Runway Revolution: The Battle of Versailles by Robin Givhan

In November 1973, an epic event in the history of fashion took place. Five leading American fashion designers: Bill Blass, Stephen Burrows, Oscar de la Renta, Halston, and Anne Klein, and five renowned French couturiers: Pierre Cardin, Marc Bohan for Christian Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Emanuel Ungaro, presented their work with great fanfare and drama at the Théâtre Gabriel at the Palace of Versailles. 

The showdown between French haute couture tradition and the new trends of American design was intended as a fund raiser for the King Louis XIV Palace, which was badly in need of restoration. It attracted the leading lights of international high society, royalty – Princess Grace of Monaco was in attendance – artists, movie stars and others who were household names of the time. Not only were the designers' collections shown, but there was top flight entertainment from Liza Minelli fresh from her triumph in the movie Cabaret, iconic performer Josephine Baker, and the world famous ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

Robin Givhan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic for the The Washington Post, presents the backstory and the preparations for the event and dissects all of its historical and social implications in this page turner of a book.

Givhan brilliantly describes how far more was at stake than who were the better designers – the French or the Americans. The early 1970s were an extension of the period of great social and economic change around the world that began in the early 1960s with the coming of age of the oldest Baby Boomers in America and abroad: new trends in popular music and art, changes in the role of women, youth culture, new sexual freedom as a result of the invention of the birth control pill, and the demands of the Black community for equality.

Givhan gives us capsule biographies of the designers, describes the fashion industries and their histories in both France and the United States, introduces us to the leading models, many of whom on the American side were African-American and had remarkable life stories, and weaves in the biography and accomplishments of master publicist Eleanor Lambert, a woman who wove together the all the elements of the event and brought it to life. Altogether, it is a remarkable slice of history. Almost fifty years later, 1973 seems both distant and only yesterday, depending on the age and perspective of the reader, but Givhan recounts that time and the settings for the events so vividly that they feel like elements of an incredible technicolor dream.

I highly recommend this book for readers with interests in social history, fashion as an expression of its time, and anyone who knows Paris or has worked in the fashion and garment industry in France or New York. 

Fifty Years of Fashion, New Look to Now – by Valerie Steele

It would be wonderful to find a sequel to this book that would pick up from 1998-on, or where this volume left off. Perhaps author Valerie Steele will bring out a revised version a few years from now and call it Seventy-Five Years of Fashion. I can only hope so.

Steele's book includes well-researched commentary and excellent photography of illustrative styles from the collection of The Museum at F.I.T. (The Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York. The book not only explores the fashion industry starting with The New Look that immediately followed World War II, but it also opens a window into the changes in culture and society that spawned the fashions of the times.

All the major designers are covered: Christian Dior, the creator of The New Look, Cristóbal Balenciaga (generally known just by his last name), Jacques Fath, Yves St. Laurent, Missoni (the Italian family known for their knitwear), Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood and others. 

The trends of each decade are thoroughly addressed but the writing is never ponderous nor at the opposite extreme, breathy. This is a scholarly book but it is very accessible and readable for anyone with an interest in style and culture.

There is no doubt that the twentieth century and the nearly two decades that have followed were strongly impacted by the events and hardships of World War II. The world order and political scene were vastly different before and after the war. The fashion industry and its subsidiary fields were greatly affected and a system that once thrived in Paris was decimated. Attitudes were upended and with the advent of less formal codes of dress (the reactionary modes and ideas of the 50s notwithstanding), and expansions in consumerism, the world became a very different place. 

Steele explores it all, from changes in business structures. Where there were once individual designers working in their ateliers with their staffs of highly-skilled workers and showing their couture collections in their salons to a small group rich clients and the fashion press, we learn about what became a huge business of conglomerates selling ready-to-wear less costly lines and licensed designer names on everything from perfumes and cosmetics to costume jewelry, shoes and products for the home. 

Steele also covers phenomena like the advent of Swinging London and the music business, as British fashion designers took over in the early 60s, the Hippie Movement of the late 60s, on to the excesses of the 70s (probably not the best decade for fashion), the power looks of the 80s, and in the 90s, the neutrals of American designers like Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis. One can only wonder what she'd think about the ongoing 70s revival that's popular with young people in their teens and twenties and is a breath of nostalgia for the rest of us.