Guest post: Sophia Bennett on inspiring fashion pictures

Today, I'm thrilled to be hosting the final book tour stop for Sequins, Stars and Spotlights, the third book in Sophia Bennett's Threads trilogy. And I'm especially thrilled to present a special guest post from the author herself. Take it away, Sophia!

*****************

Fashion pictures – la la la


When Lauren suggested themes for this, the final stop on the blog tour, I loved the sound of ‘My favourite fashion book covers’. So off I went to look them up. And then I got distracted. Lauren – I hope you don’t mind.


As soon as I got onto Google Images, I found myself looking at fashion illustrations more generally, and reminding myself of some of the people whose pictures have inspired me. Here are my top five. Any one of them could, I’m sure, have created a fabulous cover for Threads. (Oh, and by the way, I’ve also included Giles Deacon – who did. Thank you again, Giles. I’ll always love that hardback edition very much.)


1. First off is Erté. Russian. Slightly decadent. Flamboyant. Playful. I discovered him at school and I had this book of paper dolls from the 1920s. I ADORED it. I collected posters, calendars and books with his illustrations – whatever I could find. Crow would love him, and be very jealous that he designed for the ballet, which is her biggest dream.

2. Next up is Norman Parkinson. For me, he’s the photographer of the 1950s, when chic was at its chic-est. I love the way he frames his pictures. The car. The New York skyline. There’s always such a story going on and I want to be a part of it. (If you like this sort of thing, by the way, follow Digs Frocks and Books here: http://digsfrocksandbooks.blogspot.com/)

3. Cally Blackman’s illustration of a cocktail dress is also (yay, Lauren!) a book cover. I love the way she’s suggested the dress with splashes of paint. Fabulous. Wish I could draw like that. (Ooh just realised – a character in my new book’s called Cally. Coincidence?)

4. I discovered Corinne Day last year. She was the photographer who made Kate Moss famous in her teens. Corinne was often friends with her models and they loved working for her. She could do original shots (Kate controversially in her undies in Corinne’s flat) or others that were inspired by the greats and gave them a modern twist. She died last year of a brain tumour. Here, she’s summoning up the sheer amazingness of behind-the-scenes V&A. Nonie heaven.

5. The very amazing GeckoGrace is a teen blogger who wrote to me about Threads. I then discovered her website and her fabulous illustrations and writings. Here’s a recent drawing from her blog [http://geckograce.wordpress.com]. I love her photography too.

Also, I promised you that hardback edition of Threads, with an illustration done specially by Giles Deacon. It’s in the spirit of all my favourites. Lucky. Me.

I’d like to thank Lauren and all the bloggers who’ve hosted me on what’s been a (for me) wonderful tour. You’ve made the launch of Sequins very special for me. Thank you, everyone.

*****************

Thank you, Sophia for sharing such a wonderful post with us!

Check out Sophia's website here for the inside scoop on the Threads trilogy.