SKU: 52794369850

"Charles James: Architect Of Fashion- From The Wardrobe Of Lisa Kirk & The Collections Of Homer Layne & FIT"

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"Charles James: Architect Of Fashion- From The Wardrobe Of Lisa Kirk & The Collections Of Homer Layne & FIT"11 1 2" x 8 1 2" (menu size) Cover artwork by 'Antonio' Lopez FIT Exhibition March 23 May 1, 1993 w 11" x 4 1 4" folding [4] pp. card laid In w the (55) CJ lots featured [2] pp. Scroll Down for (2) Additional Scans: Charles James (1906 1978) was a designers designer. Although greatly admired by other couturiers, such as Christian Dior and Jacques Fath, he was unknown to the public at large. Indeed, he was often on the verge of bankruptcy, despite

11 1/2" x 8 1/2" (menu size)
Cover artwork by 'Antonio' Lopez

FIT Exhibition March 23 - May 1, 1993

w/ 11" x 4 1/4" folding [4] pp. card laid-In w/ the (55) CJ lots featured 

[2] pp.

Scroll Down for (2) Additional Scans:

Charles James (1906-1978) was a designer’s designer. Although greatly admired by other couturiers, such as Christian Dior and Jacques Fath, he was unknown to the public at large. Indeed, he was often on the verge of bankruptcy, despite creating expensive clothes for some of the world’s most discriminating clients, such as Mrs. Randolph Hearst and Millicent Rogers. A brilliant designer, but a difficult and tormented personality, he made fewer than 1000 garments over the course of a 50-year career. There are many stories of his eccentricities: once, for example, two clients wanted the same dress, so—like King Solomon—he cut it in half. The extreme rarity and originality of his existing garments makes them among the most valuable objects in museum costume collections.

Born in England, James began his career as a milliner in Chicago, working under the name Charles Boucheron. Then he moved to New York, where he also began designing dresses. The influence of millinery can be seen in the way he juxtaposed rigid geometrical forms and fluid folds. Many couturiers of the 1950s incorporated boning and padding into their dresses, but James went much further, often creating an elaborate infrastructure, encasing the wearer’s torso. A virtuoso with fabric, he would then create a superstructure of artfully-draped silk and satin. James is best-known for the intricately-cut, often asymmetrical ball gowns that he designed in the 1940s and 1950s, which sold at the time for about $1500, and can easily fetch 100 times that figure today. A fashion journalist described one evening gown as “so intricately shaped, so marvelously massed into drapery that every angle presents a new silhouette.” The Museum at FIT owns several gowns that James designed for the performer, Lisa Kirk, as well as a beautiful example of his most famous dress, the Abstract or Four-Leaf Clover ball gown. His quilted, padded evening jackets are also justly famous. Although best known for his ability to “sculpt” with fabric, James was also a brilliant colorist, masterfully juxtaposing unexpected colors, such as golden yellow and ice blue.
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SKU: 52794369850

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ckksgrl
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 4
Battery issue
Format: Board book
Battery came dead
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Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2026
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Lauren Brandstein
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
Initially Scary, Now Beloved Animal Sounds Book
Format: Board book
Got this for my 1.5 y.o. for the holidays. She was initially scared of the sounds (which are pretty loud and not volume adjustable). We read it several times without hitting the buttons. Then I would occasionally push some of the buttons for her. Later she got bolder and started playing with it by herself, pushing them at random and perusing the book. Now she has the positions of every button memorized and loves this book. We call it the Big Book and it was in the daily rotation for weeks. We still pull it out from time to time, and she is able to play with it independently as well as have us read the stories to her. Totally worth the money and shelf space. 10/10 would buy again.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2022
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C. Brown
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 5
Grandkids love the book and especially the flashlight.
Format: Board book
All of Eric Carle's books are great. My 2 1/2 yr old granddaughter is especially interested in flashlights these days, but household flashlights are too bright for kids who tend to flash them in people's faces. This is a low-beam flashlight that compliments a fun book and she loves them both.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2020
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Flygirl
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
Good book
Format: Board book
Cute story book my granddaughters love to read before bed.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2025
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Melanie Jasinski
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 5
We love reading this book
Format: Board book
Such a cute interactive book. We love reading books right before bedtime. Your kids gonna love it.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2025

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