'Thea's are the only clothes I never throw away.' Joan Collins

For nearly two decades, from 1966, Thea Porter created clothes made from sumptuous fabrics that drew inspiration from a view of the exotic Middle East. Combining richly patterned silks with antique fabrics, her clothes were a must for music and film stars such as Pink Floyd, Crystal Gayle, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbra Streisand. Fashion magazines all over the world featured her latest styles and Thea became a key member of the innovative group of British designers that included Ossie Clark, Zandra Rhodes and Jean Muir. During her lifetime she won huge acclaim, and her place in the history of British fashion was ensured when she won Designer of the Year in 1972. Thea Porter was included in several landmark exhibitions on twentieth-century fashion. 'Thea Porter's Scrapbook' is her story in her own words, an unpublished autobiography she put together before her death in 2000. Edited by her daughter, Venetia, and with an essay by fashion historian Amy de la Haye, this book, illustrated with sketches, letters, press cuttings and photographs, describes Thea's family history and upbringing in Syria, and, through her own letters, her years as a student in London after the Second World War and her life in the cosmopolitan city of Beirut during the 1950s and 1960s.

An overview of the era and showcases the It girls and designers who defined the decade, with lavishly illustrated profiles of Jane Birkin, Jean Shrimpton, Catherine Deneuve, Mary Quant, Sharon Tate, and many more.Sixties counter-culture led to a revolution in fashion so profound that its contemporary influence remains unparalleled. For the first time in history women dominated the zeitgeist; never before has this monumental time in fashion been so richly documented. Switched On provides an overview of the era and showcases the 'It girls' and designers who defined the decade.250 iconic photos are accompanied by lavishly illustrated profiles of Jane Birkin, Jean Shrimpton, Catherine Deneuve, Mary Quant, Sharon Tate, Twiggy, and many more.Contributing photographers include Bert Stern, Milton Greene, Horst P. Horst, Terry O'Neill, Franco Rubartelli, David Hurn, Pierluigi Praturlon, Gianni Penati, Bud Fraker, David Montgomery, Patrick Lichfield, Henry Clarke, Arnaud de Rosnay, Slim Aarons, Arthur Evans, Jean-Marie Perier, Mark Shaw.

Presents a decade-by-decade guide to the most influential looks of the past century, matching red-carpet gowns to famous celebrities while providing original designer sketches, photos of rare couture, and interviews with a range of authorities.

The Archive of Art and Design at the Victoria & Albert Museum contains Britain's foremost collection of primary source material relating to art and design, particularly of the twentieth century. Established in 1978, the Archive holds over 200 archives created by individual artists, craftspeople and designers and businesses and societies involved in the manufacture and promotion of art and design products. The Guide describes each archive in detail, offering information about its creator, its contents, and related sources held both inside and outside the V&A Museum. It is an invaluable reference text for everyone with an interest in studying British art and design.

Dressing up. Partying all night. This is the world of 1970s fashion, and this book is your backstage pass. Featuring over 25 exclusive interviews with the movers and shakers of the 70s scene, including Grace Coddington, Zandra Rhodes, Willy van Rooy, Marie Helvin, Pat Cleveland, Elsa Peretti and more, Behind the Gloss lifts the lid on the hedonistic, wild world of the 1970s. They were the designers who dressed the Rolling Stones, Charlotte Rampling and Catherine Deneuve; the photographers who shot Diana Ross, Lauren Hutton and Jerry Hall; the fashion editors, hairstylists and make-up artists who worked with some of the most beautiful women in the world; and they would change the fashion world forever. Featuring images, sketches and Polaroids exclusively sourced from the contributors' archives, Behind the Gloss tells the revelatory story of the decade of experimentation.

Elizabeth Wilson is a pioneer of fashion studies, yet she never intended to become an academic. Starting her literary career as a feminist activist writing for the underground press, she went on to explore tennis, 'bohemians' and of course fashion – her obsession – along with forays into fiction. Throughout, she has never seen her work as abstract or disengaged from 'real life'. In her memoir, she traces this relationship between personal experience and her writing, revisiting pivotal moments from childhood, adolescence and adult life to explore her belief that research, by its nature, is always a form of autobiography. She unfolds the garment of her life in a wide-ranging exploration of scenes from her past: her difficult relationship with her mother, fashion in the 60s and gay liberation. In this journey through time she shows how experiences are inseparable from the way we seek to explain and understand them, offering a unique and deeply personal account of her – and our – cultural world.