FITS 499 - Independent Study

"CultureShock! Italy is the must-have guide for anyone living or working in Italy and who wants to decipher this diverse and rich country. This book will guide you through the highs and lows of adapting to Italian culture, offering useful tips and suggestions along the way. Learn about the geographical diversity of the country and how to hire a geometra for all your accommodation needs. Navigate your way through Italian body language and discover what it really means. Understand Italian family values and pick up tips on business etiquette. Through CultureShock! Italy, you will not only understand the country and its people, but learn how to adapt to and appreciate its unique and valuable qualities."

The 'CultureShock ' series is a dynamic and indispensable range of guides for those travellers who are looking to truly understand the countries they are visiting. Each title explains the customs, traditions, social and business etiquette in a lively and informative style.

The Fashion Insiders' Guides are carefully curated compendiums of the current hotspots, classic haunts, and hidden gems of the world's greatest fashion destinations. A former Parisian living in New York, French Vogue correspondent Carole Sabas was often approached by friends and colleagues on their way to Paris for Fashion Week, looking for the best place for a quick facial, early morning yoga, or to meet a friend for a drink. So many people asked, in fact, that she produced a small guide filled with advice, which she gave out for free. Requests for more information and other cities came pouring in. Abrams is now making Sabas's Paris and New York guides available to everyone, with expanded content including chapters such as "Eating and Drinking," "Beauty," "Health," "Shopping," "Art," and an eclectic selection of odds and ends called "Might Be Useful One Day." Written with a light touch and in a friendly tone, each entry includes a description of the recommended spots with hints about when to go, who to ask for, and what to get, as well as location and contact information. The inclusion of additional advice from local fashion celebrities on their favorite places to frequent puts readers confidently in-the-know. Peppered throughout with drawings by a noted and local fashion illustrator, these beautifully designed guides will be the must-have accessories of the season.

Written by outspoken, authoritative experts, Frommer’s Italy 2016 shows travelers how to experience the country the way the locals do. This classic Frommer's series includes exact prices; candid reviews of the best restaurants, attractions and hotels in every price range (from hostels to guest-accepting palazzos); and dozens of detailed maps. We also include advice the tourist board wouldn’t approve of: which sites to skip, how to avoid the crowds, and how to stretch your travel budget further, whether you’re on a lavish honeymoon or backpacking through The Boot. Includes a fold-out map. To La Dolce Vita!

"In the two decades between its debut performance and the death of impresario Sergei Diaghilev in 1929, the Ballets Russes was an unrivalled sensation in Paris and around the world. But while scholarly attention has often centered on the links between Diaghilev's troupe and modernist art and music, there has been surprisingly little analysis of the Ballets' role in the area of tastemaking and trendsetting. Ballets Russes Style addresses this gap, revealing the extent of the ensemble's influence in arenas of high style--including fashion, interior design, advertising, and the decorative arts..."

"From diapers to Dior, saris to serapes, the world of clothing is nearly as vast and as ancient as the human race. Tracing the stylistic and functional threads that unite clothing across time and cultures, as well as delving into the divergent styles and significance of apparel, this A to Z encyclopedia is the essential resource for exploring the relationship between culture and couture..."

"Provides facts and information about the cultural, religious, and social implications of human decoration and adornment throughout history, with a particular emphasis on the decades of the 20th century. In 500 entries, detailed information about clothing, hairstyles, tattoos, jewelry, body piercing, feet binding, and other types of fashion or style is examined. Entries explain the fashion or style within the context of the traditions, customs, rituals, and practices."

Over the last 180 years designers have propelled fashion from an elite craft into a cornerstone of popular culture. This brilliantly written guide to the lives and collections of 55 iconic fashion designers draws on the latest academic research and the best of fashion journalism, including the authors' own interviews with designers. Beginning with 19th century couturier Charles Frederick Worth and concluding with the star names of the 2010s, Polan and Tredre detail each designer's working methods and career highlights to capture the spirit of their times.This beautifully illustrated revised edition features five new designer profiles: Hedi Slimane, Raf Simons, Phoebe Philo, Alessandro Michele and Demna Gvasalia. It's also been updated throughout to reflect a fashion world in constant ferment, with designers swapping jobs and fashion houses at unprecedented speed. The industry has expanded into a global phenomenon - and designers have emerged as true celebrities; The Great Fashion Designers explores their passion and flair to show us fashion at its most inspirational.

"Paris has been the international capital of fashion for more than 300 years. Even before the rise of the haute couture, Parisians were notorious for their obsession with fashion, and foreigners eagerly followed their lead. From Charles Frederick Worth to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, fashion history is dominated by the names of Parisian couturiers. But Valerie Steele's Paris Fashion is much more than just a history of great designers. This fascinating book demonstrates that the success of Paris ultimately rests on the strength of its fashion culture – created by a host of fashion performers and spectators, including actresses, dandies, milliners, artists, and writers..."

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Our sense of smell is crucial to our survival. We can smell fear, disease, food. Fragrance is also entertainment. We can smell an expensive bottle of perfume at a high-end department store. Perhaps it reminds us of our favorite aunt. A memory in a bottle is a powerful thing. Megan Volpert's Perfume carefully balances the artistry with the science of perfume. The science takes us into the neurology of scent receptors, how taste is mostly smell, the biology of illnesses that impact scent sense, and the chemistry of making and copying perfume. The artistry of perfume involves the five scent families and symbolism, subjectivity in perfume preference, perfume marketing strategies, iconic scents and perfumers, why the industry is so secretive, and Volpert's own experiments with making perfume. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Note: See Chapter 11 "Sixteen Key Markets" for information on France and Italy.
With the aid of the specially developed 5 COCOs model, expert authors demonstrate how to get your communications right internationally and ensure that meetings, both face-to-face and virtual, go according to plan. Barry Tomalin and Mike Nicks offer strategies and tactics for getting people from different countries on your side, detailing the knowledge you need to make the right impression and to avoid causing offence. The authors provide a framework for understanding any culture in the world, but include specific chapters on the predicted top 16 economies in the world in 2050 (as predicted by Morgan Grenfell bank)."

Opera is often regarded as the pinnacle of high art. A "Western" genre with global reach, it is where music and drama come together in unique ways, supported by stellar singers and spectacular scenic effects. Yet it is also patently absurd - why should anyone break into song on the dramaticstage? - and shrouded in mystique. In this engaging and entertaining guide, renowned music scholar Tim Carter unravels its many layers to offer a thorough introduction to Italian opera from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.Eschewing the technical musical detail that all too often dominates writing on opera, Carter begins instead where the composers themselves did: with the text. Walking readers through the relationship between music and poetry that lies at the heart of any opera, Carter then offers explorations offive of the most enduring and emblematic Italian operas: Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea; Handel's Julius Caesar in Egypt; Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro; Verdi's Rigoletto; and Puccini's La Boheme. Shedding light on the creative collusions and collisions involved in bringing opera to thestage, the various, and varying, demands of the text and music, and the nature of its musical drama, Carter also shows how Italian opera has developed over the course of music history. Complete with synopses, cast lists, and suggested further reading for each work discussed, Understanding ItalianOpera is a must-read for anyone with an interest in and love for this glorious art.

"Taking a global, multicultural, social, and economic perspective, this work explores the diverse and colourful history of human attire. From prehistoric times to the age of globalization, articles cover the evolution of clothing utility, style, production, and commerce, including accessories (shoes, hats, gloves, handbags, and jewellery) for men, women, and children..."