David Downton

this past week i read one of the books for the book awards reading challenge, Fairie-ality by David Ellwand. It won the British Book Award. This is a beautiful, stunning book for the pictures alone. Fairie-ality is the fashion catalogue of the premier couture house for fairies, the House of Ellwand. But it is so much more than that. It loosely tells a story of fairies frolicking, having balls, dating and ends with a wedding with outfits for all events shown. The clothing is exquisite. They are made from leaves, stems, rose petals, lilies, violets, thistles, feathers and more. It's a shame they don't make them for the big people. There are hats and dainty little shoes, party dresses, frocks, wedding gowns, trousers, pants, skirts, men's clothing, women's clothing. if you like fairies, then you will like this book.… (más)

I found this book a few years ago when shopping for Yuletide gifts and promptly chunked down a portion of my Christmas Club stash right then and there on moi! I couldn't resist it and it surprises me that it isn't more well known. It is truly splendid! It's a colorful catalog of fairy fashion that had it been available to me when I was a fairy loving child would have made me feel like I'd died and gone to heaven. The emerging spring flowers outside my window have reminded me of this book and as it's one of my favorites I want to introduce it to you. I hope you'll check it out because words really do not do it justice. It's really not a children's book per se yet it holds a lot of appeal for the childish among us, young and old alike. While its imaginary tone is from the world of make-believe, its artistry is very real indeed. I would have to say this is the most beautiful book I've seen in years.

Forget about Paris or Milan or New York! If you want to know who's burning up the runways with the season's haute couture, look no further! Enjoy this detailed catalog of The Fashion Collection known as Fairie-ality from the innovative and expressive House of Ellwand, designer to the Folk, par excellence.
It is an elegant, beautifully crafted coffee table volume in a gold hard cover edition. It is delightfully witty and captures the fashion world's nuances and idiosyncrasies in good fun and high style. Whimsical water color sketches of a type from fashion's heyday in Vogue Magazine introduce the various themes and creations while full dazzling color photographs present exquisitely detailed and meticulously handcrafted high fashion of the fairy realm.

The commentary is breezy and bright and oh, so, in the know! Charming inserts such as a mix and match catalog, removable invitations in envelopes, and advance notices are sprinkled throughout the book. Gatefolds, velum and foil papers add a distinctly lavish touch. The artistry is unparalleled and uses the finest of natural materials, including feathers, seeds, and myriad examples of the exotic floral and other botanical resources joined with a master's eye for flair, movement, and color. Enjoy eclectic designs filled with flash from shoes to hats and everything in between.

Not only are we invited into this exclusive world of fashion but we are made privy to the parties, the cotillions, moonbeam swims, firefly hunting, midnight dancing and all of the biggest names in fairy society. Fashions for ladies and gentlemen grace these pages as do fashions for the entire wedding party from the flower girl to the bride. As the wedding fashions featured in this collection indicate, it is a very chic bride who will walk the bridal runway on the arm of her proud father this season. The detail here and the witty humor can be enjoyed over and over again with each foray seeming to present new delicacies of fashion delight.

The descriptions for the designs are each more tantalizing than the one before as evidenced by this commentary for the astonishing Maid of Honor dress: "Silky crow feathers and a single green parrot feather gather in layers, creating the touch-me velveteen look of the skirt - spellbinding. The bodice and straps are lily leaves; the overbodice, a whispering tracery of skeleton leaf. Sumptuous."

One of the many reasons I love this book is that as a child I spent many dreamy hours making fairy fashions myself along with fairy houses from things I gathered on my treks through meadow and marsh, up hill and down dale. Fairies have been in my life since I was a toddler at my Nana's knee. My Nana was a fashion designer and a talented seamstress and she was Welsh so of course she had an inside track to the fey folk. She spent hours telling me all about the secret lives of fairies and of course she knew endless details about fairy fashion. This book is like the ultimate result of many fashion fantasies I had in my heart back then. It's so much fun to see fairy design come real in photographs! Nana would have been so pleased with this book.

This book is a true work of art from beginning to end and I think most anyone will at least admire it's detail and perfection of execution. Fairy friends will, of course, be enraptured by it. Any creative, artistic, whimsical, young at heart, fashion conscious, costume or dress-up aficionado will treasure it. It's the pick of the crop. Tre chic!… (más)