what’s in vogue . . .

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events

rizzoli publishes some of the most beautiful books in print today; when i lived in new york, i often found myself tempted into their shop on my way to or from work appointments. though i never had enough spare cash to indulge myself in a glossy new book on west 57th street, i often had very good luck further downtown in scoring some of their fine art books secondhand.

there’s no better way to pass the time than to leaf through a high quality book, with its scholarly writing, heavy paper, and beautifully turned out photos—who could ask for more?

actually, there might be just one thing—what about doing an absolutely gorgeous publication on our favorite wooly topic? well today i’m holding just that—a delicious new offering from rizzoli about vogue knitting.

the book tells the story of vogue knitting magazine, beginning with a brief history of the publication, told in words and pictures.

a good number of vintage covers are used to illustrate the magazine’s timeline, a reminder of its history as knitting’s premier fashion magazine.

VK has been graced with the work of fashion’s best photographers as well—even today, it continues to present knits in fashion stories that occur within a constructed photographic “setting”.

while we now have several beautiful knitting magazines, each with a slightly different approach to presenting knit fashion, vogue knitting has the longest history among those currently published.

and during the 80s and 90s, it was the only one we had and whatever it was showing was considered the height of current knitting trends. i know that personally, i always looked forward to seeing what was shown next.

and while these large, oversized sweaters were never a good fit for my frame, i still very much enjoyed the presentation of current fashion trends presented by VK.

my favorite inclusions though were always their new takes on classic sweater designs—i loved to see colorwork and texture used in ways that married very traditional techniques with new shapes or updated detailing.

the book includes a wonderful retrospective of some of VK’s best designs as well as some of its trendiest—there are many sweaters included that i still would knit today.

and fortunately, the book includes patterns for all of the sweaters featured in this review.

the magazine not only featured well-known photographers, but also clothing designers and continues to do so today. perry ellis, calvin klein, and isaac mizrahi are just a few that have contributed to the magazine.

this direct link and crossover with 7th avenue fashion houses distinguishes vogue knitting from other magazines of our craft.

having such a long running publication history enabled the editors to include a feature that i just loved and looked forward to in each issue—the “[XX] years ago in vogue” feature, where a beautiful sweater from another era was resuscitated and made new again by the magazines design staff, complete with before and after photos.

the rizzoli edition covers all of these much-loved facets of the magazine’s history, including instructions for the pieces shown throughout, taking us right up to the current decade

similar to the the rowan compendiums, but with lots more history included.

a short section of techniques and and explanation of abbreviations used throughout the patterns is included at the back.

the book is a wonderful tribute to a magazine with such a long and illustrious history; i like that so many of my own favorites are compiled into one volume.

and fortunately for us, rizzoli has generously set aside one copy of vogue knitting to be mailed to one lucky reader.

if you’d like to win a copy, leave a comment at the end of this post by 9 pm EST on thursday, nov 17 and you’ll be in the running. we’ll announce as soon as possible after that; i’m teaching at a retreat over the weekend and i’m not sure when i’ll be posting (definitely by next tuesday, though).

have a good week; i’ll be back with some knitting news soon.

427 thoughts on “what’s in vogue . . .

  1. Oh.. this book is just amazing!!
    I hope I win 🙂 Thanks for being such a GREAT “blogger” Anne – I always look forward to what you have to share!!!

  2. What a wonderful book! I would love to have a copy, now that you’ve reviewed it so enticingly!

  3. Love Vogue and its history, and your review was wonderful. Thanks for offering it up for a chance to win!

  4. Love VK and their patterns. Thanks for a great review and for offering up this history for a chance to win!

  5. Love VK and the lovely patterns, Thanks for the chance to win it! Great review!

    And yes, this time my email should be correct 🙂

  6. The new Vogue book looks like it has a wealth of information in it. Have been a fan of it for years — even before I learned how to knit!!

  7. This is a beautiful book along with the wonderful history and info. It would be wonderful to get it!

  8. I loved Vogue Knitting in the late 80s when I learned to knit. I knit for a few years, quit for about 15, and picked it up again about 5 years ago. Vogue Knitting is still there inspring me.

  9. just the couple of pages I’ve seen, I see two sweaters that I really like; and you know how speedy I am when I see a sweater I like!

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