Now that the holidays are over and we can start shopping for ourselves again…a new suggestion for a book title that Santa prob didn’t bring – Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo from MIT Press.

A historical and fascinating account by Nicholas de Monchaux of how Playtex won the bid over military and industrial competitors to create and manufacture the Apollo spacesuit. This book combines all my favorite topics – politics, media, fashion design, and technology…a must read for all you Houston NASA history buffs (i.e. everyone at Hamilton) out there.

Order it up at Amazon, B&N, or locally here at Brazos.

via Selectism via Brainpickings

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Interesting article in The New York Times today about the history of Seattle’s grunge music scene and its influence that is still felt around the city today. Included with the article are videos, slideshows, and a quiz! (I scored “grunge rock star” – top that!) The article goes on to mention that currently on exhibition at the Seattle EMP Museum (Experience Music Project) is “Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses” the world most extensive collection of memorabilia from the bands history.

I don’t know about you, but I would totally LOVE to see this…but since I’m probably not getting myself to Washington state anytime soon, the new must have catalog is available for purchase:

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Last night in N.Y.C., the James Beard Awards were handed out to the best chefs and restaurants in America. Winning one of these coveted awards is a very big deal, its similar to to a film director winning an Academy Award for Best Movie.

Representing our neck of the woods, the Texas chef Tyson Cole won for “The Best Chef Southwest” for his Austin based restaurant, Uchi. Their own description of the place: “combining local seasonal ingre­di­ents with an infinite spec­trum of seafood from around the globe is the basis for Uchi’s culi­nary philos­ophy. We invite our diners to explore their gastro­nomic bound­aries by pairing tradi­tional Japanese offer­ings with new and refreshing flavors and textures.” Sounds good to me…example dish: Wagyu Short Ribs, Peach Kimchee, Garlic Chips. Sold.

According to their website the restaurant has two locations- Uchi, a contemporary take on Japanese cuisine and the Japanese farmhouse style Uchiko, with both places also serving sushi. These restaurants look totally fantastic, and if I ever get myself to Austin I’m going to be sure and check them out.

If you are not going to be in Austin anytime soon – you don’t have to miss out, you can check out Tyson Cole’s brand new book simply called Uchi – The Cookbook.

**UPDATE** Good News! Just noticed on their website that they are hiring all positions for their new location IN HOUSTON!!!!

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Recommended by David Hamilton, the new book to add to our list of must-reads is “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History” by S.C. Gwynne. The publisher describes the book as “a vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all”.

The first part of the book traces the rise and fall of the powerful Comanche tribe, the second tells the story of Quanah Parker, the mixed blood son of pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker, who became the legendary last chief of the Comanches. This action packed book is an amazing look at the Texas frontier in the nineteenth century, David says that most of the story takes place in areas familiar to all Texans – San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. A very interesting look at Texas history just prior to the founding of the Hamilton Shirt Company back in 1883.

Order your copy from Brazos Bookstore by calling 1.713.523.0701 or emailing direct to brazos@brazosbookstore.com.

Quanah Parker - photo courtesy Library of Congress

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If you are a fan of The Official Preppy Handbook like I am- you can stop by the Cole Haan store  (co-hosted by Brazos Bookstore) tomorrow to meet up with Lisa Birnbach, the lady the wrote the book on all things prep. She’ll be there (10/19) from 6pm to 8pm to talk about her new book True Prep: Its a Whole New Old World, where she will also be signing copies.

I’ve written about this new book before…but in my opinion, nothing will come close to the classic life-changing original.

Cole Haan, 4005 Westheimer, Houston, 77027

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You have to spend money to make money, isn’t that how the saying goes?

This new art book called Making Money is a facsimile of a small gift that Andy Warhol created to celebrate the almighty dollar to be published by Rizzoli on 9/28. Starting off as a flip book of abstractions, the images of the dollar sign eventually becomes clear and into focus. Created in 1981 for the daughter of one of Warhol’s closest friends, the lighthearted look of the 80 page book becomes almost sinister as Warhol’s belief that “Big-time art is big-time money” slowly reveals itself.

Available for pre-order here & here.

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Take Ivy by T.Hayashida is back…yet again.

If you are a regular reader of all the various style blogs out there, there is no way you’ve overlooked the upcoming re-release of the Japanese style-bible Take Ivy. Even the New York Times has recently written an article about it. This new edition is sure to get all the fashion folks worked up – with its translated English text, brand new photo reproductions, and most of all…its super low price tag.

I’ve written about this cryptically named book before – vintage copies of the tome are very hard to find, and often sell at auction for thousands of dollars. As an owner of a vintage copy (bought back in the good old days when there was such things as expense accounts..what?) it will be interesting to see how the new edition affects the price of the rare vintage copies. Luckily I got my original copy for a song. Newly listed on Amazon, the book will sell for $14.97 when it gets released on August 31st.

The small photo book takes an outsiders look at life inside the private, wealthy world of the American Ivy League – photographs of students back in sixties when the prep styles of the men’s clothes were really only worn by the entitled, privileged classes. Fashion designers, editors, and stylists worship the book – it’s a rare snapshot into this unique period of time and has influenced many fashion magazine stories, and countless menswear collections.

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Adam Perry Lang is a world class chef that trained in some of the finest restaurants around the world…Guy Savoy in Paris, Le Cirque and Daniel in New York. He mastered classic cooking techniques while working at these places with the idea that he’d eventually get to open his own place someday. Instead of going the fine dining route of his education, Chef Perry Lang took his skills and applied them to an all American classic – opening Daisy May BBQ USA in New York City.

Taking the information learned from the opening of Daisy May’s, Chef Perry Lang compiled his knowledge in to his first fantastic cookbook called Serious Barbecue. This summer he’s back with another new book..and this one is a staple that no home cook should be without. Simply called BBQ 25, Chef Perry Lang takes on the the 25 most common grilled meats, breaks down the recipes to their essence, and shows you how to make each one perfectly step by step. Its genius.

The best part? Its made to last. The book is printed on laminated board pages, so you can take this cookbook out to the backyard, spill beer and bbq sauce on it, and clean it right up. Steaks, ribs, burgers, chops, brisket, wings, sausages, you name it…you’ll be grilling it. You’ll be using this book for years to come.

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In a sequel to his previous novel Less Than Zero, author Bret Easton Ellis brings us back 25 years later to revisit his same cast of characters in the brand new book Imperial Bedrooms. What is sure to be a tough look at modern life in Los Angeles – the privileged world that was exhibited in the first book was a cold and sometimes shocking look at the 80′s MTV generation through the authors unforgiving eye.

Less than Zero has been referred to as a current day Catcher in the Rye, and one can see how that comparison could be made. Both novels feature a listless narrator searching for answers – and sometimes discovering more about the world and themselves that they bargained for. The 80′s version of the city of Los Angeles was portrayed as a harsh and materialistic landscape where sex, drugs, and violence were treated as everyday occurrences…remember this is the guy that brought us American Psycho. Its going to be fascinating to see where the author picks up with his characters, see how they’ve changed, what they are up to, and see how they surviving in present day L.A.

Check out an excerpt from Imperial Bedrooms from Esquire.com.

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Like peering into the worlds of other people? Like seeing how the other half live?

If you answered yes, then check out this new book coming out in September from the publisher Assouline & the Council of Fashion Designers of America called American Fashion Designers at Home by Rima Suqi. This new coffee table book gives you get the chance to be a total nosy-body and see at how your favorite fashion designers choose to live during their off hours.

Have a look at the All-American perfectionism of one of Ralph Laurens gazillion homes, see where Donna Karan likes to do her salutations to the sun, check out the groovy pad of Kate & Andy Spade, peer into the abode of Tommy Hilfiger for yourself. With over 100 homes included in the book, they’ll be tons of pictures to look at and analyze. Do their homes reflect their sense of fashion design? Are the designers as creative with interiors as they are with clothing? From the comfort of your lazy boy…you’ll be the judge. Are they in or are they out?

American Fashion Designers at Home, coming soon to most bookstores and available for pre-order online here.

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