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For a fashion lover enamored with pictures and the stories from the society pages around the world, books are never an impersonal gift. They're a guaranteed joy spreader, and one we'll gladly get down and nerdy for. After the jump, find ten tomes, and something for everyone, no matter if the fanatic in your life is into just pictures or actual words, history or memoir, stylish socialites or high caliber designers. Happy gifting!
1. Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington, $35
Countless excerpted teasers, illustration sneak peaks, and buzzy articles have heralded the Vogue editor's memoir, so it's an insta-win for any fashion follower. The New York Times Sunday Book Review says the following of the memoir: "Devoting extensive space—an entire chapter, in fact—to her beloved house cats, Coddington comes across as more kitten than tiger. In a way, 'Grace' feels like the diary of a woman who has managed, against the odds, to remain a girl while building a high-profile career." What the Book Review might not understand is that cats are the fastest way to fashion folk's hearts.
2. Empress of Fashion by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, $35
Liesl Schillinger of the New York Times calls this particular Diana Vreeland bio (there are many, many bios) "dazzlingly comprehensive, perceptive and many-sided."
3. Fashion Designers A-Z published by Taschen, $350
This one is for the fashion fangirl or boy that's packing in both the wallet and the bicep: It's 650+ pages and costs $350, but pulls from the archives of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology to chronicle a century's worth of "greats"—103 greats to be specific. It's the prettiest and most thorough encyclopedia on the shelves.
4. Schiaparelli & Prada: Impossible Conversations by Andrew Bolton, $45
For the cerebral style stalwart, Schiaparelli & Prada: Impossible Conversations was released in conjunction of this year's MET Costume Institute exhibit by the same name. See where these two taste makers—and taste offenders—overlap despite the difference of decades, creating an sharp barometer for fashion and culture in the last century.
5. Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cohen, $35
With a moral of the story that can be taken as "we're not dead yet," careful who you give this one to. But the style book based on Cohen's blog and featuring septa-, octa-, and nonagenarians exclusively is really about confidence, irreverence, and living life to the fullest. Guaranteed inspiration, no matter the receiver's age.
6. W: The First 40 Years by Stefano Tonchi and Christopher Bagley, $75
If you're into famous people doing "controversial" things in highly stylized ways, this is a great buy. As the title suggests, it covers four decades of high and low fashion from one of the most preeminent magazines out there, and, not to sound like a broken record, but the imagery is stunning.
7. Kate: The Kate Moss Book, by Kate Moss, Various prices
Of course one of the greatest British supermodels of all time has a slew of titles that bear her name, but this one was "written" by Moss herself. It includes industry stories as well as her iconic poses, and it's like a preview to the documentary that's on the way. Highly anticipated, it'll definitely be a crowd pleaser.
8. Tim Walker: Story Teller by Robin Muir and Tim Walker, $75
Another high ticket item this year, Tim Walker's retrospective chronicles his surreal, tongue and cheek, and often moving photography that's been in Vogue, W, i-D, Harper's Bazaar, and many others.
9. Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible by Tim Gunn and Ada Calhoun, $28
The crossover fashion and history lover, our second Tim on the list starts his historical sweep with Adam and Eve's sartorial choices and works up from there, hitting on everything from Queen Victoria's corset to Hillary Clinton's pantsuits.
10. Vogue Weddings: Brides, Dresses, Designers by Hamish Bowles, $85
You don't have to be a wedding fanatic, nor getting married, to covet this one, but you do have to appreciate the exquisite dressing of society. Expert tip: Unless you're keen on dropping hints to your main squeeze, keep it hidden and read in secret, preferably with some form of ice cream.
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