DIVA
Five fabulous books to entertain and inspire you. By Jennifer Schembri.
The Hundred Dresses by Erin McKean, £17.95 Published by Bloomsbury ISBN 978-14081-9050-0
The Hundred Dresses takes its inspiration from the children’s book of the same name, in which protagonist Wanda Petronski is bullied for saying she has a closet filled with a hundred dresses. She is persecuted by the other girls who don’t believe that anyone could have that many, until they realise that Wanda’s imagination is bigger than any closet. In this book Erin Mckean, with a little help from talented illustrator Donna Mehalko, details one hundred dresses that she deems the most iconic styles of our time. Some are labelled by style – the bandage, the bubble, the wrap – some by the women or designer that made them famous – the Marilyn, the Mouret, the J-Lo – and some by the event for which they are appropriate, from a garden party to the Oscars. I love how dresses range from casual to formal; they are an entire outfit all in one garment and can be transformed through your choice of accessories. Information on background, accessories, related items and the people who made it famous accompany each dress in the book, and there is a healthy dose of humour too. For example we are told that the Baby Doll is accessorised with Mary Janes, copious false eyelashes and the propensity to call unrelated grown men “Daddy”! This would make a fantastic gift for dress lovers of any age.
Art Doodle Love by Dawn DeVries Sokol, £9.99 Published by Abrams ISBN 978-1-61769-012-9
This little book doesn’t constitute reading material as such; instead it is an art journal in which you can unleash your thoughts and feelings by way of both words and doodles. I actually think it’s a pretty good idea, because when faced with a blank page in a sketchbook I feel that I have to create a masterpiece, and a blank page in a notebook requires my neatest handwriting. But here there are no rules and no blank white pages in sight. There are verbal prompts and various starting points for doodles that encourage you to relax and be creative without overthinking things, and it’s really quite therapeutic! It takes me back to my school days, when every notebook and folder was decorated with doodles that represented my life at that time. Art Doodle Love gives you permission to do this again. Dawn believes that not only will art journaling provide you with a more creative document of your life than simply writing a diary, but also that looking back over it when you are in a creative slump can help to spark new ideas. For anyone who feels that a blank page is only deserving of a masterpiece, I’d suggest giving this book a try..
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MY-CREATIVE DIVA
www.my-creativediva.co.uk
August 2013