Couture: The Extravagance of the 1910s Paper Dolls - Softcover

Jim Howard; Paper Dolls

9781935223955: Couture: The Extravagance of the 1910s Paper Dolls

Softcover

ISBN 10: 193522395X ISBN 13: 9781935223955

Publisher: Paper Studio Press, 2014

Jim Howard, one of the greatest fashion illustrators of all-time, continues his decade-by-decade tribute to Couture fashion. His newest book for Paper Studio Press addresses the 1910s, a period when women in hobble skirts inched towards comfort, abandoned corsets and donned extravagant creations of silk, satin and velvet, lavishly trimmed with lace and fur. Two pretty paper dolls wear marvelous outfits by top designers of the period including Chanel, Jeanne Lanvin, Paul Poiret, Fortuny, Paquin and Erte. The new book in the series is a must-have for serious fashion history buffs and collectors who appreciate Jim Howard's monumental talent that turns each page into framable works of art.

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About the Author:

Jim Howard defined the art of fashion illustration during the 1970s, '80s and '90s. His highly admired work graced the advertising campaigns of America s top department stores, cosmetic companies and advertising agencies.

Instantly recognizable, Jim's style was realistic and yet totally expressionistic, too. Deep, dramatic shadows, meticulous rendering of fabrics, plus an amazing blend of freestyle sketching and careful attention to details made every one of his illustrations into a memorable piece of art.

Jim's career trajectory was a steady, sure-fire rise to the pinnacle of glamour, but it began far from the fast lane when he was born in Sterley, now a ghost town in the Texas panhandle. He immodestly jokes that he was the best coloring book artist in West Texas. Jim's first formal training was at a junior college, and then he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Texas.

Goodfriends, a store in Austin, was Jim s first job. He dressed windows and drew the ads but that was cut short by a two-year stint in the Army. He returned to Texas and took his portfolio to Neiman Marcus in Dallas, one of the world's most prestigious stores, where he remained for four years. The next step up the ladder meant a move to New York City where Jim's list of freelance clients reads like a Who's Who of fashion retailers: Bonwit Teller, B. Altman, Marshall Field's, Garfinkel's, I. Magnin, Dillards, Bon March� and others. It was when he was hired by Bonwit Teller in 1976 that his now-famous, dramatically lighted style really locked-in. I had done a small painting with lower, footlight-type lighting ... I did a sample drawing ... the first ad was a bow to the dawning space age and the more traditional, great symbol in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty. Jim then moved on to work for Bullock's in Los Angeles for ten years.

After leaving the illustration world, Jim moved to Santa Fe where he painted and showed in galleries.

Next, it was on to Albuquerque where he became active in the theater scene, acting as well as designing sets and costumes, and from there to his present home in Denver.

Jim Howard's fine art and commercial illustration has garnered many awards and been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country including the permanent collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Today, Jim is enjoying a rebirth of his fashion career through paper doll books: Jim Howard's Fashion Illustration Paper Dolls, Jim Howard's Fashion Originals, Gene Marshall and her Glamorous Friends, Four Famous Dandies, Bette Davis, Ida Lupino, Dorothy Lamour and Shirley Jones, as well as his popular COUTURE series and Fashion Original series.

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