Julia Faye Dockery SmithSomething to Prove: A Biography of Ann Lowe America's Forgotten Designer: With Black and White Photographs

What an interesting and informative read. Ms. Lowe excelled against many difficult odds and should be better known as part of American design history. Her story is inspiring and in some ways heartbreaking given the many barriers she had to overcome, but personal perseverance and belief in her self shows what can be accomplished, no matter the odds.

Not a book I would typically be interested in but it grabbed my attention. Glad I read it! It’s a very quick read also.

I had never heard of Ann Lowe, but am glad I came across this book. This has been my year to meet several designer who I had never heard of, and at 81, there's no time like the present! Like Ann I loved to sew, and perfection was mandatory. If you're going to make a garment, do it right. I will remember Ann, and her accomplishments!

A wonderful read about an inspirational lady in history.

It was very informative. It taught me a lot about designers and fashion in general. I reccommend this book for people above 12 years old

This book was okay. It was not exciting, rather boring, but the pictures of the dresses were good. It did amaze and depress me that this talented designer had absolutely no financial or business sense. How sad.

A great designer's story to be read and not forgotten. The book was easy to read and is inspirational.

Love reading about her highs and lows. Interesting read👍🏾

Evidently, Anne Lowe was a strong independent classy and committed lady.She was the Coco Chanel of the US. But was hidden from the glory she was entitled to just because of the colour of her skin.This book is well written, it’s historically factual and written with the intention of showing the world how a hardworking family created a place in the world by overcoming the obstacles that were created for them to keep them enslaved. (This isn’t one of those racist point the finger at white people sort of books). But it does give insight into just how complicated a persons life was just because of the colour of their skin.Ms Lowe was a very talented seamstress and her success was not easy, she is an inspiration to all women.I really enjoyed reading about Anne Lowe, her achievements, seeing the beautiful dresses she created on socialites. I cannot gush over this book enough. I really enjoyed it.

Beautiful and powerful!

I love reading biographies and this one ticked a number of boxes; Fashion and a black woman making it in a tough and competitive business. The story was an interesting one; a young woman coming from a poor back ground in Alabama rising to the heights of New York fashion. Julia Smith has done her research well and has put many pictures relating to Ann Lowe in this book. She also quotes all her sources at the end of the book. I would recommend that if you get this book you do so in paperback. On my old Paperwhite kindle the formatting was off and the pictures small and didn’t do the detail on the dresses any favours. What I enjoyed most about this book was the social and economic history provided about the time Ann lowe lived in. One of the drawbacks to this book was that there just isn’t much known about this woman, making this a short read. I would recommend the paperback and let the photos speak for themselves.