Fun Fabrics Of The 50s

Looking through the pages of this book will transport you back to the days of shirt plaids, cowboy heroes flannel pajamas, early American rec room drapery, splashy lounge chair tropical blooms, housewives' duster florals, and festive south-of-the-border kitchen curtains. This full-color book offers hundreds of fabric styles that reflect an innocent era. It will be cherished by designers and collectors alike.

Full color photos document hundreds of beautiful textiles from the Parisian high fashion houses of the 1950s. Featuring exotic and exquisite designs in silk, rayon, and cotton, these fabrics were used to create elegant women's couture fashions. Of special interest are fabric swatches reflecting seasonal styles, "special effects" photo-engraving and lavish imitation weaves. A valuable resource for designers, historians, and collectors.

Conversational prints were a prominent feature in the homes of the 1950s. These large and sometimes splashy print designs were used for drapery, upholstery, slipcover, and tablecloth fabrics, establishing a decorative theme or bringing a splash of color and humor. 250 color photos of vintage conversational prints are accompanied by full descriptions, making this a rich resource for designers and historians.

Jane Foster is one of the UK’s most exciting up-and-coming designers. An entirely self-taught illustrator and screen printer, her work is strongly influenced by Scandinavian and British design from the 1950s and 60s. Fun with Fabric is Jane’s first book, and in it she presents 15 simple projects, using fabulous fabrics from her own collection. Jane shows you how to sew and stick to create bold, colourful accessories for your home. Whether you are already hoarding stacks of vintage fabric or prefer to buy new reproduction designs, this book is packed with practical and inspirational project ideas. Patchwork cushions, bags and quilts will need some simple sewing skills, while covered notebooks, a noticeboard and pen pots can be achieved with scissors and glue. Jane’s fun and easygoing approach to her work shines through in each of the 15 projects. Here’s to embracing the retro lifestyle!

Now reissued with a striking new cover, Fabulous Fabrics of the 50s is the classic guide to the textiles of the exuberant post-war era, a time when bold new patterns and unprecedented color combinations revitalized dcor. Designs based on science and fantasy proliferated; no home was complete without boomerang-patterned drapes slung across the picture window or a cowboy-print couch in the living room. In this nostalgia-packed celebration of textile design, more than 170 full-color photographs accompany lively text and detailed captions highlighting the playful patterns of the 50s. Their genesis is revealed in equally fabulous fabrics from earlier eras, such as jaunty nautical designs from the 40s, over-blown florals of the 30s, and the deco-inspired prints of the 20s. A must-have resource book for collectors, designers, decorators, artists, style mavens, and pop-culture buffs, Fabulous Fabrics of the 50s is a chic and colorful tribute to a fascinating era in textile design.

The fabrics of the 60s reflect the changes in the larger society.The wide range of sixties designs rmove from the comforting tranquility of the early years to the bolder, "hip" end of the decade. This is a nostalgic tour of pastel and splashy florals, patchwork calicos, denims and stripes, wild abstract geometrics, and neon paisleys.

A neat collection of 1950s pattern, this book covers the heyday of postwar design where an analytical approach to design, with a lightness and freshness, combined with whimsical imagery and idiosyncratic subject matter. The designs and influences of the print gurus of the time – Lucienne Day, Robert Stewart and Maija Isola of Marimekko – are all covered. The creativity of the period – the beginning of the atomic age – is given full expression in this collection of hundreds of designs. It is an essential sourcebook for contemporary design practitioners and students. The book contains exclusive illustrations and original artwork from designers as well as finished prints. Each short chapter introduction is followed by a range of illustrations with captions to give provenance and relevance. The patterns are arranged in the following chapters: Narrative and Novelty (prints from cowboys to spacemen); Abstraction (abstracted, distorted and attenuated forms used in pattern); Artistic license (the influence of artists such as Miro and de Kooning on fashion print); Kinetic prints that showed the influence of the era's 'mobiles, doodles and spasms'.

Fabrics of the 1940s jump off the pages with vibrant colors in florals, stripes, checks, and plaids in full color photos. The war years saw a profusion of designs shown primarily in patriotic colors of red, white, and blue, many of them in patterns of stars and stripes, navy and airplane themes. Fabrics of the peace years reflect colors, bolder florals and geometric graphics that would continue well into the 50s.

"Cool" colors were hot for fabrics in the late 1960s. Hundreds of splashy colors and designs from the offerings of 1960s European and American textile manufacturers are presented in full color photos. Full descriptions and fabric content information make this a useful resource for designers and historians.

In the 1950s, women showcased their hourglass figures with cinched waists and full skirts. Their hair looked elegant and stylish in poodle cuts and bouffants. Men sported gray flannel suits and pompadours or duck tails. The term teenager was coined and companies recognized the spending power of this particular group. Elvis Presley ruled the airwaves while Marilyn Monroe was queen of the silver screen. Readers will learn about the fashions, fads, pop culture icons, and world events of the 1950s.