Gifting the fashionista in your life can be tough. What is their size? What styles do they prefer? Do they already have that outfit? And let’s be honest: fashion does not come cheap. What about a book? Wait, hear me out. Fashion books don’t have to be stuffy. They are lavishly illustrated and something that people rarely buy for themselves. Plus, you can borrow a book and not worry about dry cleaning it before you return it.

Here are Spork Fashion’s top picks for this holiday season:

For Anyone and Everyone On Your List
The One Hundred: A Guide to The Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own by Nina Garcia
A veritable encyclopedia of fashion. From the A-line dress to the zippered hoodie, Project Runway’s Nina Garcia counts them all down. Tips, tricks, classic fashion quotes, and anecdotes are sprinkled liberally throughout. Learn the history of the Converse All-Star sneakers, listen to Nina’s top 10 fashion songs, learn to spot a fake Louis Vuitton, and study the four Cs of diamonds. With copious, colorful illustrations by Ruben Toledo and a modest price tag, you can’t go wrong with this one.

The Dress Doctor: Prescriptions For Style From A to Z by Edith Head
Another reprint, this one from Hollywood costuming goddess Edith Head. Part style guide, part Hollywood tell-all, Head shares her philosophies on dressing (like how to dress for a baseball game or horseback riding, why jewels are a necessity, and how to dress to fit your personality) and shares anecdotes on her time dressing some of the most famous and infamous stars ever (Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Shirley MacLaine, Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson… the list goes on). Part philosopher, part best friend, Edith Head should be on everyone’s bookshelf. Go ahead - grab a copy for yourself.

For the Shoe Fetishist
Vintage Shoes by Caroline Cox
Over 200 lavishly illustrated pages of shoes, organized by decade. Major fashion statements, innovations, and designers of each decade are discussed. And of course, page after page after page of shoes. Traditional pumps, towering platforms and wedges, hippie sandals, dominatrix boots, jeweled mules, sculpted heels, ballet flats, and more. I love the concept shoes - check out the Astro-Turf sandals and the Meat Pumps. There is even a chapter on collecting vintage shoes, though it makes me sick to think of all these beautiful shoes sitting in display boxes. They should be out in the world! With a foreword by Christian Louboutin, this is shoe porn at its finest.

For the Jewelry Fetishist
Adorn: New Jewelry by Amanda Mansell
This fat volume is loaded with nearly a thousand images of some of the most amazing jewelry ever created. Divided into type of piece - earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, brooches, and “body art” -each chapter opens with a brief history of each type of jewelry, then steps out of the way for some of the most lust-worthy pieces you will ever see. Standout necklaces include a rubber collar dipped in gold, a necklace made entirely out of lockets (rather than on a traditional chain), a string of beads that is actually made from charcoal, and many pieces made from recycled and reclaimed items; brooches are mixed-media masterpieces, made from wide-ranging substances like an entire, slender slice of tree trunk, cell phone keys, formica, spider egg cases, as well as traditional metals and jewels. The body pieces chapter is like abstract art that can be strapped to the body: porcelain shin guards, Plexiglas thong, candelabra bra, and much more that is just indescribable. My favorites are the rings - they are amazing, wearable pieces of art, many with moving parts, all architectural, and any one I would be honored to wear. My one complaint about this book (besides the painful envy it inspires) is that I desperately want to know the story behind every piece, but you don’t get the story behind any piece.

For the Indulgent
Style File: The World’s Most Elegantly Dressed by Ike Ude
This tremendous and slick volume collects interviews from over 50 of the world’s top arbiters of style. Slick photographs accompany Proust-like questionnaires on each person’s take on style, fashion, inspiration, designers, and more. Interspersed throughout are essays - both text and photo - representing different photographers, styles, and more. Some of the names are familiar (Dita Von Teese, Diane von Furstenberg, Hamish Bowles, Christian Louboutin) and others are more obscure (Betony Vernon, Lapo Elkann, Harumi Klossowska de Rola), but all are fabulous.

For the Eco-Conscious
Green Designed: Fashion by Christine Anna Bierhals
One of the things I have discovered in writing this blog is that green fashion is not an oxymoron. Does your hippie friend refuse to give up her shift dress and Birkenstocks? Does your spoiled friend refuse to care about the Earth because she doesn’t want to give up her cute wardrobe? Then this is the book for them. With profiles on 55 cutting-edge designers, Green Designed: Fashion details the histories of these designers, what makes their designs green, and where you can buy their pieces. Sumptuous fashion photography make this book downright indulgent. You will find a vast array of designers in this book, from pret-a-porter (Camilla Norrback, Viridis Luxe, Emily Katz, Noir, Linea Designs, Leila Hafzi, Mark Liu) to street wear (Adidas, Nike, Skunkfunk, Armed Angels, Junky Styling) to casual (American Apparel, Beau Soleil, Room to Roam), even haute couture (Caloli, Celine Faizant, Linda Loudermilk, Patrick Lafrontiere).

For Your Gay Best Friend
Modern Menswear by Hywel Davies
Because guys are no longer relegated to jeans and t-shirts, or track suits and sneakers, we present to you Modern Menswear. Granted, I’m sure your gay friends are good dressers, but the designs in here might scare your straight, sloppy boys. Start them off slower, with designer jeans and a blazer. But Modern Menswear shows off everything from pret-a-porter to haute couture. An international lineup of designers can be found within, from big name designers such as Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Viktor & Rolf, and John Galliano to lesser-known designers like Kim Jones, Raf Simons, Spastor, Aitor Throup, Siv Stoldal, and Meadham/Kirchhoff. This will become his bible.

For Your Kid Sister
Girligami by Cindy Ng
It’s fashionable and crafty! Keep your little sister’s sticky hands out of your closet while she folds her own shoes, purses, dresses, and suits. It’s not all fashion accessories: she can fold fortune tellers, Valentine candy, ice cream cones, cupcakes, antique phones, panda bears, chocolate-dipped strawberries, koalas, cats and dogs. A chapter on project ideas give instructions for turning tiny paper objects into jewelry, pins, greeting cards, and more. The book includes over 90 pieces of origami paper. Go through them all too quickly? More can be printed from the book’s website.

For the Intellectual
Glamour: A History by Stephen Gundle
While all the other books on this list have been primarily art books, Glamour: A History is closer to a text book - but a really interesting one. It charts the history of glamour, what constitutes glamour, and how society has turned certain things (like, say, jetting off to Monte Carlo) into glamourous events. Starting with 18th century France and taking us all the way through today, it examines the positive side of the glamourous life - and the sleazier side.

For Your Creepy Cousin
Gothic: Dark Glamour by Valerie Steele and Jennifer Park
Dressing goth is no longer a derogatory term. You can find it at Hot Topic
in the malls, and it has gone through cycles on the runway. Gothic: Dark Glamour examines the gothic tradition and its influence on modern fashion. Streetwear is examined from Gothic Lolitas in Tokyo to the cyber-goths and gravers in the US club scene. Haute Couture is examined from designers like Yeohlee, Anna Sui, Gucci, and Olivier Theyskens, with special attention given, of course, to John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. And that is just to name a few. Steampunk’s influence on fashion is also touched upon. A separate section takes a look at music’s influence on gothic fashion, starting with the 1970s punk scene and moving into “classic” goths Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, and The Cure. Co-author Steele previously wrote The Corset: A Cultural History, which you can bet any self-respecting goth has sitting on her shelf. This is the perfect companion piece.

For the Nostalgic
Wife Dressing: The Fine Art Of Being A Well Dressed Wife by Anne Fogarty
Wife Dressing, while a bit old-fashioned, has lots of wardrobe-management tips, everything from the essentials to the best ways to store your clothing. A reprint from the 1950s, written by a fashion designer and wife, a lot of the advice is old fashioned and sometimes just bizarre (like, “should my car match my outfit?”). It’s kitschy fun nonetheless. Just read it with a grain of salt.