What happens when you snap a picture of one hundred very different women all wearing the same shade of bright red lipstick? At first glance, the willingness to wear Revlon’s #740 Certainly Red lipstick is the only thing that ties them all together. But slowly these intriguing portraits reveal the women do have something else in common: the vulnerability that comes with posing for a stranger, and how each and everyone of them has made both the lip shade and the photo their very own.

Alison Houtte was raised in a family full of fashion-loving women who had a good eye for quality and workmanship. She worked as a model, moving in a world where she could further develop her knowledge of timeless styles and interesting retro pieces. Then a dream came true when she started a second career as the owner of the Brooklyn-based vintage clothing store Hooti Couture. In this entertaining memoir mixed with insider tips on how to shop vintage, the author shares anecdotes about her personal life, tells about the hunt for treasures in estate sales and country auctions, and relates the story behind well-loved pieces and some of the people who give them a new home.

In 2004 Charlotte Smith inherited her Quaker godmother’s collection of vintage clothing. With more than 3000 pieces, spanning over two centuries, it encompasses every item possible from designer ballgowns, to dancing slippers, hats and lingerie. Doris Darnell didn’t just collect these items she originally received as gifts from friends and acquaintances, but also recorded the stories behind each piece. Over the decades they’ve become an account of “the changes in social history and how women have evolved and how fashion was a big part of that”. Dreaming of Dior now combines these snippets of real life with colourful illustrations by Grant Cowan.