New & Novel: Fashion & Style

We sat down to write about fashion, and two songs immediately started running through our heads - "Fashion" by the late, great David Bowie, and "Supermodel (You Better Work)" by reality show star RuPaul. But there's more to style than working the catwalk! We've assembled a list of books that focus on a variety of aspects of fashion and style, from memoirs and biographies to fashion history, from costume design to street style, from the little black dress to the human and environmental costs of the fashion industry, from Paris to the Republic of the Congo, famous designers and beyond.


Wear and Tear: The Threads of My Life by Tracy Tynan

Focus: The Secret, Sexy, Sometimes Sordid World of Fashion Photographers by Michael Gross

Dressing the Decades: Twentieth-Century Vintage Style by Emmanuelle Dirix

Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair by Emma Tarlo

In the Name of Gucci: A Memoir by Patricia Gucci ; with Wendy Holden

American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business by Tommy Hilfiger with Peter Knobler 

Denim: Fashion's Frontier by Emma McClendon 

9 1/2 Narrow: My Life in Shoes by Patricia Morrisroe

Love x Style x Life by Garance Doré

The Sartorialist: X by Scott Schuman

The Tattoorialist: Tattoo Street Style by Nicolas Brulez

Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour by Dita Von Teese with Rose Apodaca 

Model Woman: Eileen Ford and the Business of Beauty by Robert Lacey 

Dior & I [DVD]

The Mood Guide to Fabric and Fashion: The Essential Guide From the World's Most Famous Fabric Store edited by Melanie Falick

Girl in Dior by Annie Goetzinger [eBook]

Tales From the Back Row: An Outsider's View From Inside the Fashion Industry by Amy Odell

Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin by Andrew Wilson

Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

Tales From the Royal Wardrobe [DVD]

Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style

Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers by Jay Jorgensen and Donald L. Scoggins

The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled Into the Spotlight and Made History by Robin Givhan 

Fear and Clothing: Unbuckling American Style by Cintra Wilson 

Hijacking the Runway: How Celebrities Are Stealing the Spotlight From Fashion Designers by Teri Agins 

Dimanche à Brazzaville: Sunday in Brazzaville [hoopla eVideo] 

A History of the Paper Pattern Industry: The Home Dressmaking Fashion Revolution by Joy Spanabel Emery 

The Roots of Style: Weaving Together Life, Love & Fashion by Isabel Toledo 

Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington 

Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by Rhonda K. Garelick 

New Icons of Fashion Illustration by Tony Glenville 

Famous Frocks: The Little Black Dress - Patterns For 20 Garments Inspired By Fashion Icons by Dolin Bliss O'Shea 

The True Cost [DVD]