cover image Fairie-Ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand

Fairie-Ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand

David Ellwand, Eugenie Bird. Candlewick Press (MA), $40 (130pp) ISBN 978-0-7636-1413-3

Fairies hover in a handful of enchanting offerings this fall. If Weetzie Bat were one, she might don the diminutive designs featured in Fairie-ality: The Fashion Collection from the House of Ellwand with ""couture and photography"" by Ellwand, captions by Eugenie Bird and illus. by David Downton. It's the materials that make the clothes so special. Organic offerings include Seashell Sandals, Harlequin Bell Bottoms made from red and yellow gerbera petals cinched with a daisy belt and, of course, the wedding dress, its gauzy train a delicate construction of goose feathers and calla lily, with a snail shell waistline and fluffy rabbit's foot clover rimming the bodice. The oversize edition is designed as an haute couture catalog; with saucy copy (""This elegant and sophisticated gown... blends drama and whimsy a perfect expression of the woman you are"" reads the copy for the Mother-of-the-Bride Gown) and retro-Vogue illustrations it's spot-on and out of this world. Budding designers can test their fashion sense with a spread that overlays several 1/3 pages, allowing perusers to mix and match the ingenious outfits. (Nov.)