Tuesday 2 October 2012

Fashion Today by Colin McDowell

"Raindrops keep falling on my head" is the refrain that sounded in my head all of last week as we were treated to torrential rain.  The perfect time for some internet shopping, you would think but as luck would have it, I had to hit the high streets in desperate search of a new pair of school shoes for my son who only discovered that his shoes were leaking once the downpour started.

Since I was already out there I could not resist as you would imagine a bit of retail therapy for myself though not for clothes and unique fashion accessories on this occasion.  Instead I popped into a newly opened OXFAM bookshop and found a massive, hard covered 511 page book entitled Fashion Today written by Colin McDowell.

It will certainly take me a while to get through this detailed interpretation of fashion but short of taking a speed reading course, I intend to slowly engross myself in the subject of fashion over the past 50 years starting with "The Newlook" featuring Christian Dior and other fashion designers and working my way to the last chapter entitled "Fashion, Protest and the War from Within". 

Fashion according to McDowell has been at the forefront of the ideological wars, frequently used to clothe radical attitudes and instantly signal a rejection of the past" (pg 6).  I'm intrigued to find out how social change influences fashion and explore the cultural shifts in fashion which has seen it become part of popular culture globally. Why we wear what we wear and the importance of bending, yielding and adopting fashion trends are all issues that fascinate me.  Hopefully this fashion bible will provide me with some answers.

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