The Art of Couture Sewing

I have ordered so many books in my lifetime - kind of a knowledge junkie. I am a psychologist (Ph.D.) and also a fashion designer (self-taught). This is hands down one of my favorite books EVER. Everything I've always been curious about in terms of couture sewing is answered beautifully, simply, and explicitly in this book. Many of the books I currently own are outdated or so technically obtuse that I become discouraged trying to understand how to apply. Not the case with this book. I absolutely LOVE it and am so grateful to have it in my collection.

I have several books on Couture Sewing but I find this to be the best. It has excellent illustrations and covers a wide range of topics. I particularly found the section on draping helpful. I took a draping class that used another book that was not nearly as good. I would have progressed in the class a lot faster if the instructor had use this book. If you are an extremely proficient sewer you may find this book too basic but if you are an immediate to advance sewer I think you will learn a lot.

I am SO glad I got this book! Detailed explanations, plain visuals, indispensable to every sewer's repertoire of books, couture and not. Don't listen to what the person said above about this 'not' being couture. I am in couture school and it teaches so much of the same in this book. Yes. There are couture schools. :)

Pretty helpful book for advanced and hand sewing technique. It refreshes a lot of new ideas with the designs created in the book. Book is good as a secondary learning source but it could use a little more breaking down in the application of producing a corset or any other advanced garment.

If I could only have one fashion/ sewing book this would be my choice. Very concise ,well written, descriptions, information, diagrams. Great useful information, tips and techniques for the couture seamstress.The end of chapter reviews I found quite tefreshing and applicable in helping me retain the content .Love it!

This book is GREAT!!! If your studying fashion concepts, how garments are constructed , how to make different kinds for ruffles, bodices building, corset building, different ways to sewing zippers. This is the book for you. I am so gald I purchased this book the money was worth it and the information is worth its weight in gold.

I was waiting this book with a lot of expectation, as a was reading the first pages I started to get very confused, I thought I was buying a couture techniques book not a history of fashion book with some basic techniques like how to sew a zipper, pin or tucks. I feel cheated this book doesn't give what it offers.

Love, love, love this book! Worth every penny! The directions are clear and easy to follow. There's plenty of couture tips, and some historical designer stories as well. This is a book that I will be referring to for the rest of my sewing fashion days!

Advanced techniques and this is a must have for a designer

From the quality of the paper which was bleeding through the other side, to the contents which may pass for primary school students.I returned it... very dissatisfied

Der Inhalt des Buches geht über Allgemeinheiten und bereits während der Berufsausbildung vermitteltes Basis - Fachwissen nicht hinaus.Für Berufsanfänger oder Quereinsteiger ist es ein gutes Fachbuch, allerdings zu einem völlig überzogenen Preis!

Firstly, the number of pages in this book is 384 (inc. Index, etc) and not nearly 500 as currently shown in the description. This book is filled with fabulous photo's of couture garments but don't get too excited as there are few, if any, close up shots of construction or design. The construction instructions are illustrated with excellent colour diagrams for each stage and they can easily be followed on their own without the bullet points if that's how you prefer to learn techniques (as I do). The brief BIO's on various couture designers are really interesting and a great break from technical issues. That said, don't expect this book to take you by the hand and guide you into constructing a gorgeous couture garment; it is an excellent reference book and certainly something you will use regularly but there are other books out there that you would need to use in conjunction with it to produce a top notch garment. But, hey ho, I'm being picky as I like to spend hours working on minute detail with pattern drafting, construction and tailoring (sad at times, eh!) but not everyone does so this will be used a lot more. Each chapter contains a section at the end of it for the student to practice what they have just learnt in order to reinforce it with practical sessions, not just book smarts, which I think is brilliant. The chapter on draping is actually really good as this subject is worthy of a book in itself so well done for making a concise, single chapter, version. Overall, a great book and worth the money.