Discarded Vintage Library Books

Whilst attending night school at a junior high school in the US one evening for a Japanese Class, I saw a cart buried in books with a sign on it that read " Old library books, FREE, help yourself! ". So, I had a rummage around during a break from my class and found these two gems.


The first, entitled "The Concise History of Fashion and Costume", was published in 1969 and has some amazing sketches, illustrations and photos.There are loads that i love, but here are my favorites;

(i'd love to own this coat)

Lanvin sketches from 1931

Photograph from 'The Evening Standard' 1968

Yves Saint Laurent sketch .

Interestingly, after this sketch, there was an article about the 'new' see through clothes, and how these would 'for obvious reasons' not become popular. 

If only the author could fast forward to today.

The book is a small-ish hardback book, and has this very sixties print on the front and back. Best of all though, it has its library index tags on the spine, and still has its 'due date' stamps inside the cover. 

My second free find of the evening, was entitled "Heavens to Betsy!" and has nothing to do with fashion at all. It basically contains everyday expressions and phrases, and attempts to explain their origins.The author is a bit wishy-washy when trying to pin down the origins of some of the phrases, however I love the randomness of it , as well as the illustrations (by Tom Funk - what a great name) on page 144 of a 'Bear with a sore head', and on page 89 of 'Putting on the dog'.