Your Free Gift The Basic Bundle for Fashion Designers
Gathering inspiration, sometimes our fashion research might just be limited to fashion magazines and websites. For wannabe fashion designers in college or fashionistas, I think it’s so much more important to diversify their sources of ideas. As a fashion newbie, you need a wide range of knowledge in a variety of fields, in order to develop your own style as a fashion designer or illustrator. Below is a list of books that will change your way of thinking completely.
Disclosure: I only recommend products and services I’ve spent my own money on and love! Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. You pay the same whether you use my affiliate link or not, and the commissions I earn from your purchases help me to keep the Basic Bundle for fashion designers free. So thanks in advance for your support!
by UMBERTO ECO
The first time I came across History of Beauty was at art class in my last year at university. We studied only this one book for a whole semester.
As the name suggests, Umberto Eco takes the reader on a journey through time and depicts the idea of beauty in Western culture from ancient times to the present. The book is a demonstration of human beauty, the feminine as well as the masculine. It incorporates all artistic forms of expression with abundant examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and philosophy, industrial design, film and pop culture.
by MARY GEHLHAR
Mary Gehlhar talks about the tools you will need, financing and start-up costs, business plans, legal issues, sales and marketing, distribution among other issues. This is an exceptional book that gives you additional information you didn’t get in your design school.
A comprehensive guide to breaking into the fashion business. Mary uses the experiences and interviews of other people in the industry to help you understand the realities of starting your own clothing line.
by THE KYOTO COSTUME INSTITUTE
This book is a must for any fashion student/fashion enthusiast. The pictures are of good quality and the text is clear for both professional and enthusiasts alike.
Founded in 1978, the Kyoto Costume Institute recognizes the importance of understanding clothes from sociological, historical, and artistic perspectives. With one of the world’s most extensive clothing collections, the KCI has amassed a wide range of historical garments, underwear, shoes, and fashion accessories dating from the 18th century to the present day. Showcasing the Institute’s vast collection, Fashion is a book I would recommend to everyone interested in the history of fashion as it is a great source for research and inspiration alike.
by DEBORAH NADOOLMAN LANDIS
I think Dressed is so captivating because it moves beyond the standard conceptions of Hollywood “glamor” and examines clothes as an integral element of storytelling. As I’ve always been fascinated by stories involving beautiful clothes. I can’t resist learning from the experience of American costume designers. You will also realize that each costume speaks in its language, has a certain setting and personality and propels the action of the movie.
It’s a beautifully produced book, with high-quality sketches and photographs throughout. I would recommend this book for anyone who is an aspiring costume designer or costume illustrator. This book is a wonderful place to start. It makes you dream of what you can become as well as fall in love with the profession.
by ANNA KIPER
This book is exquisite for every fashion newbie and those who would love to improve their drawing skills. Anna Kiper guides beginners on a step by step process of constructing the head and the figure and how to use any media available.
This is a lovely inspiration book for the fashion illustrator or designer. It goes through the basics of elongating the figure, different techniques and ideas for using mixed media to create some really beautiful illustrations for your portfolio. It also covers flats, mood boards and how to render different textures. Beautifully written, full of illustrations and instructions to figure drawing. Learn different types of textiles and how they are drawn. A great purchase for anyone thinking of going into fashion illustrations for a career or for another creative facet of their artistry.
by DK
This book contains everything you need to know about changing fashion and style. From ancient Egyptian dress to Space Age Fashion and Grunge. Additionally, it gives detailed information on icons like Marie Antoinette, Clara Bow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Alexander McQueen. Fashion catalogs the history of what people wear, revealing how Western fashion has been influenced by design from around the world and celebrating costume and haute couture.
Fashion will captivate anyone interested in style — whether it’s the fashion-mad teen in Tokyo, the wannabe designer in college, or the fashionista intrigued by the violent origins of the stiletto and the birth of bling. A must addition to every fashion lover’s library.
by ELISABETTA DRUDI
Figure Drawing for Fashion offers a concise, topic by topic guide to acquiring and perfecting these skills, concentrating on the female form. This book is ideal both for those who want to become professional fashion designers, as well as for all enthusiasts of drawing the human body.
Through this book, you can learn to draw different parts of a human body, clothing and fashion accessories. I recommend it as it provides the most precise way to draw a large variety of fashion elements. It covers everything from any part of the human body to shoes, shirts, dresses, collars, pockets and much more. Knowing the basics helps to create your own style afterward.
I know the beginning of your career can be overwhelming and frustrating. That’s where fashion books come in. Learning as much as you can about fashion can only help in your journey. All those books are written by professionals that have already been on the path you are on now. Their experience can be a great help to you. So why not learn from them?
Do you find inspiration and guidance from fashion books? If you’ve read any of the books I mentioned, please share your opinion of it in the comments. Which other fashion art books do you think can help fashion illustration newbies to grow?
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Business tools, art materials, equipment
You wanna see my secret weapons for running my biz and creating art? Here is a sneak peek at what’s happening behind-the- scenes at Fashion ARTventures.
This is everything I have used and loved, from my art techniques and software, to my filming equipment and platforms that help me run my biz !
THE BASIC BUNDLE is a collection of female fashion templates in the most essential poses + the fashion design process checklist and the fashion figure proportion scale for sketching the croquis freehand.
Grab your favorite paints or your iPad, put on some chill tunes, find a cozy spot, and let us take you on a journey full of ARTventures! As you color, you’ll be practicing your artistic skills, exploring color combinations, and improving your eye for design.
