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16 titles for your fashion week reading list

"I don't design clothes. I design dreams." —Ralph Lauren

Calling all culture mavens, fashionistas, and style savants! It's New York Fashion Week and we're living for it! Here are sixteen trendy titles to get your glam on!

Fashion-forward fiction 

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
A small-town girl, fresh out of college, lands the job "a million girls would die for" working for a high-profile fashion magazine editor. This delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses inspired the popular movie starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep.

The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer
London 2017: After Lucille's beloved Granny Sylvie asks for her assistance with a small matter, she finds herself headed to Paris to retrieve a priceless dress. But not everything is as it seems and what Lucille finds in a small Parisian apartment will have her scouring the city for answers to a decades-old mystery.

The Last Collection by Jeanne Mackin
Paris, 1938. The rivalry between designers Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli is already legendary. When Lily Sutter, a recently widowed young American teacher, visits her brother, Charlie, in Paris, he wants to buy her a couture dress. As World War II looms, Lily becomes entangled in the designers' fierce competition.

In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
Meet Rose Feller, a thirty-year-old high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old, drop-dead gorgeous, and dreaming of fame and fortune. Two sisters with nothing in common but a love of shoes learn they are more alike than they thought possible.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is, she can't actually afford it—not any of it. The plucky protagonist at the center of this novel is ripe for transformation.

Mod memoirs and biographies 

Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem by Daniel R. Ray
With his now-legendary store on 125th Street in Harlem, Dapper Dan pioneered high-end streetwear in the 1980s. But before he reinvented haute couture, he was a hungry boy with holes in his shoes just trying to survive. In this remarkable memoir, he tells his full story for the first time.

Master of Us All by Mary Blume
One of the most innovative figures in the history of haute couture, Cristóbal Balenciaga was a man hidden from view. Even his most devoted clients like Marlene Dietrich and Barbara Hutton never met him. This biography offers a revealing portrait of the ultra-private designer who transformed the industry.

D.V. by Diana Vreeland
Brilliant, funny, charming, imperious, Vreeland—the fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and editor-in-chief of Vogue—was a woman whose passion and genius for style helped define the world of high fashion for fifty years. This is Vreeland's story, told in her own words.

Walking with the Muses: A Memoir by Pat Cleveland
Written by one of the first black supermodels, this compelling account evokes the bohemian lifestyle and creative zeitgeist of 1970s New York City, capturing its gritty glamor. Her story features some of today's most prominent names in fashion, art, and entertainment as they were on the rise.

Betsey: A Memoir by Betsey Johnson and Mark Vitulano
Mention her name and women from the age of 15 to 75 will rapturously recall a favorite frock; whether worn for a prom, a wedding, or just to stand out from the crowd in a colorful way. This memoir takes the reader behind the tutu and delves into her journey to becoming an internationally known fashion force.

The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir by André Leon Talley
During Talley's first magazine job (working alongside Andy Warhol), a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld served as a catalyst for his rise to the upper echelons of the fashion world. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging account offers a candid look at the who's who of the last fifty years in fashion.

Chic coffee table books

Barbie: The World Tour by Margot Robbie and Andrew Mukamal
For the Barbie press tour, Robbie and her stylist Mukamal commissioned the creation of Barbie's most iconic outfits from designers like Giorgio Armani and Donatella Versace. Many of these looks were never seen as the tour was cut short. This book (coming out on March 19) remedies that travesty.

Little Book of Louis Vuitton by Karen Homer
For more than 150 years, Louis Vuitton's bags have been seen on the arms of celebrities and royals alike. This is the pocket-sized and fully illustrated story of one of the world's most luxurious fashion houses, from young Louis seeking his fortune in Paris to the Great Depression to the Swinging Sixties and beyond.

Drag: The Complete Story by Simon Doonan
Drag is transformation, communication and, above all, exaggeration, where gender nonconformity is the plat du jour. Explore drag's journey through the twentieth century. From glamor drag to comedy drag and everything in between, this book offers a flamboyant and poignant survey of drag culture.

Edith Head: The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer by Jay Jorgenson
This volume brings together rare, never-before-seen sketches, fabric samples, costume tests, and behind-the-scenes photos from the Edith Head archives. Thoroughly researched and masterfully produced, the book documents Head's extraordinary career stitch-by-stitch.

100 Years of Fashion by Cally Blackman
With Over 400 photographs and illustrations, many published for the first time, this collection tells the stylish story of the fashion revolution over the last century. From home dressmaking to sportswear to uniforms to streetwear to couture, explore the most exciting and diverse period in fashion.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon