The Men's Fashion Reader brings together key writings in the history, culture and identity of men's fashion. The readings provide a balanced range of important methodological approaches, primary research and significant case studies. The book is organized into thematic sections covering topics such as history, theory, subculture, iconic items of clothing, consumption and the media. Each section is introduced and concludes with an annotated guide to further reading. With exciting illustrations of men's dress from a range of historical periods, and including readings from key scholars and new writers across a wide range of fields, The Men's Fashion Reader is the essential introduction to the subject. Introduction: The Field of Men's Fashion Part 1. A History of Men's Fashion Part 2. Masculinity and Sexuality Part 3. Icons: The Evolution of Men's Wear Part 4. Subculture Part 5. Consuming and Creating Style Conclusion
Dressing the Man is the definitive guide to what men need to know in order to dress well and look stylish without becoming fashion victims. Alan Flusser's name is synonymous with taste and style. With his new book, he combines his encyclopedic knowledge of men's clothes with his signature wit and elegance to address the fundamental paradox of modern men's fashion: Why, after men today have spent more money on clothes than in any other period of history, are there fewer well-dressed men than at any time ever before? According to Flusser, dressing well is not all that difficult, the real challenge lies in being able to acquire the right personalized instruction. Dressing well pivots on two pillars -- proportion and color. Flusser believes that "Permanent Fashionability," both his promise and goal for the reader, starts by being accountable to a personal set of physical trademarks and not to any kind of random, seasonally served-up collection of fashion flashes. Unlike fashion, which is obliged to change each season, the face's shape, the neck's height, the shoulder's width, the arm's length, the torso's structure, and the foot's size remain fairly constant over time. Once a man learns how to adapt the fundamentals of permanent fashion to his physique and complexion, he's halfway home. Taking the reader through each major clothing classification step-by-step, this user-friendly guide helps you apply your own specifics to a series of dressing options, from business casual and formalwear to pattern-on-pattern coordination, or how to choose the most flattering clothing silhouette for your body type and shirt collar for your face. A man's physical traits represent his individual road map, and the quickest route toward forging an enduring style of dress is through exposure to the legendary practitioners of this rare masculine art. Flusser has assembled the largest andmost diverse collection of stylishly mantled men ever found in one book. Many never-before-seen vintage photographs from the era of Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and Fred Astaire are employed to help illustrate the range and diversity of authentic men's fashion. Dressing the Man's sheer magnitude of options will enable the reader to expand both the grammar and verbiage of his permanent-fashion vocabulary. For those men hoping to find sartorial fulfillment somewhere down the road, tethering their journey to the mind-set of permanent fashion will deliver them earlier rather than later in life.
This is an innovative work that provides a broad introduction to the complex literature in the fields of fashion studies, and dress and fashion history. The book connects a diverse range of approaches and incorporates non-Western literature within better-known studies from Europe and North America.
Ready-Made Democracy explores the history of men's dress in America to consider how capitalism and democracy emerged at the center of American life during the century between the Revolution and the Civil War. Michael Zakim demonstrates how clothing initially attained a significant place in the American political imagination on the eve of Independence. At a time when household production was a popular expression of civic virtue, homespun clothing was widely regarded as a reflection of America's most cherished republican values: simplicity, industriousness, frugality, and independence. By the early nineteenth century, homespun began to disappear from the American material landscape. Exhortations of industry and modesty, however, remained a common fixture of public life. In fact, they found expression in the form of the business suit. Here, Zakim traces the evolution of homespun clothing into its ostensible opposite—the woolen coats, vests, and pantaloons that were "ready-made" for sale and wear across the country. In doing so, he demonstrates how traditional notions of work and property actually helped give birth to the modern industrial order. For Zakim, the history of men's dress in America mirrored this transformation of the nation's social and material landscape: profit-seeking in newly expanded markets, organizing a waged labor system in the city, shopping at "single-prices," and standardizing a business persona. In illuminating the critical links between politics, economics, and fashion in antebellum America, Ready-Made Democracy will prove essential to anyone interested in the history of the United States and in the creation of modern culture in general.
The Men's Fashion Reader brings together key writings in the history, culture and identity of men's fashion. The readings provide a balanced range of important methodological approaches, primary research and significant case studies. The book is organized into thematic sections covering topics such as history, theory, subculture, iconic items of clothing, consumption and the media. Each section is introduced and concludes with an annotated guide to further reading. With exciting illustrations of men's dress from a range of historical periods, and including readings from key scholars and new writers across a wide range of fields, The Men's Fashion Reader is the essential introduction to the subject. Introduction: The Field of Men's Fashion Part 1. A History of Men's Fashion Part 2. Masculinity and Sexuality Part 3. Icons: The Evolution of Men's Wear Part 4. Subculture Part 5. Consuming and Creating Style Conclusion
Style is not just the clothes on our backs—it is self-expression, representation, and transformation. As a fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen, Christian Allaire rarely saw anyone that looked like him in the magazines or movies he sought out for inspiration. Now the Fashion and Style Writer for Vogue, he is working to change that—because clothes are never just clothes. Men’s heels are a statement of pride in the face of LGTBQ+ discrimination, while ribbon shirts honor Indigenous ancestors and keep culture alive. Allaire takes the reader through boldly designed chapters to discuss additional topics like cosplay, make up, hijabs, and hair, probing the connections between fashion and history, culture, politics, and social justice. *A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Alan Flusser believes that dressing well is something every man can readily accomplish. In this newly abridged and updated edition of Style and the Man, Flusser shares his vast knowledge of men's clothes and provides essential information for anyone interested in savvy attire. This elegantly written treatise will arm any man with a connoisseur's knowledge of the dos and don'ts of buying and wearing quality clothes and how much they should cost, from dinnerwear to casual sportswear. This book is also a veritable encyclopedia on individualizing questions about fabric, quality, and fit, as well as the appreciable and qualitative distinctions between clothes of different prices and makes. Open Style and the Man to discover: the difference between a $395 and a $1,000 suit what two words to look for on a costly dress shirt's label why the folds in a cummerbund should always be worn facing up From the tuxedo to the Top-Sider, Alan Flusser explains the sartorial origins and modern applications of haberdashery. All a man has to do is tuck this book into a corner of his suitcase or back pocket, and he'll be armed with an insider's knowledge of how to guide the tailor or salesperson in fitting or choosing those clothes that will become long-term players in his maturing wardrobe and personal style.
From choosing the right pair of eyeglasses to properly coordinating a shirt, tie, and pocket square, getting dressed is an art to be mastered. Yet, how many of us just throw on, well, whatever each morning? How many understand the subtleties of selecting the right pair of socks or the most compatible patterns of our various garments-much less the history, imperatives, and importance of our choices? In True Style, acclaimed fashion expert G. Bruce Boyer provides a crisp, indispensable primer for this daily ritual, cataloguing the essential elements of the male wardrobe and showing how best to employ them. In witty, stylish prose, Boyer breezes through classic items and traditions in menswear, detailing the evolution and best uses of fabrics like denim and linen, accoutrements like neckties and eyeglasses, and principles for combining patterns, colors, and textures. He enlightens readers about acceptable circumstances for donning a turtleneck, declaims the evils of wearing dress shoes without socks, and trumpets the virtues of sprezzatura, the artistry of concealing effort beneath a cloak of nonchalance. With a gentle yet firm approach to the rules of dressing and an incredible working knowledge of the different items, styles, and principles of menswear, Boyer provides essential wardrobe guidance for the discriminating gentleman, explaining what true style looks like-and why.
