Paperback: Made For Each Other, by Bronwyn Cosgrave

Bloomsbury £8.99 (308pp)

From a "pretty, drop-waist skirt hung in petal-like tiers" for Mary Pickford (1929) to the "aqua and sapphire hand-stitched embroidery to complement Nicole Kidman's pale blue eyes" (1986), this breathless, immaculately researched account explores the symbiosis of fashion and the Oscars. In prose richly accessorised with adjectives, Cosgrave records such winning apparel as the "customised, diamond-laden Jimmy Choos" that failed to fit Cate Blanchett (1999) and the "skimpy bejewelled bikini" and "low-riding, licorice-whip-sexy, black Lycra leggings" scarcely worn by Cher (1988).