From Dior's New Look to Belgian deconstructionism, Japanese futurism, and British eclecticism, international fashion since 1947 has gone through a bewildering array of changes. Providing a thematic survey of fashion, Colin McDowell deals with a particular aspect of fashion obsession, from elegance to fetishism, from haute-couture to street style, and from the one-off to the mass market and pret-a-porter.
Colin McDowell, Fashion Today. Boston, Massachusetts: Phaidon, 2000. Hardback in dust jacket.
First Edition. DJ showing minor shelf wear and a light crease at the top of the spine. White linen cover at top edges showing some foxing. Else a very good copy.
The book shows how fashion has played a part in reflecting and influencing 20th-century attitudes, from the sexual revolution and rise of popular culture in the 60s through the fashion of protest and Punk in the 70s, to the consumerism of the 80s and 90s. It places current fashion not only in the context of youth, sexuality, fetishism, exoticism and historicism, but also in the context of previous fashion movements - demonstrating that fashion reflects not only its surroundings, but itself.
About the Author: Colin McDowell is a fashion historian and Senior Fashion Writer for the Sunday Times. He is the author of many books on the subject, including Literary Companion to Fashion (1995) and Galliano (1997).