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A shoe designer, Vivier was especially interested in heels. His curved "comma" heel was developed with the help of aeronautical engineers, the "choc" curved "dramatically toward the arch of the foot". But he'll be best known for the Stiletto heel, the lengthy spike that accentuated the wearer's calves. In his 60-year career, he worked with most of the major names in French fashion, including Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Nina Ricci, Pierre Balmain, Guy Laroche and Yves Saint-Laurent. His designs appealed not just to movie stars, but to women from the girl next door to royalty -- Queen Elizabeth II wore a pair of garnet-encrusted Vivier shoes to her coronation. Vivier died October 2 in Toulouse, France, at age 90. From This is True for 4 October 1998 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Manolo BlahnikAnna WintourMichael Roberts List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $26.37 Editorial Review: Manolo Blahník's shoes inspire fanatical devotion. "Manolo Blahník's shoes are as good as sex," Madonna has said. "And they last longer." Diane Von Furstenberg has more than eighty pairs; Paloma Picasso has been a fan since she was fourteen; Bianca Jagger and Kate Moss, to name just a few, are fellow addicts. For three decades, Blahník's sense of the theatrical wedded to the finest materials and superlative craftsmanship have held the fashion world spellbound, and his creations have graced the catwalks of great designers from Yves Saint-Laurent to Isaac Mizrahi to John Galliano. Here, collected together for the first time, are over one hundred exquisite drawings that Blahník makes at the outset of the design process. These sketches are executed with such exuberance and deftness that they have become as sought after as the shoes themselves (they often fetch up to $15,000.00 at charity auctions). Inimitable in style, the drawings, beautifully reproduced in this book with special inks, vividly convey Blahník's unique vision. Whether it's a Grecian sandal designed for Galliano, with a snake-like strap slithering up the calf, or an emerald- and bead-fringed satin mule, the seductive attention to detail in the drawings conjures up the shoe itself. Illuminating introductions by Anna Wintour and Michael Roberts explore why Manolo Blahník's shoes inspire such passion, and these are complemented throughout the book by the words of admirers including Suzie Menkes, Donatella Versace, and David Hockney. Michael Roberts also contributes a photographic essay showing Blahník at work in his studio, making sketches, preparing the wooden lasts, and supervising the production of his shoes at his factories in Italy. A final "scrapbook" section includes Manolo Blahník's own photographs of family, friends, and inspirational places. 150 illustrations, 120 in color.  By: Stephanie Pedersen List Price: $12.99 Amazon Price: $10.39 Editorial Review: -An exuberant expose of the history of shoes from the first modest moccasin to the latest Burberry boot -Exceptionally illustrated with shoe photographs, intriguing vintage advertisements, and stunning celebrity images -A low price point makes this the perfect gift for all women with a weakness for shoes Peep-toes, kitten heels, Chelsea boots, espadrilles, slingbacks, mules, stilettos, wedgies, platforms -- fabulous footwear of all forms takes center stage in this must-have gift book for all dedicated followers of fashion. The beautifully packaged gift book is a veritable shoe bible, allowing readers to explore the footwear hall of fame and explore every significant development in the evolution of shoes. From the earliest moccasins of 8000 BC to the latest innovations of the 21st century, Shoes charts the rise of shoes from comfort to couture, and features top designers, trendsetters, celebrity shoeaholics, and fashionistas, and is sure to excite and inspire glamour girls everywhere.  By: Ann Morris List Price: $6.99 Amazon Price: $6.99 Editorial Review: "Shoes is loosely organized into categories such as working shoes, dancing shoes, shoes for ice or snow, and anytime-at-all shoes. It's an interesting way to take an armchair tour, and could be used to spark a geography, social studies, or multicultural unit." --School Library Journal.  By: Linda O'Keeffe List Price: $13.95 Amazon Price: $13.95 Editorial Review: The Marabou Mule. The Chanel toe. Jackie O's pump. Marilyn's stiletto. And lotus shoes and fetish shoes, shoes made for coronations and inaugurations, Cinderella's slipper, shoes of tulle, brocade, rhinestone, python, fish scales, and feathers, and much, much, more, including the two-foot-high wooden chopines of the 16th century and their resurgence as the platform shoes of the 1960s and 1970s. Shoes, now with over 357,000 copies in print, is an obsessive, over-the-top extravaganza-chunky, full-color, and irresistible, it contains page after page of seductive photographs and information about women's shoes. Created for the woman who's a passionate shoe lover-and what woman isn't?--Shoes features over 1,000 glorious photographs, most of them taken for the book. Includes Footnotes (fascinating facts about shoes); Foot Soldiers (profiles of master shoemakers from David Little to Andrea Pfister); and The Shoe that Left an Imprint, focusing on one shoe that changed history-remember Courrage's futuristic go-go boot? Shoes is, as they say, to die for. 262,000 copies in print.  By: Sue HueyRebecca Proctor List Price: $40.00 Amazon Price: $26.40 Editorial Review: Fusing exquisite design with engineering, shoe design is quite unlike any other fashion discipline. Showcasing some of the most exciting and innovative contemporary footwear designers from across the globe, this book refl ects the rich and diverse range of cutting-edge design, and uses specially commissioned photography, never before published sketches, and original design material to illustrate the unique blend of design skill and craftsmanship that footwear design demands. |
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