare, Know It All Whiskey, Know It All Wine, Space In 30 Seconds, Sports in 30 Seconds.

 

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, History, Design

160 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2018

Reviews

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a fun book! Great for an intro to all you need to know about fashion. And the book blurb didn't lie, I was about to read it in under an hour. From famous designers, to styles popular in different cities, to understanding all the fashion lingo you often heard tossed around on fashion shows... This book really does tell you a little bit of everything. I think it would make a perfect gift for anyone taking a fashion class in high school, or really just anyone how has an interest in the topic as a whole.

I have received a much appreciated digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book probably lives up to its name. An excellent introduction to the fashion world, it contains sections on every aspect from haute couture to street style. There are short explanations of the intersections between fashion and art, fashion and the movies and fashion and music, as well as succinct biographies of some of the great designers, such as Marc Jacobs. It also includes useful glossaries. This is certainly worth buying if you are interested in the history of fashion. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I especially liked the section about the Teddy Boys and their influence on fashion.

I received this free ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

[Rachelle (ReaderRachelle) · Rating 3 out of 5]

During my school years there was very little I was not interested in learning more about, unfortunately for teen aged me fashion and makeup fell into that category. Before I learned that fashion is about being able to express yourself and a deeply creative endeavour for most in the industry I would not have looked twice at this book. Luckily I have an aspiring designer for a sibling and she's been working hard on setting me straight.

I picked this up as a way to quickly get up to speed with at least the basics of fashion and its place in our modern world. This is definitely one to consider if like me, you need some of that basic information; however if you want something that gets a little more in depth then I'd look at another book.

This was very consumable and the information was easy to assimilate with your previous knowledge and experiences. I had a few minor quibbles with some lay-out aspects; there is a glossary of new terms at the beginning of each section but sometimes I found that words had been used in the previous section before they appeared in the glossary, I also found that several words were repeated in the glossaries section after section.

The aspect I was most frustrated with was the continual mention of people, places or events that then weren't elaborated on when we got to that segment. The most memorable example of this was Sydney's absence; Sydney is mentioned throughout as a fashion capital of the world, hosting their own fashion week and runway shows and it was markedly absent when I got to the portions of the book focusing on those subjects.

I would recommend this for a young teen or for someone like me who absentmindedly missed the boat when it was first going around.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but choppy and repetitive. Each section has a glossary and many of the entries repeat, word for word. The illustrations are mostly not identified. In the back they have picture credits as to who owns the picture, but nothing about what's in the picture.
Each entry is given a double page spread with a 3-second sketch, 3-minute detailing, a longer text, references to related entries, a few 3-second biographies, and a few illustrations. There are interspersed double page spreads on individual people: Alexander McQueen, Rei Kawakubo, Muccia Prada, Anna Wintour, Paul Smith, Susie Bubble, Bill Cunningham. These are done in reverse colors: pale type and picture on black, which is harder to read.
Sections are: Designers (including Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga); Themes & Inspirations (including textiles, movies, sport, nostalgia); Fashion Cities & Centers (London, Paris, New York, Milan, Tokyo); The Fashion Calender (seasons; shows, models, buyers, editors); From Couture to Main Street (Haute Couture, Savile Row; ready-to-wear); The Media (the glossies, editorial, advertising); Street Style (Teddy boys and girls, punk, street photography, hip-hop, Lolitas).
Very sketchy but it did tell me some things I didn't know. Also it made me look some things on the Internet to get a fuller picture.
Not a book I would want to own, but I'm glad the library had it.

[Alfin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a general survey on fashion designed to disseminate a lot of information rather quickly. It covers a lot of topics that I already had heard of from designers to locations to styles but there were a few I did not know about such as La Sape.

On that note, I did enjoy that it includes diverse perspectives (read: not exclusively Eurocentric), such as the influence of the Japanese, Indian, Brazilian and Chinese markets in fashion.

Perhaps this is more telling of the nature of fashion, but even though this book was published only a little under three years ago (April 2018), recent events and topics are not reflected. One small example is that it mentions Diane von Fürstenberg as the chairwoman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, but she has since stepped down from that position in 2019 with the role now being fulfilled by Tom Ford.

This book will only give you a skim, surface-level understanding of fashion, but it is a good starting point.

[Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Know It All Fashion is a fast way to get a sense of the fashion world - features a bit of history of fashion, some important names in the fashion world and a lot of behind-the-scene that I really enjoyed like how the fashion season works, ready-to-wear and the buyers.

While I appreciate that the book was not only about designers - because you can easily write a book with all the fashion designers that ever worked in the industry, I think I wanted to learn about some more distinctive trends and famous pieces of clothing. It could've worked more on this side.

And, of course, any mention of Bill Cunningham makes me adore the book in a second!

[Willy Marz Thiessam · Rating 5 out of 5]

What you would have wanted when you first became an adult trying to look presentable is this book. If however you have struggled for many years to understand fashion this book is a relief like no other. This books explains everything about fashion and the fashion industry that everyone needs to know. Its up to date and gives a grand sweeping view of what modern/contemporary global fashion is. All this and its in a small compact volume, without the excessive verbiage, great illustrations and for a good price. I hardly can recommend this book more.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nicely designed, slightly mystifying overview (guide? pastiche? collage?) of some designers, some editors, and descriptions of fashion terms like "seasons" and "models." Honestly, I only uses I could come up with for this book was like a high school library or the waiting room table at a salon - it's useful but only in limited circumstances. But perhaps that's the whole point? Anyway, points for prettiness at least.

I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Critterbee❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant, perfectly organized, cool, fresh, edgy, this book is a wonderful one shot overview of recent fashion history, terms, artists / designers and designs. For beginners, this is a great introduction (in a nutshell), for those who are not obsessed by fashion, this explains enough for a strong base of knowledge of the main parts of the world of fashion. With a moderate knowledge of the industry, I enjoyed the respectful, modern tone and the layout of the book.

*eARC Netgalley*

[Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book! It was really interesting to note the ties between fashion, history, and sociopolitical movements. It is definitely a springboard for further reading since it really provides just the basics about a number of different designers and topics, but it's a really good start!

[Charity Dušíková · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite its goofy title and cover, this book does a fantastic job of giving a short introduction to designers, key moments in fashion history, the schedule of seasons and fashion weeks, and movements of street style like teddy boys and Japanese lolitas. This is a great jumping off point to explore these topics in further depth.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This introduction to the fashion industry is easy to read and encompasses multiple aspects of fashion including influential designers, the workings of editorial spreads and runway shows, elements of design, and historical and global trends.

[Heather Pehnec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun highlights. Glad there's a section on ethical issues.

[Ericka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of the industry, but would have liked more photo examples.

[Guavemily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very base layer into to basic fashion designers/ideas. A good refresher for the fashion savvy reader!

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handy little resource for someone interested in a bit of the history of the big names, styles, and current terminology used in fashion. Fun read.

[Emilia Emilika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated, very surface level. I guess this is what is expected on something that’s just trying to scratch the surface.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a simple easy to read introduction to the fashion world

[fiorella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the perfect option to start with if you are new in the fashion industry, yet you are interested to learn about it. It teaches the basics, such as the most influential designers, what does haute couture mean, the difference between fast and slow fashion, the fashion calendar, styles, and so much more. Plus, it is unique by the resumed and easy to understand explanations and descriptions about the topic. The illustrations in the book show examples and complement the information perfectly. I loved reading it and taught me everything I needed to know before starting to research more deep topics about fashion. I treasure this book so much because with the information provided I discovered that my biggest passion was destined to be fashion.

[jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good introductory book. kind of like a glorified glossary, with different fashion terms being given a one-page description, along with some side-note details. biographies of important designers are scattered throughout in a two-page spread with a timeline.

a quick read, good for getting the basics down, but not in-depth at all. more of a starting point, where you can find something you're interested in, then do some further research.

[Tiffany W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly organized, this book is a great handbook for those who want to learn about the world of fashion but find it too complicated to understand. I like the part that the book tries to explain different kinds of jobs in the fashion industry and the way the industry works, everything is explained in super short but clear paragraphs, making the book a quick read but one that provides all the basic knowledge. For readers that are not really obsessed with the world of fashion or are just simply curious, this book is enough, but for those who want to work in the industry or are obsessed with fashion (like me), it's not --- I love the concept of this book, but I wish there are more content.
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Overall: 4.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Page design: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Appealing: 5/5
Content: 5/5

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

#KnowItAllFashion #NetGalley #Chic #Fashion #Mode

This is a cocktail of famous designers, history, international influence, categories of design, medias and other related articles about the Fashion industry. A very good book to enrich the knowledge about the fashion universe.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic resource for anyone who is new to the whole "fashion" game - if you're curious about the difference between atelier and haute couture, or if you just really like clothes and want to know more, then you'd enjoy this book.