Jo Ellison is the Financial Times fashion editor. She was educated at Edinburgh University where she read history. Prior to joining the paper, in August 2014, she was the features director of British Vogue. Her column appears on the style pages.
An art book about gowns must be as opulent and enchanting as its
lavish subject. So it is with this grandly produced and mesmerizing
celebration of Vogue's devotion to the ultimate haute couture
confection. Ellison, features director at British Vogue, has
astutely curated a collection of 300 romantic, irreverent, and racy
photographs from the 1920s to the present of gowns worn with poise
and attitude in mise-en-scenes stark and sumptuous, indoors and
out. The gowns are marvels of grace and audacity, sophistication
and mischief, and the images are sequenced not according to date
but rather to style, categorized as classical, fantasy, drama,
decorative, and modern. Gowns have inspired photographers, from the
renowned Cecil Beaton, Edward Steichen, and Herb Ritts to current
adventurous players Corinne Day, Mario Testino, and Tim Walker, to
feverish creativity as they seek to capture allure, sangfroid, and
rebellion. And how magnificent the models are, from Hollywood stars
to such fashion royalty as Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and
Kate Moss, as they bring each gown and vignette to glamorous, sexy,
or playful life. A stunning volume.-- (11/01/2014)
Ellison, features director at British Vogue for nearly a decade,
mined the archives for this sumptuous love letter capturing the
essence of Vogue: beautiful women in beautiful gowns. Expertly
arranged to rhyme across the years, images are not chronological
parades of similar dresses but rather echoes of posture, spirit,
and drape that illuminate the appeal of the gown in many guises.
Ellison's text divides gowns into classical, fantasy, drama,
decorative, and modern categories. The author also offers chatty,
thematic essays, and annotates each photograph or illustration with
an extended caption. The book itself is appropriately well dressed,
with hundreds of full-color images on heavy paper in a
foil-embossed satiny cover and slipcase with Vogue logo-print
endpapers. It seems designed to be pored over or dipped into for
inspiration, rather than read cover to cover. Now fashion editor
for the Financial Times, the author lends a historian's eye to this
inaugural volume in the series--highlighting photographers,
designers, models, and famous women of the past century. Its index
is a who's who of fashion history, and the foreword is by Alexandra
Shulman, editor of British Vogue. VERDICT This extravagant
compilation will seduce anyone who is drawn to powerful
photographic images and the visual sweep of Vogue's
history.--Lindsay King, Yale University Libraries"Library Journal"
(11/01/2014)
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