Launched earlier this month, this book is a must-read for fashion history enthusiasts with a keen interest in menswear. It explores how the style lexicon for men in the 20th century was shaped by the rugged masculine wardrobe of silver screen rebels and took influences from workwear uniforms and military and aviation gear. Among the purveyors of this new attitude in men’s fashion were ‘bad boys’  like James Dean, Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando, who popularised staples such as denim, T-shirts and military-style bomber jackets.

$80.66 on Amazon

This publication accompanies the upcoming exhibition of the same name at The Museum at FIT – it’s New York’s only museum dedicated solely to fashion – that will take place in Sep 2023 and explores the interaction between food and fashion over the past 250 years. Edited by the museum’s curator of education and research Melissa Marra-Alvarez and its associate curator of costume Elizabeth Way, the book covers topics such as the art of food styling and the use of food on the runway, as seen at brands like Raf Simons and Moschino. 

$60.51, available on Amazon

Model-turned-legendary French fashion photographer Sarah Moon takes us on an epic visual journey of Dior’s history in this 240-page three-volume photo book. With her trademark style of using blurred aesthetics, Polaroids, halftone photos and erasing faces, Moon presents readers with an ode to femininity. The images include black and white pictures of the maison’s original designs; photos of garments designed by Dior’s various artistic directors from 1958 through 2015; and finally, images following the arrival of Dior’s current artistic director, Maria Grazia Chiuri. 

$201.69, available on Amazon

Swiss costume designer Rene Hubert (1895-1976) is often remembered as the creme de la creme of costume designers – for good reason. In his lifetime, Hubert had styled the likes of classic Hollywood icons such as Gloria Swanson and Marlene Dietrich with his opulent and glamorous gowns. He was even nominated twice for an Academy Award – for Best Colour Costume Design for Desiree (1954) and for Best Black-and-White Costume Design for The Visit (1964), which his last ever film at the age of 70. Beyond dressing the stars, he also designed uniforms for Swissair flight attendants – a true mark of his versatility as a designer. Explore Hubert’s oeuvre with this publication, which boasts sketches, costume photography, film stills and excerpts from his unreleased memoirs, alongside interviews with industry insiders.

$59.64, available on Book Depository

Queen Elizabeth II’s wardrobe choices throughout her reign were part fashion diplomacy, part sartorial tour de force (cue the fabulous bright mono-coloured sets she favoured). In this book, Jane Eastoe, a veteran journalist and author for over 35 years, chronicles the late monarch’s fashion timeline and shows how she redefined royal fashion throughout her 70 years on the throne.

$40.32, pre-order on Amazon

Before Patricia Field skyrocketed to fame with her work in Sex and the City, she was hobnobbing with drag queens, artists and creative visionaries in her eponymous East Village boutique, which closed in 2015. In her first memoir, 82-year-old Field recounts her journey from scrappy Queens kid to legendary costume designer known for her work in The Devil Wears Prada and Emily in Paris. While these works have paved the way for some of the fashion trends of the times we live in, Field believes that no one should be chained to fads. A rule breaker herself, she has catapulted sportswear such as scuba-inspired neoprene miniskirts and zip-front tops to the mainstream, by carrying them in her boutique at a time when sportswear wasn’t cool enough for the fashion industry. 

$47.06, pre-order on Amazon

Before hip-hop culture influenced luxury streetwear and produced fashion stars such as Pharrell and the late Virgil Abloh, what were its fashion origins? Associate curator of costume for The Museum at FIT, Elizabeth Way, and assistant professor in the advertising and marketing communications department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Elena Romero, analyse that question by looking at how it has evolved over the past 50 years, beginning from hip-hop’s root as a form of self-expression born of aspiration, individuality and practicality. With a foreword written by the iconic Slick Rick himself, this is a must-read for any Stan.

$60.04, pre-order on Book Depository

Another Dior read makes its way into our ranks. Photographer Robert Polidori documents the transformation of Dior’s mythic Parisian headquarters at 30 Avenue Montaigne. Following its reopening in 2022, this 180-page full-colour coffee table tome offers an insider’s look into the store’s radical transformation, which Polidori was granted exclusive access to. Diehard Dior fans who’ve followed the brand over time will appreciate this gorgeous homage to Dior with the book’s neon printing, hand-tipped images on crystal paper, and a beautiful hemstitched cloth cover. If you’ve got an eye for jarring aesthetics, you’ll also fawn over the stunning contrast of couture creations photographed against the rugged anti-fashion backdrop of the renovation works. 

$164.91, pre-order on Book Depository

There is a Karl Lagerfeld moment in fashion right now. Besides this year’s Met Gala theme being ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’, there is also this upcoming biography by William Middleton. The author sheds light on the long-serving Chanel creative director’s extraordinary life and his inner world, through his time working in Paris for publications such as Women’s Wear Daily and W.

$38.98, pre-order on Amazon