The Complete Book of Oscar Fashion
by Reeve Chace
This book, presented by Variety Magazine, takes the Oscars decade by decade in style, year by year in memorable dresses and tuxes, in this glossy velvet-covered hardback.
As someone who already knew an incredible amount of Oscar trivia before reading this book, I didn’t find it very informative. It felt like Reeve Chace couldn’t decide between an Oscar tidbit book and an Oscar fashion book, and tried to create both. Unfortunately, since only one page is given per year, it’s impossible to both include memorable moments and memorable fashion. For example, in 1985, Chace included a picture of Sally Field giving her famous “You like me!” speech. The photograph only shows the bodice of her gown, and the caption of the picture neither gives more explanation of the dress nor credit to the designer. Most designers are not credited, except for two-page spread at the start of every decade which mentions the hottest designers of the time period, and the trivia given feels out of place in what was touted as a fashion book.
Obviously, since this book was published in 2003, it’s no longer complete. The last Oscar year included is 2003, with Kate Hudson’s gold beaded Versace gown and Halle Berry’s one-shouldered Prada gown (both credited in the captions) completing the 75 years of fashion. All in all, I wouldn’t call it a bad read, but for anyone seriously interested in Oscar fashion, this might not be the most enjoyable coffee table book.
As someone who already knew an incredible amount of Oscar trivia before reading this book, I didn’t find it very informative. It felt like Reeve Chace couldn’t decide between an Oscar tidbit book and an Oscar fashion book, and tried to create both. Unfortunately, since only one page is given per year, it’s impossible to both include memorable moments and memorable fashion. For example, in 1985, Chace included a picture of Sally Field giving her famous “You like me!” speech. The photograph only shows the bodice of her gown, and the caption of the picture neither gives more explanation of the dress nor credit to the designer. Most designers are not credited, except for two-page spread at the start of every decade which mentions the hottest designers of the time period, and the trivia given feels out of place in what was touted as a fashion book.
Obviously, since this book was published in 2003, it’s no longer complete. The last Oscar year included is 2003, with Kate Hudson’s gold beaded Versace gown and Halle Berry’s one-shouldered Prada gown (both credited in the captions) completing the 75 years of fashion. All in all, I wouldn’t call it a bad read, but for anyone seriously interested in Oscar fashion, this might not be the most enjoyable coffee table book.