American Fashion Menswear
Product Description
In the same series as the bestselling American Fashion and American Fashion Accessories, Assouline and the Council of Fashion Designers of America present American Fashion Menswear, the most authoritative and exciting book to date on the evolution of menswear in our country over the past century. From the outset, America was settled by individualists and adventurers who severed ties with the old world to find their destiny in an unknown land, a separation that opened the way for change in a less stratified society. To survive the challenges of a new environment, the American man needed garments that were functional and well-designed, qualities that continue to endure at the very heart of American menswear. From Levi Strauss to the Ivy League, lounge suits to Zoot suits, cowboys to counterculture, American Fashion Menswear celebrates the quintessentially American themes that are emulated throughout the world of fashion, as well as the designers and style icons who have made lasting contributions to the way men dress.
Written by admin under Fashion Books.
Catechumen
May 3, 2010 at 4:30 am
You know not to judge a book by its cover, right? – Well, between the cover and the “Look Inside” pictures that Amazon provided, I thought this book looked promising. I assumed that it would provide a pictorial history of the development of men’s fashion in America. I suppose it did, but it used large numbers of, what I would consider to be far out pictures of simply stupid looks. Honestly, pictures of Devo and Dennis Rodman??? Guys in orange and Windex blue suits – why? Pictures of some dude named Patrick McDonald looking like Phyllis Diller (but with more make-up) – what does this have to do with real fashion (i.e., what men actually wear). I would estimate about 1/3 of the pictures to be interesting/decent. I have to consider whether I’ll squirrel this away somewhere in my library or simply sell it on Amazon as a used book. I would be embarrassed to have this as a coffee table book for fear someone would actually open it and think this book somehow reflected my taste.
A waste of time and money. It’s more a pictorial essay of modern sartorial vulgarism, bad AND stupid taste, and fashion outlandishness than of the development and changes in men’s fashion. Could have been so much better – see Farid Chenoune’s book “A History of Men’s Fashion” in lieu of this book.
Rating: 2 / 5
Cynthia Moore
May 3, 2010 at 6:12 am
This is far from a scholarly historical study of American men’s dress. Rather, it’s largely a picture book with full-page photos that seem mostly to be of theatrical costumes and runway spectacles – certainly little men’s “fashion” that was ever sold in a haberdashery of yore or a Montgomery Ward catalog. The images are arranged in a disjointed assortment of odd chapter topics ranging from “utility” (with John Wayne in a beaded, fringed buckskin suit!) to “Hollywood” and “music” (stage-wear drama of Cab Calloway, Michael Jackson, and Devo). Hardly “American Fashion Menswear” as the title claims. To add to the confusion, too many of the photo captions are separated from the images and stacked in illogical places that require the reader to flip back and forth trying to figure out which caption refers to which photo. And most of the captions are written as personality commentary with little information about any historical “fashion” purpose of the photos. Likewise, the very brief chapter introductions – set in an over-sized typeface – lack substance and are little more than space filler. The publisher would’ve done better to market the book as a collection of photos, which in hindsight, wasn’t really worth the price.
Rating: 1 / 5
Juliano
May 3, 2010 at 8:24 am
Robert besides of having an impecable sense of style ,is an autorithy of the history of menswear, and this book greatly live up the expectations of the series, not only we got an insight of how menswaer in America changed ,but the why and also the icons or figures of popular culture that define each era, the catalogue is impressive, from cowboys to dandies, to moderns rockers and rappers, and their best look. A defining book not only to understand the changing fashion in men but also the american culture, as well as great pictures .
The best of the best, the cover is just a small taste of what is inside…run to get it.
Rating: 5 / 5