Sarah Gristwood

No item of clothing has endured for longer than the dress. Yet the last century alone has seen the most radical changes of style--hemlines swinging from ankle to thigh, outlines alternating between the body-hugging and the bell--and our fascination w ith the frock has not gone away. From Gres' draping to Dior's New Look, from Mary Quant's mini to Hussein Chalayan's mechanical marvels, this book looks at the dress in 20th-century fashion. Thematic chapters--Changes, Feminine, Sex, Must-Haves, Fant asy, Classical, and Art--set out the inspirations and implications for each new change alongside the stunning photography. It has been more than 80 years since Coco Chanel invented the little black dress, but most women still have one in their wardro bes today. It's been decades since women discovered trousers and separates, but many women dream of wearing a glorious, glamorous gown at least once, whether it's on a Hollywood red carpet, or on her wedding day.

Holly Golightly was undoubtedly the role that made Audrey Hepburn a movie icon. Dressed by Hubert de Givenchy and holding the infamous cigarette holder, she played her most memorable part in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Adapted from the Truman Capote novella of the same name, the inspired cast took the screenplay and fashioned it into the touching comedy of a young woman finding her way in the world. 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the release of Breakfast at Tiffany's and this lavish book pays tribute to its ongoing popularity. The only official companion to be published in association with Paramount Pictures and the Audrey Hepburn estate, it includes favourite images from the film as well as unpublished behind the scenes footage from the Paramount archives, stories from the set, and a history of the screenplay since the hugely popular film. A celebration of a timeless classic, this is the perfect book for any fan of Hepburn or 1960s film-making.

Why did Henry VIII marry six times? Why did Anne Boleyn have to die? Why did Elizabeth I’s courtiers hail her as a goddess come to earth? The dramas of courtly love have captivated centuries of readers and dreamers. Yet too often they’re dismissed as something existing only in books and song – those old legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy. Not so. In this ground-breaking history, Sarah Gristwood reveals the way courtly love made and marred the Tudor dynasty. From Henry VIII declaring himself as the ‘loyal and most assured servant’ of Anne Boleyn to Elizabeth I’s poems to her suitors, the Tudors re-enacted the roles of the devoted lovers and capricious mistresses first laid out in the romances of medieval literature. The Tudors in Love dissects the codes of love, desire and power, unveiling romantic obsessions that have shaped the history of this nation.