Pick up a fashion-fueled read for your vacation with our guide to the most stylish books for summer.

You live and breathe fashion and now you’ve finally got some time to settle down with a good book. Why not indulge your passion with a read on your favorite subject this summer season? From behind-the-scenes tales to designer biographies and style guides, here is essential fashion reading for any fashion follower.

Parisian Chic: A Style Guide by Ines de la Fressange

(Paperback)

French women may not get fat, but they’ve definitely got personal style down to an art form. Former Chanel muse Inès de la Fressange shows us how to dress like chic Parisian women. This lighthearted step-by-step guide that features adorable illustrations and photography, is a must-have for those looking to enjoy a lighthearted read poolside this season.

Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War, by Hal Vaughan

(Paperback) / (Kindle)

A fascinating look at the life of one of fashion’s most legendary stars. Revealing her secret history as a Nazi agent, the book‘s discoveries of what it took for Coco to become Chanel caused a media sensation when it was released last year.

Vivienne Westwood, by Claire Wilcox

(Paperback)

“You have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes,” Westwood famously said. Based on a retrospective of Westwood’s work shown at London’s Victoria & Albert and San Francisco’s De Young, this book catalogs the work and impressive achievements of one woman’s creative journey through fashion.

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, by Dana Thomas

(Paperback) / (Kindle)

Ever wondered why certain fashion items have become enduring icons? A revealing exposé that documents the rise and the recent decline of the luxury fashion industry – and why most so-called luxury goods are now mass-market manufactured in China along with most of our other clothes.

Blow By Blow, by Detmar Blow

(Paperback)

For anyone intrigued by one of fashions most eccentric and beloved characters. Insightfully written by her husband, this book recounts Isabella Blow’s tragic background and inspiring career. Blow bought Alexander McQueen’s entire degree show, becoming both his muse and cementing her position as a true visionary and talent.

Fashion and Sustainability: Design For Change, by Kate Fletcher and Lynda Grose

(Paperback)

A fascinating look at the potential for change in the fashion industry. Ideal for those wanting to become part of the solution, this book outlines the ideas, industry practices and innovations that will help transform the existing fashion system.

A.L.T.: A Memoir, by André Leon Talley

(Paperback)

Vogue editor-at-large, André Leon Talley apprenticed under legendary editor, Diana Vreeland. A profound influence in his life, he remembers her and other celebrities warmly in this spellbinding book detailing a 50 year long career in fashion. You won’t be able to put it down!

D.V., by Diana Vreeland

(Paperback)

Everybody loves legendary editor, Diana Vreeland. Brilliantly ahead of her time, her memoir of her early life and time spent at Vogue and at the MET is engaging and uplifting. A great book to tuck into chapter by chapter, whenever you need some inspiration – her witty observations will have you chuckling away under your breath.

Shocking! The Art & Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli, by Dilys E. Blum

(Paperback – for those with deep pockets!)

If you caught the Met’s Spring 2012 Costume Institute exhibition, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations, you’ll want to get the backstory on this celebrated designer. An insight into the fashion of the 1930s and 40s with hundreds of photos, this book showcases the vivid designs of a talent who continues to influence today’s designers.

Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, by Elizabeth Cline

(Hardcover) / (Kindle)

Looking to change up the way you consume fashion? Let Elizabeth Cline’s fast fashion journey guide you to a new approach. Every woman can relate to Cline’s frustration at her over stuffed closet and the desire to get to the bottom of a seemingly endless desire for ever more clothing.

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Our guide to this year’s best fashion exhibits.

Did you miss the magical Savage Beauty exhibit at the MET last year?  Take comfort by buying the book – a showstopper in itself – and vow not to miss another this year. Curatorial staff are realizing the particular appeal of fashion exhibits and the increased ticket sales potential. If an article in WWD on how museums are “getting fashionable” is any indication, they’ve cottoned on. “There’s a loyal following — besides the fact that fashion is fashionable,” Pamela Golbin, chief curator at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris was quoted, “There’s something very intimate about clothes.” More and more new fashion exhibits are popping up here in the United States all over the world. Several exciting ones are due to debut this year.

Here are our top 10 don’t-miss fashion exhibits of 2012.

1.  Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion, opens May 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Featuring over 80 designs by Schiaparelli and an installation that will give the effect of the two designers being in conversation with one another on subjects such as art, politics and the role of women now and then. With director Baz Luhrman serving as the exhibition’s creative consultant this show promises to follow up on the success of last year’s groundbreaking Alexander McQueen exhibit.

2. FIT NY and the CFDA collaborate to celebrate Impact: Fifty Years of the CFDA at the FIT museum from the 10th of February through until the 17th of April. The leading trade organization of fashion designers presents a tribute to the creativity of American talent and will showcase designs from Halston, Norman Norell, Pauline Trigère, Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Rudi Gernreich, Bob Mackie, James Galanos, Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Isabel Toledo, Rodarte, and Proenza Schouler.

3. Chanel: Designs for the Modern Woman at the Mint Museum Randolph in Charlotte, North Carolina continues thru February 26. Pioneering clothing that was comfortable, casual and enduring in its construction and style, Coco Chanel (1883-1971) remains a pivotal figure responsible for much of what is still considered modern in women’s fashion in the 21st century.

4. A retrospective of designer Christian Louboutin at London’s Design Museum opens March 28 – July 1 and promises to be as red-hot as his signature soles. The exhibition coincides with the publication of a coffee table book documenting Lobuoutin’s work. Mulholland Drive director David Lynch photographed some of the designer’s most fantastical creations and John Malkovich wrote the foreword.

5. If you are in London, you must check out Fifty Years of James Bond Style at the Barbican, opening in April. In addition to Mr. Bond’s Savile Row tailoring, expect to see  lavish Bond-girl finery by Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Roberto Cavalli, Thierry Mugler, Miuccia Prada, Oscar de la Renta, Emanuel Ungaro and Donatella Versace.

6. Also opening in the 2012 Olympic Games host city is the sure-to-impress Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum 
running May 19, thru January 26, 2013. Featuring evening wear from the V&A’s vast collection of British designers, the exhibit will show a selection of royal ballgowns including a Norman Hartnell gown designed for Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Diana’s “Elvis Dress” designed by Catherine Walker and gowns worn by today’s young royals.

7. Paying tribute to the legendary French designer Yves Saint Laurent — The Retrospective opens March 25 at the Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colarado. Organized thematically, the presentation showcases over 200 pieces that explore the full arc of Saint Laurent’s developing style and turbulent inner life.

8. If you didn’t catch The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk at the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas (runs thru February 12) head to San Francisco’s Deyoung Museum where it will run from March 24  – August 19. Dubbed fashion’s enfant terrible, his often provocative messages are enhanced by the sublime construction of his clothing.

9. Set to open on the last night of Paris Fashion Week, March 9, and run until September 16 at the famous Museé des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs exhibit weighs the careers of both designers. The show aims to compare their bodies of work and offers a potential explanation as to why Jacobs and his ready-to-wear approach could never replace Galliano at Dior.

10. Azzedine Alaïa in the 21st Century currently at the Groninger Museum in Holland and running thru May 6, celebrates the body-con creations of the great Tunisian-born couturier. Now in his 70’s, the designer recently became an outspoken proponent of slow fashion, saying “Four collections for women, four collections for men, another four collections to sell, and everything needs do be done within four, five months—it’s a one-way course towards emptiness. It’s inhuman.”

Top Image: Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty

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