Reviews for Fashion Cultures Theories, Explorations, and Analysis

The average rating for Fashion Cultures Theories, Explorations, and Analysis based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-06-04 00:00:00 James Stewart This gorgeous colourful book brings back memories of a fashionable age where styles were garish, sometimes outrageous but always stylish in keeping with the times. The images certainly roll back the years and some of the fashions look dated now. But as I was around in this decade I readily recognise the colourful fashions of the times, both for male and female. And the long hair for the gents, too - difficult to believe that I had shoulder length hair for a couple of years in the mid-70s and can be seen wearing a Laurel and Hardy decorated shirt to show it off in one photograph that is carefully hidden away! In her erudite introduction Laura Schooling cites 'Rolling Stone' magazine as a trendsetter for clothes, with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin leading the way with the psychedelic look. Beads, long tasselled vests, velvet jackets, billowing sleeves and fabrics in an array of vibrant colours and textures and even hot pants proliferate and this delightful volume gives us a feel for all of it. Stars lent their names to fashions with their own companies; Johnny Carson had Johnny Carson Apparel with his, dare I say garish, gingham check suits, and Johnny Miller with his own brand of menswear are just two who stand out. I did once own a pair of Johnny Miller trousers, in red check if I remember correctly! And mention of stars leads to some who lent their names to advertisers; Burt Reynolds, looking super suave, poses for Chaz, 'the fragrance that's almost as interesting as the men who wear it', OJ Simpson (then acceptable as a high-profile sporting personality), advertises Dingo boots and says, 'Boots have to look great - but they also have to be made for whatever you're going to be doing in them. That's why, when you say boots, you gottta say Dingo' and Chris Evert tells how she steps into her backhand so nicely - by wearing Converse shoes, 'the shoes of the stars'. Advertisers went to town on slogans, too: 'Brylcreem says don't measure your sex appeal by the length of your hair' and then elaborates on the subject while Wate-on goes against today's trend by saying, 'Too skinny to have fun. Shape a New You' and one user is quoted as saying, 'I was really skinny because I just didn't eat right. It was a drag. Wate-on's extra calories helped fill me out.' And chic by h.i.s. were 'The world's best-fitting jeans', Sunkist produced 'The one and only Fresh Lemon Elbow Rub', while Long & Silky 'silkens your hair without making it oily like some of those after-shampoo things can' and Maidenform have a woman who 'You never know where she'll turn up', well dressed as she is she would probably be welcome anywhere in her 'Sweet Nothings underwire bra' with 'matching bikini briefs' - all on show under her open faux fur coat! For the children even a fictional character makes an appearance promoting goods as 'Pooh shoes get straight A's for style and fit' and the young girl trying them on certainly looks well impressed. And on the subject of shoes, one of my favourite advertisements is from Dexter who, with illustrations that could have come straight out of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band artwork, forcibly tells us 'Join the Dexter movement for the abolishment of drab, dreary, old-fashioned discombobulated, depressing footwear' - they would have gone well with my high-collared highway man style suits I used to wear for the office in the early 70s! It is a superb book with hours of entertainment examining what was worn in the 1970s - many younger readers could well be prompted to comment, 'No, surely not?' But YES, we did wear it and even thought we were the height of fashion!!

Review # 2 was written on 2020-09-19 00:00:00 Artur Davis Fabulous. Adverts that remind me of my childhood. Some that made me laugh out loud. Now to pass on to a friend who loves Tasxhen books ;)