Rating: 
Summary: There will never be another Adrian!
Review: Adrian was more than just a fashion designer, he was a rare artistic and creative genius. In only thirteen years at MGM, he designed the costumes for nearly 200 films...many of them classics today! He also had a hand in cultivating images for many of the movie stars of that era, such as Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. His ultimate genius pictures are "The Women" where the costumes are just as big of stars as the actresses in the film and "Marie Antoinette", the elegance and grandeur of which have rarely been repeated! This book is filled with beautiful photographs of Adrians sketches and gowns. There are some beautiful color photographs of some of the opulent gowns from "Marie Antoinette" that are just gorgeous. Excellent purchase for any film or fashion fan!!!
Rating:
Summary: There will never be another Adrian!
Review: Adrian was more than just a fashion designer, he was a rare artistic and creative genius. In only thirteen years at MGM, he designed the costumes for nearly 200 films...many of them classics today! He also had a hand in cultivating images for many of the movie stars of that era, such as Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. His ultimate genius pictures are "The Women" where the costumes are just as big of stars as the actresses in the film and "Marie Antoinette", the elegance and grandeur of which have rarely been repeated! This book is filled with beautiful photographs of Adrians sketches and gowns. There are some beautiful color photographs of some of the opulent gowns from "Marie Antoinette" that are just gorgeous. Excellent purchase for any film or fashion fan!!!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely superb!
Review: After reading one of the reviews on this site, I felt obligated to rush to the author's defense, even though I have no personal connection to him. I have long had a fascination with classic American cinema, and I got this book about three months ago. It is absolutely extraordinary -- in my mind, it is hands down the best mainstream book ever written about a Hollywood costume designer, or on film costume in general. To write, as someone else has on this site, that the book is a "disappointment" because it isn't mostly pictures is not the author's fault -- do your research before buying the book, and you'll know what you're getting. Actually, I find this comment bewildering, as Gowns by Adrian has an abundance of photos, and one of the things I found really exciting about the book was the fact that I had never seen most of them before. Howard Gutner's research skills are exemplary, and I can only imagine how long it must have taken him to put all this information into a coherent book with a strong point of view. But he's done it, and he has achieved something miraculous: he has combined scholarly research, the detachment of a good critic, articulate interpretive powers, and the unapologetic enthusiasm of a true believer into a highly readable book. It is entertaining, witty, incisive, and it made me look at films I had seen a number of times -- such as Grand Hotel, Ninotchka, Camille -- in an entirely new way. If you are interested in film, fashion, or both, this book MUST be added to your library. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Rating: 
Summary: Was surpised
Review: Got this book and was surprised. Expected it to be high quality paper and pages and pages of high quality large photos of Adrian's work and the actresses who were lucky to be in them. I was dissapointed. This book is more for fans of Adrian as a designer and want to read about him. Not a substitute for an 8x10 photograph collection (in book form)like I was hoping for.
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind, interesting read, beautiful book.
Review: I am in the middle of creating a presentation on Adrian and I haven't been able to find another book exclusively about him. Gutner covers all of his bases and recounts Adrian's fascinating life. I am actually a fashion student with a lifelong passion for classic films and have been enamoured with Adrian since my childhood 'Wizard of Oz' obsession. The pictures are awe inspiring and enough to buy the book even if you don't read it.
Rating:
Summary: A treasure, dahlings, an absolute treasure
Review: I have two favourite things to do - sew doll clothes and study classic cinema, and this book inspires both. I didn't know much about Adrian before - I was always seeing his name in credits for MGM movies, and when I heard about this book I thought, "Hey, let's get it from the library and see what it's all about." I was completely pulled into the book right away. There is a lot of text, all very informative and easy to read, and it is perfectly balanced by a whole parade of sumptuous black and white photographs of ladies gowned by Adrian, movie stills of the ladies in his designs, and several of Adrian's sketches for the dresses. I have looked at this book so many times and always find something new and interesting. I'm working on reading through it, but I am always reading here and there in it anyway, and in the filmography in the back I've been underlining the titles of all the movies he designed for that I have seen. (Quite a few, but not nearly all!) I am beginning to be able to tell just from looking at a dress in a movie whether it's one of Adrian's or not - and that's not just because I'm hearing the lion roar before the credits, either - he had a very definitive style, and when you expose yourself to enough of it, you immediately recognise it. Adrian could be bizarre and innovative in a very classy way. He knew what was right for the actress who would wear the dress, knew how to make the dresses play into the scenes in which they would be worn. He also believed that a dress should have "one note", or one thing about it that stood out and made it unique from any other gown - beading, embroidery, whatever - and I think that this is why even his more ordinary gowns had a certain look to them. This book is an education and a delight and everyone interested in fashion history, movie history, or just beautiful things should have this on their coffee table.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for both fashion and movie lovers !!!!!!!
Review: I own this book and I love it!
It showcases the one element that both the world of fashion and movies have to offer...glamour! I also love the fact that the magnificent, beautiful Norma Shearer is on the cover. An actress and star whose importance has been ignored for too long, and who deserves to be as well known as her contemporaries, such as Joan Crawford.
This book also has great and rare photos of the stars and the designer himself. It also offers great behind the scenes anecdotes, the chapter on the movie "The Women" is worth the price of the book alone.
For anyone who is interested in either fashion or movie history, here is a book to satisfy both these interests.
Highly recommended!!!
Rating:
Summary: NOT JUST A COFFEE TABLE BOOK
Review: Let me state unequivocally that I know next to nothing about fashion, whether it be for the street or the stage. So when I was given "Gowns By Adrian" as a gift, I thought I'd flip through it casually and never look at it again. On the contrary, this is a book to treasure not just for its abundance of photographs (both black & white and color) but, more importantly, for its generously detailed description of MGM, the Hollywood studio system, itself, and how a man of genius, taste, dedication, discipline and talent fit into that system. Howard Gutner's research must have taken him years and years, never mind the compiling and editing of that research. And it is all worth it. "Gowns By Adrian" takes us from Gilbert Adrian's first days at MGM, in 1928, when he replaced no less an artist that Erte, to 1941 when Adrian left MGM to open his own shop. During those years, the designer created clothes for some of the most famous movies ever released and most of the famous movie stars who appeared in them: Norma Shearer as 'Marie Antoinette' and 'Juliet,' Joan Crawford as 'Flaemmchen' in "Grand Hotel," Jean Harlow as 'Kitty' in "Dinner At Eight," Katherine Hepburn as 'Tracy Lord' in "The Philadelphia Story" and Greta Garbo in everything she did for MGM from 1929 until she left in 1941 from "Anna Christie" to "Ninotchka" to "Two Faced Woman" and "Anna Karenina." Adrian's legacy to fashion for the average woman? A dress he designed for Joan Crawford in "Letty Lynton" was "knocked off" and sold 500,000 copies nation-wide. What makes this statement even more unusual is the fact that not that many people actually saw the film: "Letty Lynton" was pulled from theatres only a few months after its release because its writers were accused of plagerism. The photographs included in this magnificently produced book are not limited to production stills. There are sketches, casual snapshops and the inevitable publicity pictures. My personal favorite is one of Adrian, himself, visiting the set of "Camille" in order to give Garbo a birthday gift. The designer stands with his back to the camera with his hands behind his back like a shy schoolboy while the great star in one of her beautiful costumes opens a jewelry box with obvious delight. Gutner makes it very clear from his first example to his last that Adrian was not just a terrific dress designer. Here was a man who understood what the character as written on paper needed to be translated into visual terms for the screen. Take a look at "The Women" and you'll see everyone of those 135 characters defined, not only by the director and the actresses, but by Adrian's clothes. One of the last paragraphs in the book tells the whole story: "My mother always told me," Robin Adrian says, "that when my father left Metro, the studio had to hire five different designers to replace him." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Glamour At Its Best
Review: On the surface tackling a subject like fashion designer Adrian might seem like an easy project. However, it becomes very apparent that this could not be further from the truth. The Adrian touch was imprinted on virtually all costumes designed for MGM films during his lengthy tenure at the studio.
Aside from the obvious consideration that the clothes he designed had to showcase MGM's roster of stars, this book accentuates the subtleties that cinema fashions require to place special emphasis not only on the actor/actress, but the parts they are playing.
Howard Gutner manages to cover a lot of ground by providing detailed descriptions of costumes designed for specific actors and the challenges which Adrian encountered. I found myself falling in love with the exquisite details of specific gowns such as those designed for the production of Marie Antoinette. I was also amazed by the sheer volume of costumes the studio (under Adrian's guidance) produced. Gutner's review of Adrian's work and his careful and caring research made this book a delightful read as well as a delight for the eyes. By the end of the book, I came to appreciate and understand the field of costume design and see it as an integral part of movie production. It certainly validated the awarding of Oscars for this category.
Adrian's artistic gifts and his sensitivity toward his subjects gave me an appreciation for his work.
Rating:
Summary: How to Properly Dress Garbo, Crawford, Shearer & Madam Satan
Review: This inspired book of fashion by Hoard Gutner is an obvious labor of love in it's 208 pages of glitter, glamour and sparkle. I never thought I'd ever be interested in such stuff as Hollyood fashion or Norma Shearer, but I was wrong on both counts. On a recent trip to New York a friend droped this book in my lap, and a casual glance turned into a serious reading within moments. Page after page of stunning photos, intricate details, and a fascinating running commentary. The text was near the equal of the pictures. It is quite obvious Mr. Gutner poured his heart and soul into the work. No telling the time and energy needed to assemble it all, but the end result is a delight to the senses. It's really worth much more than the going rate. In addition to the films of Garbo, Crawford and Shearer, Adrian also dolled up ladies in lesser movies. Such as an early work, MADAM SATAN. Set on board a dirigible, an intimate and somewhat decadent costume party is underway, and the outfits the ladies wear are divinely bizarre. In one scene the hostess, Madam Satan, shows the gentlemen in attendance her very revealing costume and asks with a knowing look "Who wants to go to hell with Madam Satan?" With Adrian's help, the answer is quite obvious. If I can be won over, so will many, many others. GOWNS BY ADRIAN is all dressed up with many places to go, my living room among them.
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