fashion

What a disappointment. Although when the back cover photo credit is wrong, you should know what to expect. An uninspired, cliched collection of frequently used photos and text. The publisher does a good job of choosing subjects that get lots of attention - I guess that eliminates the need to do any work editorially. If you are really interested in this subject, get the recent Vanity Fair article.

I say this because there could've been a lot more personal information about the lives and styles of the selected ladies (and a few more pictures of their outfits!), and there were much better pictures available of some of the ladies. There were missed opportunities to show better pictures of Wallis Warfield Simpson, C.Z. Guest, Nicole Kidman, Paltrow, Coco Chanel (there was a spectacular Cecil Beaton portrait of Chanel that was in the Vanity Fair issue--they should've printed it in this book), and the pictures of Jackie Kennedy Onassis were rather poor choices. This book reminded me a lot of "The Power of Style" (which I think is still available). I still liked it enough to purchase it because the book is very elegant and does contain some nice pictures. I just think it was a lost opportunity to really "lay on the style" by including MORE and BETTER pictures. I also didn't see much good in just printing the LIST of names of the ladies who've made the list--we have no idea of WHO or HOW these ladies looked! Why not at least a small picture of these ladies and their sartorial choices? Overall, a nice addition to a fashion lover's book collection, but I was a little disappointed by what COULD have been (yes, I keep repeating myself)...Don't forget to try to get "The Power of Style" (and "The Power of Glamour", which is about movie star style)--you would really like these books if you like Ultimate Style.

Amazingly beautiful book - fabulous pictures of the most stylish people - decade by decade. A great foreword by Eleanor Lambert - doyenne of the best dressed list! Love, love love this book - beautifully designed etc. Great for research, for browsing and for just dreaming over! Love the large format - this one's going on my coffee table for all to see! A classic book on classic style...better than Vanity Fair's crappy attempt recently to do their own best dressed list! Shame on them and kudos to Assouline for doing it right!