ImageHe was one of 20th-century fashion’s most brilliant couturiers and one of its most notorious enfants terribles. “The New Look,” largely credited to Dior, was really invented by James, whose nipped waists and umbrella skirts would come to define ’50s femininity. Klein’s challenge is that so much of the story rests with James’s clothes, about which she provides granular detail. But the book’s few photos leave you craving a better look as the narrative spirals into a tiresome list of seemingly every socialite and aristocrat who ever attended a ball in prewar Europe. She ends up trapped in very stylish weeds, lacking the proper storytelling devices to scythe her way out.

Source: New York Times July 27, 2018 09:00 UTC