Surfers Soulies Skinheads & Skaters

Awesome book for many reasons.

By Amy De La Haye and Cathie Dingwall, it is a collection of photos and information about subcultural style from years past.  It is really informational about the style of subcultural dressing, mostly from the UK and USA from the forties to the nineties, containing pictures from the exhibition from where the clothes were from, information about the owners of the clothing, and the subculture's mindset was.  I found this really interesting because I didn't know what half of the cultures in the book represented beforehand.  It was also interesting to know about the particular influences of that culture and it provided good reference for those who want to trace back modern subcultures.  I also enjoyed the way the book had a more magazine or editorial style layout, with different fonts and colors for each type of culture.

However, it did not include real models of how the subcultures were besides clothing.  For example, the authors couldn't duplicate haircuts or slang terms.  However, this would not be a problem for someone with a purely curious interest in retro subcultural style.  It is a satisfying book to flip through and simply look at the picture.

Did you know Karl Lagerfield once designed a B-Girl look for Chanel?

Image from infibeam.com

Fashion Book Read: The Classic Ten

Normally, I'm not that interested in women's fashion, but I was in the library looking for a non-fiction book for a project, and stumbled upon The Classic Ten The True Story of the Little Black Dress and Nine Other Fashion Favorites by Nancy MacDonell Smith. I am almost always interested in the history of modern culture, and so I was drawn toward this descriptively titled book. It did not disappoint. Written by fashion news and features director of NYLON magazine, Nancy MacDonell Smith explores the meaning of the little black dress, lipstick, high-heels, pearls, the trench coat, the cashmere sweater, jeans, sneakers, and the white shirt. She gives a detailed history of the meaning of these items that people wore, and how it reflected upon their culture and ours. When I read this, the meaning of fashion really struck a chord. I could understand a bit more why people dress the way they do "in fashion" in our culture. However, this book is also just a great read for a person who not only enjoys fashion and new styles, but likes classical pieces in a woman's closet (aka: not me). It was fun to read and interesting-a great book to read while at the airport or a rainy-day read.