This captivating book reproduces arguably the most extraordinary primary source documents in fashion history. Providing a revealing window onto the Renaissance, they chronicle how style-conscious accountant Matthäus Schwarz and his son Veit Konrad experienced life through clothes, and climbed the social ladder through fastidious management of self-image. These bourgeois dandies' agenda resonates as powerfully today as it did in the sixteenth century: one has to dress to impress, and dress to impress they did. The Schwarzes recorded their sartorial triumphs as well as failures in life in a series of portraits by illuminists over 60 years, which have been comprehensively reproduced in full color for the first time. These exquisite illustrations are accompanied by the Schwarzes' fashion-focussed yet at times deeply personal captions, which render the pair the world's first fashion bloggers and pioneers of everyday portraiture. The First Book of Fashion demonstrates how dress – seemingly both ephemeral and trivial – is a potent tool in the right hands. Beyond this, it colorfully recaptures the experience of Renaissance life and reveals the importance of clothing to the aesthetics and every day culture of the period. Historians Ulinka Rublack's and Maria Hayward's insightful commentaries create an unparalleled portrait of sixteenth-century dress that is both strikingly modern and thorough in its description of a true Renaissance fashionista's wardrobe. This first English translation also includes a bespoke pattern by TONY award-winning costume designer and dress historian Jenny Tiramani, from which readers can recreate one of Schwarz's most elaborate and politically significant outfits.

God invites every young man to a life of awesomeness, but most guys miss out. They settle for fantasy adventures and fake women, wasting their days with their eyes glued to a screen. Using a few words, some great illustrations and dozens of video clips, this guide will help you find a life worth living. It also answers the questions that many young men are asking: *If God wants me to live an awesome life, why am I so bored? *What's the big deal with porn? *When is the right time to start dating? *Why should I save sex for marriage? *How can I start building an awesome life today? Whether you are 13 or 23, this guide will help you to avoid some of the land mines that young men typically step on. It will point you towards the awesome, exciting, passionate life that God has planned for you. *This guy-friendly book includes links to 25 short video clips to illustrate and enhance the content as you read.