Look what I just got…..The Book Stall Newsletter Literary Community Bulletin Board featuring nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club I’m beyond speechless….so honored and thrilled.
“The Book Stall is pleased to host this Literary Community Bulletin Board. Any news of interest to readers and writers? Send your information to Robert at events@thebookstall.com with “Literary Community Bulletin Board” in the subject line. Note: The Book Stall reserves editorial privilege.
Tuesday, March 28
5:30 – 7 pm
Host Nena Ivon talks with author Alexis Romano about her new book, Prêt-À-Porter, Paris and Women: A Cultural Study of French Readymade Fashion, 1945-1968. Nenasnotes: The Fashion Book Club (TFBC) is a monthly virtual gathering, meeting the fourth Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 7 pm, to discuss all manner of fashion and lifestyle books, and features fascinating authors in conversation with the founder of TFBC, Nena Ivon, and a thoroughly engaged audience. See its website here.
TFBC will celebrate its sixth year in June 2023. Since it’s inception, The Book Stall has been TFBC Independent Bookseller of choice. The monthly fee is $25. For further information please contact Nena at nenasnotes1@gmail.com. Mention The Book Stall in your email to Nena and you can attend your first program for free!”
I have been collecting fashion books since high school so needless to say a very long time! I followed fashion magazines long before that…I come from a family of magazine lovers, as well as major bibliophiles! so no surprise. This is the first fashion book I got, I decided to go downtown after school, actually Michigan Avenue, to my favorite bookseller at the time, Main Street Book Store, mid-1950’s, to get the book. I talked Mom into joining me and we could then meet Daddy for supper at one of our favorite restaurants, A Bit Of Sweden….their smorgasbord was perfection….loved it.
Since that time, both establishments are long gone, my fashion library has grown to around 1000 tomes! I have most of them listed on the fabulous site, LibraryThing http://www.librarything.com they also have an app. I still have many more to add. It’s truly a full time job! As you know I have hosted a monthly nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club since 2018, you do the math as to how many I’ve added in 5 1/2 years! I do add those as I get them and have them all together. Just a note on how I house these books…I have them either by designer…think Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent…or by theme such as Hollywood Costumes, French Designers, American Designers, Monographs, Novels, Biographies, Autobiographies, Anthologies…you get the idea. I have many first editions, many signed and many personalized. One of my treasures is a Godey’s Lady’s Book given to me by a dear friend…I found it in a vintage bookstore in Stratford, Canada.
Everywhere I go I seek out bookstores or antique shops and have found lots of treasures. I have also found several at our own Randolph Street Market (it’s celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year at its season opening May 27th and 28th). https://www.randolphstreetmarket.com
I’m hoping to house the collection at the Chicago History Museum in their research center. I want to leave it as a collection…if I find they aren’t interested I’ll seek another institution. Perhaps a fashion school. Need to do more research on that.
Now let’s look at what’s ahead for nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club…as usual, for most months, I’ll be in conversation with the authors. All via zoom.
APRIL 2023
MAY 2023
JUNE 2023
JULY 2023 TWO BOOKS NOT WITH AUTHORS
Met Museum Exhibition Book
AUGUST 2023
All the nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club selections are available at my partner Independent Bookseller https://www.thebookstall.com I’m always open to book suggestions and be sure to stay tuned for upcoming reviews on these selections….happy fashionable reading!!!!!
“Marylou Luther is the editor and founder of the International Fashion Syndicate and award-winning “Clotheslines” column and is the fashion editor emeritus of newspapers including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. Cuban-born artist Ruben Toledo has had his work published in The New Yorker, Vogue, Town & Country, and The New York Times.” From Rizzoli.
MARYLOU LUTHER BY RUBEN TOLEDO!
Ruben Toledo self portrait!
I had the pleasure of working with Marylou when she was with the Chicago Tribune and have enjoyed her trend predictions through the years. Her talented perspective on fashion is enhanced by her relationships with the designers and fashion professionals. This book is a unique, personal journey, through the years, using wonderful quotes from the best of the best of the intriguing creators of the world of fashion. Who hasn’t she interviewed from Christian Dior, the Master himself, to the current Dior Creative Director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, everyone who is anyone is here. It is indeed a one of a kind book that will enhance your fashion library. The quotes are a fun insight into the minds of the arbiters of style from Marylou’s seventy years as a fashion journalist, newspaper columnist and trend forecaster. And the Ruben Toledo illustrations are pure magic and enhance the quotes perfectly! Once in awhile a book comes along to give me a totally new perspective on a subject that I know very well…this is such a book…I really love everything about it! I think you will too.
From Rizzoli…”In her early days as a journalist, Luther met with the true legends of fashion—she interviewed Christian Dior in 1957 for the Chicago Tribune and visited Coco Chanel at her Rue Cambon atelier; Chanel proclaimed to Luther that “Only those with no memory insist on their originality. Yves Saint Laurent has excellent taste. The more he copies me, the better taste he displays.” Flash forward to present day, and designer Demna Gvasalia told Luther, “Fashion needs to shut up and look at itself—it needs a minute of silence to adjust after the pandemic.”
Working with this incredible creator on fashion shows were some of my fondest memories…and this quote is one of my favorites in the book.I met Jeffrey Banks, as did my nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club, in 2018, when we discussed his extraordinary monograph on NORELL, also a Rizzoli publication. To celebrate the beginning of year 5 of TFBC we were in conversation with another of his blockbuster books TARTAN: Romancing the Plaid, another stunning Rizzoli book. Jeffrey has become a dear friend and major supporter of the monthly The Fashion Book and The Fashion Film Clubs. I’m obsessed with this great Toledo interpretation of the talented Jeffrey Banks a true Renaissance Man!
Lucky me that I will be in a virtual conversation with Marylou for the February 28th nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club. It will be a not to be missed event…contact me at nenasnotes1@gmail.com if you need further details. In addition, The Book Stall, my Independent Bookseller of choice, has a supply of the books. I would be most appreciative if you support them for all your book purchases (This isn’t a sponsored post!!!! Just a gentle nudge!!!!). https://www.thebookstall.com/book/9780847872022
A portion of my fashion book collection in my Book Nook…forgive me if I’ve posted this on my blog before!
I can’t quite believe that we are already half way through 2022…Happy June! Nor can I believe that this month we begin year five of nenasnotes The Fashion Book Club. In many ways it has changed from its concept, yet it remains the same in purpose! Once a month a fashion or lifestyle book is featured. Usually a new publication and usually I’m in conversation with the author. Until March 2020….a month none of us will forget, you may recall the pandemic descended upon us….we met as a group at an elegant private club in Chicago for Bubbles and Bites. The first half hour was a get together and then an hour of conversation followed by discussion and a Q & A. I always had that evenings and the next month’s book available for purchase thanks to my Independent Bookseller of choice The Book Stall in Winnetka https://www.thebookstall.com Beginning in March 2020 we went virtual and have continued virtually via zoom. We began with local attendees and now have guests from all over the States! I must admit the group has changed as some of the attendees miss the in person socialization of the events, but many have been with me since the beginning!
Some of the original group
Rana Lee, a very dear friend and one of my regular supporters, suggested I begin year five by sharing the list of our books and guest authors with you. Along with that I thought it would be fun to share a few photos of some of in person programs, again my apologies for repeat photos along with some covers.
With my dear friend, Annette Findling holding the brilliant Adrian Monograph.
The list…….*indicates conversation with the author
*LOU LOU AND YVES MAY 2018 WITH AUTHOR CHRISTOPHER PETKANAS
UNMISTAKABLY MACKIE JUNE 2018 (OUT OF PRINT)
*NORELL AUGUST 2018 WITH AUTHOR JEFFREY BANKS
*BONNIE CASHIN SEPTEMBER 2018 WITH AUTHOR STEPHANIE LAKE
DIOR AND HIS DECORATORS OCTOBER 2018
CAROLYNE ROEHM NOVEMBER 2018
*PINK DECEMBER 2018 WITH AUTHOR VALERIE STEELE
*PROUST’S DUCHESS FEBRUARY 2019 WITH AUTHOR CAROLINE WEBER
*DAWNRIDGE MARCH 2019 WITH AUTHOR HUTTON WILKINSON
YVES SAINT LAURENT BIO APRIL 2019
TONNE (GOODMAN) MAY 2019
*DAWN (MELLO) JUNE 2019 WITH AUTHOR JOHN TIFFANY
THE LAST COLLECTION JULY 2019 (NOVEL)
CAMP AUGUST 2019 METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
*SKREBNESKI IN PERSON SEPTEMBER 2019 MOST SALES…AND MOST ATTENDEES A TRIBUTE TO THE BRILLIANT CREATOR AND DEAR FRIEND
*SUPREME MODELS MARCELLAS REYNOLDS IN PERSON OCTOBER 2019
With Marcellas with his first blockbuster book!
*SCRIPT FOR SCANDAL NOVEMBER 2019 WITH AUTHORS RENÉE PATRICK (NOVEL)
ADRIAN DECEMBER 2019
*RALPH LAUREN JANUARY 2020 ALAN FLUSSER ON PHONE
KAISER KARL FEBRUARY 2020
BALLERINA MARCH 2020 CANCELLED CORONA VIRUS
BILL CUNNINGHAM APRIL 2020 CANCELLED CORONA VIRUS RESCHEDULED
*THE WOMEN WHO REVOLUTIONIZED FASHION WITH PETRA SLINKARD MAY 2020 STARTED OUR VIRTUAL CONVERSATIONS
CHANEL’S RIVIERA JUNE 2020
BILL CUNNINGHAM BOOK AND DOC JULY 2020 WITH CO-HOST JEFFREY BANKS
ANDRÉ LEON TALLEY AUGUST 2020 WITH CO-HOST MARCELLAS REYNOLDS
ABOUT TIME ANDREW BOLTON MET PUBLICATION SEPTEMBER 2020
*HIGHJACKING THE RUNWAY WITH TERI AGINS OCTOBER 2020
*KENNETH WITH GUISEPPI LONGO NOVEMBER 2020
* THE WORLD OF FEDERICO FORQUET WITH HAMISH BOWLES DECEMBER 2020
LESAGE JANUARY 2021 THAMES & HUDSON RESCHEDULED DUE TO TECH ISSUES
CECIL BEATON BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS FEBRUARY 2021
*BES-BEN WITH ELIZABETH JACHIMOWICZ MARCH 2021 PARTNERING WITH THE COSTUME COUNCIL OF THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST RICHARD AVEDON BIO APRIL 2021
*FASHION LIVES: FASHION ICONS 1 WITH FERN MALLIS MAY 2021
*NAEEN KHAN EMBELLISHED WITH NAEEN KHAN JUNE 2021
*FILM NOIR STYLE WITH KIMBERLY TUMBLER JULY 2021
*DRESS CODES WITH RICHARD THOMPSON FORD AUGUST 2021
VIVIANNE WESTWOOD: RUNWAY SEPTEMBER 2021
LESAGE OCTOBER 2021
*SUPREME ACTRESSES WITH MARCELLAS REYNOLDS NOVEMBER 2021
MISS DIOR DECEMBER 7, 2021
*CHRISTIAN DIOR DESIGNER OF DREAMS WITH MAUREN FOOTER DECEMBER 14, 2021
*PATRICK KELLY RUNWAY OF LOVE WITH GUEST PETRA SLINKARD JANUARY 25, 2022 EXHIBITION NOW AT THE PEABODY MUSEUM IN SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
*HER NAME WAS CARRIE WITH JERRIE MARCUS SMITH FEBRUARY 22, 2022
*CHANEL AT THE RITZ (NOVEL) WITH GIOIA DILBERTO MARCH 22, 2022
EMPRESS OF FASHION DIANA VREELAND BIO APRIL 26, 2022
*HALSTON BY LESLEY FROWICK AND HALSTON BY FRED ROTTMAN MAY 25, 2022
I’m very excited for our June selections….I’m featuring two books with their authors….first up the brand new biography ANNA by Amy Odell who will join me in conversation on Tuesday, June 14th. The book is beyond fabulous and Amy’s attention to detail in the interviews and research is very insightful! The book has been getting rave reviews. Our evening has been in the works for months and I couldn’t be more eager to share it with everyone.
Fabulous cover!!!!
Then on Tuesday, June 28th Jeffrey Banks who joined us year one with his extraordinary monograph on Norman Norell, returns to talk about another of his books and one of his passions, TARTAN: Romancing The Plaid! Jeffrey has become a HUGE supporter of nenasnotes The Fashion Book and The Fashion Film Clubs not only attending each month but instrumental in suggesting many of our books and inviting the authors to join us…I am forever in his debt! It is a not to be missed evening.
You definitely can judge a book by its cover!Jeffrey Banks et Moi at a Service Club of Chicago brunch. In the background a photo of the cover of his Norell book!
The upcoming monthly schedule will continue to feature the newest, and, in some instances past books worth exploring, on fashion and lifestyle topics. Some novels, some monographs, some biographies some academic in scope, but I think always thought provoking. I constantly try to get the authors via zoom but even when they aren’t present our discussions become fascinating and, I hope, informative. I very briefly mentioned the nenasnotes The Fashion Film Club. That also meets monthly on the second Tuesday…I try to tie in the film or documentary with that month’s book choice. If you are interested in joining the group please email me at nenasnotes1@gmail.com. I like to keep our group small but there is always room for a few more!!!!
Looking very serious while listing to a call with the author!!
