Clair McCardell swimsuit from the book Fashion Design, Referenced

Today's subtitle is:

Not what any of us are likely to be wearing at the beach this 4th of July weekend.

But boy this photo featuring a Clair McCardell swimsuit from 1953 is sure stylish. This photo is from the new Rockport book Fashion Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the History, Language, and Practice of Fashion.

If you like reading all about fashion designers, seeing behind the scenes photos along with fashion shots, I bet you will love this new Rockport fashion book:

Fashion Design, Referenced
A Visual Guide to the History, Language, and Practice of Fashion

by

Alicia Kennedy

Emily Banis Stoehrer

With:

Jay Calderin

Fashion Design, Referenced is a comprehensive guide through the art and industry of fashion design, richly illustrated with over 1,000 photographs and drawings. Within the framework of four central categories, Fashion Design, Referenced examines the many interwoven elements that form the tapestry of fashion.

“Fundamentals” provides an overview of the essential structure of the fashion profession (its organization, specializations, and centers) and looks at shifts in style over time and in ever-faster cycles going forward.

“Principles” introduces the steps in creating a collection, from design to production, and explores directions suggested by sustainability and technology.

“Dissemination” charts the many avenues by which fashion reaches its audience, whether on the catwalk or in the store, in print or online, in the museum or on the street.

“Practice” gathers and appraises the work of the most influential and innovative fashion designers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

From its first question—What is fashion design?—to its last—What does the future hold?—Fashion Design, Referenced chronicles the scope of ideas, inspirations, and expressions that define fashion culture.

Visit the Fashion Design, Referenced Facebook page and become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/FashionDesignReferenced!

Alicia Kennedy is a design editor and writer and teaches twentieth-century fashion history at Lasell College. She was cofounder and coeditor of the award-winning Assemblage: A Critical Journal of Architecture and Design Culture.

Emily Banis Stoehrer is a fashion educator and heads the Fashion Program at Fisher College in Boston. She was formerly a curatorial research associate in textiles and fashion at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Jay Calderin is director of creative marketing at the School of Fashion Design in Boston. He founded Boston Fashion Week and is creative director of Chengdu Fashion Week in China. He is the author of Form, Fit, and Fashion and Fashion Design Essentials.

www.facebook.com/FashionDesignReferenced