Ilex What They Didn't Teach You in Fashion School

What They Didn't Teach You in Fashion School: What you need to know to make it as a fashion designerThis book is part of a "What they didn't teach you in [...] school" series. If you want to earn a living from fashion design, this book makes clear that your design talent and hard work will not be enough to get you the job you want and that you can't just sit around waiting for others to build your career for you. Much of the contents of this book will all be familiar to anyone who's done a commerce or business course, but may not be to those who've focused on fashion design. Essential business topics are covered, tailored to the budding fashion designer.=== THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK ===* This is a really fascinating read that covers so many topics a budding fashion designer wouldn't even have thought of let alone looked into* Smart hardback book in a compact format that feels good in the hands* Printed on good quality paper* You can dip in and out of the book, looking at topics that interest you, rather than having to read it cover to cover* The book is packed with fascinating and useful information* Business and career development topics are covered comprehensively, and are tailored to the needs of the aspiring fashion designer* The format has been improved since the previous book in the series (in that book, many of the case studies and quotes from artists and tutors were in tiny black text printed on deep red paper making them hard to read; that feature is absent from this later book, perhaps because of feedback from readers)=== NIGGLES ===* The font is tiny, making it difficult to read. The annoying thing is the tiny font isn't about fitting a lengthy work into a small book, because there's lots of white space on each page; it's done for stylistic reasons.* The text is pushed over to the right-hand side of each page, which is visually jarring because about two-fifths of each page is white space and the text is squashed over into the other three fifths.For sale at the time of writing this review at £14.99.

There is no biography of the author Jay Calderin, but one suspects they are USA based. The book is small hard bound slightly smaller than A5. The 205 pages contain snippets of information divided into 9 sections. The print is small and there is a lot of wasted space, the pages are indented by a around a third from the left hand margin. Every 8 pages there is a green coloured page perhaps with a sketch or a quote. This doesn’t enhance the readability in my world. I get the use white space in cook books, gives space to write notes but here it is just a waste of paper. The book has obviously been written to a formula- there is a similar publication ‘What they didn’t teach you in design school’.The content in my opinion as a non fashion designer is basic. e.g. ‘a garment which is tailored to the individual is generally referred to as bespoke’ !!! There is bite sized pieces of information- the text lacks depth.Having been around UK unis reviewing under grad courses they will for sure be covering this info and a lot more and students who have under taken A level business will also be familiar with aspects of this text.So perhaps purchase this for a youngster interested in international fashion, not a graduate.

This book is uniform with the others in this handy series and is a compact, hardback volume, nicely presented, though with rather small print.It is a very useful book however; it can be read through, dipped into (it seems eminently laid-out for that) or used as a reference – whatever way you choose to use it it is a rewarding, insightful and practical publication.I don't work in the fashion field myself, but I know many people (textile designers, jewellers, graphic designers, photographers and freelancers) who work or have worked in this huge, multi-faceted industry and they share much common ground with us artists (deadlines, creativity issues, working partnerships etc.) so I found the advice, suggestions and inspirational comments in the book to be interesting and - I should think – very helpful and supportive to fashion designers of all levels.A very good volume to have if you work - or intend to work - in fashion regardless of your chosen discipline.

These days colleges and universities are making more of an effort to prepare students for the world of work outside education but nevertheless the books in this 'what they don't teach you' series are very useful for any student preparing for life after study. This fashion school based one is no different and it is excellent. It gets the student thinking clearly about their focus and priorities - including setting their own style, how they are going to start making their way in the industry, how the fashion world works and so much practical and sensible information on next steps to take in pretty much any direction the student chooses, including staying connected to learning and growing as a creator of wearable art. There is nobody better to learn from than someone who has been there before you, and this book is clearly written by someone who knows the ropes. Yes, it is American in its focus, but so much is transferable - including the fashion industry itself.

The begging of the book focuses on the importance of a concept design and how to make a good product - research and skill being the basis of grounding yourself as a fashion designer. It covers what seems like everything - working for someone else via an entry level scheme like an apprenticeship, or starting your won business and how to deal with the specific practicalities of that, but overall the book is very in-depth tips on how to keep learning, and keep progressing.One fantastic thing is it's very comprehensive - as a book it requires actual reading, and it's best to do it in chunks. It's wonderfully upbeat, with helpful quotes to keep you going when the prospect of freelancing and possibly giving up on your lucrative dream seems too much.The overall tone of the book is very well written - it's very 'real world', doused in realism about expectations of yourself in the beginning, and how to lay the foundations of working without being disheartened, whilst still remembering the dream.I have another book in this series and they look really nice together on the bookshelf...maybe not relevant to the content, but as a book lover that loves everything about them including the physical design, I like this a lot.