Hi, Martin and Kyrila,
The book is indeed gorgeous and the authors are to be congratulated for a commendable exploration of Lucile's career. Visually it is certainly a feast. It's technically not a biography but is infinitely better —— a complete study of the Lucile oeuvre and illustrated, as Martin said, almost completely with images from the V&A's Lucile Archive. This originally was
Lucy Duff Gordon's own collection, preserved after her death by her late grandson, Anthony, Earl of Halsbury and donated to the V&A back in the 1960s (but until now uncatalogued).
It really is touching to see this work come to fruition as it was something Lord Halsbury was very keen to see completed; alas that was not to be, but his daughters are very pleased, and both participated in promoting the book, one attending the lecture pre-launch, the other the launch party.
For purely Titanic fans, there is little about the sinking. This book is a treatment of Lucile as a designer and "pop" figure of her time —— and what a treatment! Thorough and unabashed. I recommend it to all lovers of Edwardian era history, not just to fashion buffs as the scope is broad enough to fascinate those interested in the period's performing arts and general culture.
I would also recommend another new release that examines Lucile's influence on fashion via the Broadway stage (i.e., the Ziegfeld Follies, etc). This is Marlis Schweitzer's "When Broadway was the Runway: Theatre, Fashion and American Culture." It was published in May and features several rare archival photos of Lucile designs and one of herself, also not generally seen. And the cover art is a lovely portrait of Follies star Ina Claire in a Lucile gown!
Randy
