Books
Fashion in American Life
Essay. "Rags: The Birth of Personal Style in Print" is featured in the upcoming edited publication, Fashion in American Life (Bloomsbury, 2024).
Bloomingdale's 150
“In honor of Bloomingdale's 150th anniversary, we're thrilled to present Bloomingdale's 150, a decade-by-decade look back at the legendary store, and the birth of American style. With a forward by Harper's Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Samira Nasr, and 258 pages of arresting imagery, designer interviews, and groundbreaking fashion, the exquisite coffee table book chronicles the store's illustrious history of pushing boundaries, defining trends, and making style a source of creative expression.”
Worked with Bloomingdale’s, researching their history and developing their archive, to be used in a book for their 150th anniversary. Historical research, photo research, timelines, video research, editing, and writing all special sections of the book.
Publisher: Melcher Media (November 2022)
Available: Bloomingdale’s
A new book documenting A-2 “bomber jackets” worn in WWII by men of the Army Air Corps with interviews and portraits of surviving service members. Since 2014, John Slemp has been shooting these jackets and the artwork painted on them at the highest resolution possible. This archival coffee table book will contain the most comprehensive collection of flight jackets, artifacts, and personal accounts from the WWII historical era.
Chapter on the influence of these jackets on fashion and popular culture by Laura McLaws Helms.
In 1970, Baron Wolman (1937-2020) took what he learned from his years as the founding photographer of Rolling Stone magazine and partnered with Mary Peacock, Daphne Davis, and Blair Sabol to publish what he affectionately called "The Rolling Stone of Fashion." The new magazine was called Rags, and though it folded in 1971 after only 13 issues, its seismic effect on the content and style of contemporary fashion magazines is still felt today.
THE VERY BEST OF RAGS – 254 pages of carefully selected content from the original 13 issues of Rags, and the 2 early prototype editions.
Foreword by Baron Wolman.
Introduction by Laura McLaws Helms.
Edited by Dagon James.
THEA PORTER: BOHEMIAN CHIC
Thea Porter (1927–2000) came to epitomize bohemian chic in the 1960s and ’70s, using an eclectic mix of luxurious fabrics for her signature flowing dresses that became favorites of stylish women everywhere. Faye Dunaway, Joan Collins, Barbra Streisand, and Elizabeth Taylor were fans; Vogue’s Diana Vreeland championed her clothes; and today vintage Thea Porter is worn by Kate Moss, Nicole Richie, and other fashionistas. This first book devoted to the UK-based fashion designer features new photography of her fabulous clothes as well as press clippings, sketches, and excerpts from an unpublished memoir she wrote about her aesthetics, philosophies, and work.
Foreword and afterword by Thea's daughter, Venetia Porter
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Victoria & Albert Museum (April 7, 2015)
Available for purchase on Bookshop and at most good booksellers
Essay. "Krystle and Alexis: The Princess and the Queen Bitch in Dynasty" is featured in the edited publication, Fashionable Queens: Body Power Gender (Peter Lang, 2014).