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Fashioning James Bond: Costume, Gender and Identity in the World of 007: LLEWELLA CHAPMAN, 2022 London, NY, Bloomsbury Academic pp. xii + 320, illus., £65.00 (cloth), £19.99 (paper) Bond, James Bond, is synonymous with many iconographic elements, from gadgets and guns to megalomaniac foes with dastardly schemes, but the sharp-suited hero and the bikini-clad Bond girl are undoubtedly some of the franchise's most recognizable icons and absolutely central to its ongoing appeal. But despite being organized by Bond, the focus does not rest exclusively on the hero himself and there is plenty of space dedicated to discussing the costuming of those aforementioned Bond girls, later re-labelled Bond women, his bosses and colleagues, as well as the villains and their inevitable henchmen. [Extracted from the article]

Exhibition Review: Japanese Garments from Two Perspectives Kimono Style: The John C. Weber Collection, New York City: Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 7, 2022-February 20, 2023 Dressed by Nature: Textiles of Japan at the Minneapolis [Minnesota] Institute of Art, June 25-September 11, 2022 Ranging from the 18th to the 20th centuries, it includes a large number of period Western garments that borrow Japanese materials or effects, as well as contemporary garments by major Japanese designers, and various other traditional Japanese garments including theatrical costumes and work clothes in addition to the expected kimono. Although made of a natural material, silk kimono was upper-class and ceremonial, whereas this exhibition focused on everyday garments and other types of cloth made of commonplace, locally available materials, such as elm bark, hemp, rice straw, paper, nettle and even fish skin. [Extracted from the article]