Manton's book is out

[Millerp]

Originally Posted by edmorel

No offense to the author but what purpose does a book about clothes/suits serve if there are no examples/pictures? Is this book more of a historical perspective on these matters or is it more of a "how-to" a al Flusser? Don't see how the publisher expects this to sell well outside of us forum nerds without the requisite photography. I couldn't imagine reading a book about architecture and not have pictures of buildings.


I believe Manton explained in earlier posts that while he wanted
pictures, the publisher refused on financial grounds.

Maybe if the book is a best seller, the second addition will
include pictures

 

[Alias]

Or you can just read the book and ask us here on SF for visual guides.

 

[dah328]

Or read the excerpt from the link in #41 and you'll no longer have any questions about the utility of the book.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by Millerp

I believe Manton explained in earlier posts that while he wanted
pictures, the publisher refused on financial grounds.

Maybe if the book is a best seller, the second addition will
include pictures

I understand that it was the publishers decision, it just makes very little sense. Take this excerpt:

"I wish to add here that a jacket with higher shoulder pads is an absolute boon to the diminutive man, because the raised collar and shoulder line increases the sense of height more than any other mode. When such jackets have lapels with high notches, so much the better"

How many average joe's on the street will have any clue what this means? Pictures of notches, gorge lengths, different shoulder styles would be very instructive. From the publishers perspective, who is the target audience and why save a couple of dollars if it is going to narrow your potential customer base.

All that being said, I wish Manton good luck as he has directly helped me and I would suggest that he find another publisher for his next book

 

[Millerp]

Scroll down about 6 posts.

Publisher:
"it's not that kind of book"


http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...ghlight=manton


Well, we think it should be

 

[oscarthewild]

This was brought up before so I dont want to take credit for it. How difficult would it be to set up a companion website for illustrations? Disk space is getting cheaper by the minute.

Maybe Manton would be kind enough to put together a set of images that he would have liked to have included in the book. Put them on a website along with refs like. Page 34, 2nd paragraph etc.

That would be most beneficial.

-

 

[dah328]

I don't think Manton got to the point of commissioning illustrations or photos for the book so he couldn't put together a website without a lot of additional work. Perhaps we could put together a wiki page with some example photos and/or illustrations for some of the more difficult concepts in the book. I have, after all, seen some very helpful illustrations on the forum of different elements of suit silhouette and fit.

 

[j]

I checked out the book yesterday at B&N. I decided not to buy it quite yet as I wanted to find out about buying an autographed copy (and maybe directly from the author, as I would guess he would get more of the proceeds). It looks very interesting. I am also honored that Manton thanked me personally in the acknowledgments page (second or third page) along with a thanks to the forum.

I had to get the B&N guy to dig it out from the back as they hadn't put them out yet, but he said they would be going in the Beauty and Grooming section, which has nothing else similar and I think is not the right section for the book. Rather than subject the copy I looked at to that, I put it neatly on a table of "Great Gift Idea" books or something like that. Father's Day is coming up - maybe we should all go to our local bookstores and sneakily help them properly merchandise the book in the section for Father's Day books.

Originally Posted by dah328

I don't think Manton got to the point of commissioning illustrations or photos for the book so he couldn't put together a website without a lot of additional work. Perhaps we could put together a wiki page with some example photos and/or illustrations for some of the more difficult concepts in the book. I have, after all, seen some very helpful illustrations on the forum of different elements of suit silhouette and fit.

I noticed and was a bit disappointed about the lack of illustrations as well. I actually started sketching out some quick illustrations for some of the more difficult concepts last night with an eye toward putting them up on the wiki. Of course, professional photos would be better... maybe Chuck or Andrew would like to donate some of their auction pics for comparison shots? (E.g., difference in gorge height, different shoulder types, lapels, etc.)

 

[Steve B.]

Guys- proper illustrations aren't cheap.

I haven't bought the book yet either for the same reasons J. hasn't, but I'd guess doing the photos right would be at least 5K, whether you posted them on the web or not.

Printing costs would triple with illustrations as well.

What counts is if it's selling and it is.

PS I won't be able to make 6/1, so I may just have to buy one and get him to sign it later...

 

[Siggy]

Probably Manton will have to use the sucess of this book to pressure the cheap publishers into agreeing to illustrations for his next book. They didn't need full color spreads like Flusser has, simple black and white drawings would have sufficed.

 

[odoreater]

Haven't read the book yet, though I'll probably pick up a copy when I get around to it, but, just a thought. If you get your "style" from a book, as far as I'm concerned, you don't really have "style." If the reason you don't do something is because someone in a book said that you shouldn't, even though you and others around you think it looks good, then you ain't got no style.

 

[jcusey]

One of the things that makes this book so wonderful is the sophistication of its writing. Sure, it could be read as a straight-forward instruction for dressing well given your body type, just as its inspiration could be read as a straight-forward handbook for dictators; and it would be successful and useful if it were read that way. But there's more to it than that, just like there's more to The Prince. For those who choose to make the effort to understand it, it advocates a philosophy of dress that is informed but not imprisoned by traditional rules. More that that, it's funny. Very funny. Laugh out loud funny. That's not what one would expect from a book about clothing; but it is very refreshing, especially as an antidote to Flusser's overblown, stilted writing style. Finally, it's utterly ingenious. Yes, its structure is modeled on The Prince. You'll notice many of the surface similarities (the writing style, the number of chapters, the dedicatory letter, etc.), but it goes much deeper than that. Compare the number of the times that Manton writes "I say" to the number of times that Machiavelli does, for example. And that's just the beginning.

The book can be had for less than $20. You're crazy if you don't pick up a copy.

 

[kolecho]

I will definitely get one when I am in NYC next month. I do agree that pictures and sketches would help. It would be great if Manton could share what he had already prepared to go with the text with us forummers.

 

[LabelKing]

For the best quality in book ilustrations, an arthouse publisher such as Assouline or Taschen would be superior over the more mass publishers.

In fact, what makes Taschen so compelling are their high quality visuals, and relative low prices.

 

[jcusey]

Originally Posted by kolecho

I will definitely get one when I am in NYC next month. I do agree that pictures and sketches would help. It would be great if Manton could share what he had already prepared to go with the text with us forummers.

Manton has many talents, I'm sure, but I doubt that he's much of a graphic artist or photographer. I would imagine that he has an idea of what sorts of illustrations he would have like to add, but it's unlikely that he has anything prepared as such.