Fashion Culture

Status signaling isn’t just the province of the immature or insecure but a fundamental human need to secure social standing. It drives our behavior, forms our tastes, determines what we buy, and ultimately shapes who we are. It’s what’s behind “cool” and what drives fashion, music, food, sports, slang, travel, hairstyles, and dog breeds—and even the outsize influence of unpopular things with the “right” audience.

In many ways, fashion has always been the constantly changing face of the times. However, never has it been subject to such a radical and permanent transformation as in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic, a global crisis without recent precedent, didn’t just upend everyday life; it also changed how we think about, think in terms of, and think about in terms of fashion. This book explores how the pandemic has transformed the fashion industry and the wider cultural norms around clothing, style and consumption.

Shining a white-hot spotlight on America’s famous, from Hollywood legends to Broadway stars to media moguls, Notorious is a captivating assortment of columnist Maureen Dowd’s most compelling style features and profiles. Using her signature wit and incisive commentary as a scalpel, Dowd dissects influential cultural elite.

In the 1970s, Paris fashion exploded like a champagne bottle left out in the sun. Amid sequins and longing, celebrities and aspirants flocked to the heart of chic, and Paris became a hothouse of revelry, intrigue, and searing ambition. At the center of it all were fashion’s most beloved luminaries - Yves Saint Laurent, the reclusive enfant terrible, and Karl Lagerfeld, the flamboyant freelancer with a talent for reinvention - and they divided Paris into two fabulous halves.

The kaleidoscopic story of how an underground American subculture reshaped the global fashion industry. The world now calls it “streetwear.” This is the story of how this fiercely guarded counterculture launched a lifestyle and fashion movement that has endured for nearly fifty years. It was...

Make It Ours is at once a remarkable biography of a singular creative force and a powerful meditation on fashion and race, taste and exclusivity, genius and luxury. With access to Abloh’s family, friends, collaborators, and contemporaries, and featuring a cast of fascinating characters ranging from visionary Black designers like Ozwald Boateng to Abloh’s mercurial but critical employer and mentor Kanye West, Givhan weaves a spellbinding tale of a young man’s rise amid a cultural moment that would upend a century’s worth of ideas about luxury and taste.

The twentieth century American department store: a palace of consumption where every wish could be met under one roof – afternoon tea, a stroll through the latest fashions, a wedding (or funeral) planned. It was a place where women, shopper and shopgirl alike, could stake out a newfound independence. Whether in New York or Chicago or on Main Street, USA, men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled.

Fashion Killa is a classic tale of a modern renaissance; of an exclusionary industry gate-crashed by innovators; of impresarios—Sean “Diddy” Combs, Dapper Dan, Virgil Abloh—hoisting hip-hop from the streets to the stratosphere; of supernovas—Lil’ Kim, Cardi B, and Kimora Lee Simmons—allying with kingmakers—Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, and Ralph Lauren; of traditionalist fashion houses—Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Saint Laurent—transformed into temples of rap gods.

An endearingly riotous coming-of-age debut from an award-winning translator, about a young woman who maps the love plot of her favorite novel onto her life and finds herself flailing when she gets into a relationship with a fellow literary obsessive. Astrid is obsessed with the Russian American...

Stitched Up delves into the alluring world of fashion to reveal what is behind the clothes we wear. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, the book explores consumerism, class, and advertising to reveal the interests which benefit from exploitation. Tansy E. Hoskins dissects fashion’s vampiric relationship with the planet and with our bodies to uncover what makes it so damaging.

It’s so easy to say that the 1980s were awesome. But were they really? Here’s a case-by-case study on whether or not the decade of the 1980s was an awesome one or an awful one. Or maybe it was a healthy dose of both? Let’s get nostalgic and dive back into the colorful and blissfully ignorant 1980s.

Sociologist Ashley Mears takes us behind the brightly lit runways and glossy advertisements of the fashion industry in this insider's study of the world of modeling. Mears, who worked as a model in New York and London, draws on observations as well as extensive interviews with male and female models, agents, clients, photographers, stylists, and others, to explore the economics and politics - and the arbitrariness - behind the business of glamour.

🎉 Rediscover the Magic of the Past with the Ultimate Trivia Experience! 🎉 Do you ever find yourself reminiscing about the golden days: Elvis, Beatlemania, groovy 70s disco nights, 80s big hair & neon colors? Now you can relive all those cherished memories while this one-of-a-kind trivia quiz book takes you back in time, decade by decade! 🎤 Must Have for Every Baby Boomer & Your Whole Family - Grandparents to Grandchildren!: ✨ 331 Pop Culture Questions: Dive into extensive questions covering every aspect of the 50s to 80s. From unforgettable music & blockbuster movies to classic ...

We all know that the best way to study a foreign language is to go to a country where it's spoken, but can the same immersion method be applied to history? How do interactions with antique objects influence perceptions of the modern world?

Why does fashion hold so much power over us? Most of us care about how we dress and how we present ourselves. Style offers clues about everything from class to which in-group we belong to. Bad Feminist for fashion, Dress Code takes aim at the institutions within the fashion industry while reminding us of the importance of dress and what it means for self-presentation. Everything—from societal changes to the progress (or lack thereof) of women’s rights to the hidden motivations behind what we choose to wear to align ourselves with a particular social group—can be tracked through clothing.

This program is read by the author. “Compelling and brave, Kate’s story is a must read for all young women learning how to navigate adulthood and identity.” —Lili Reinhart, New York Times bestselling author Strip Tees is a fever dream of a memoir—Hunter S. Thompson meets Gloria...

Each page of this stunning photobook brings to life the essence of each era, with captivating visuals and insightful narratives that explore the cultural influences and societal shifts that shaped the beauty landscape. Discover the remarkable stories behind iconic makeup trends, fashion movements, and style icons that continue to inspire and influence us today. "Decades of Glamour" is a celebration of the ever-changing nature of beauty, a testament to the power of self-expression and the indelible mark it leaves on our collective history. This exquisite collection of images and stories is a...

On the banks of the River Mersey is a city with a radical character, shaped by its geography and the achievements of its community - in music, culture and politics. Liverpool is now defined mostly by its appetite for football and the continental successes of its most renowned club. What then does it mean to be a local 'Red' - sculpted by the city's social history - in an age of global expansion? Former players, dedicated fans and civic leaders explain the relationship between the club they support and the city of their birth, exploring the events and moments in time that moulded their ...

In 2018, shockwaves were sent around the fashion industry when Virgil Abloh was appointed the head of menswear for Louis Vuitton. Despite no formal training in pattern-making or tailoring, Abloh had become the first Black designer to serve as artistic director in the brand’s 164-year history. Make It Ours tells the story of how that moment came to be and how Abloh came to symbolise and embody the industry’s way forward.

Shadows of the Past by Dr. Monique Rodgers In the vibrant streets of Lagos, love blooms amidst the chaos of the city. Shadows of the Past tells the captivating story of Adanna, a bold and ambitious fashion designer, and Chijioke, a reserved yet passionate architect, whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways. When Adanna’s ex, Tunde, resurfaces, he stirs up painful memories and threatens to unravel the new life she’s building. Torn between the shadows of her past and the promise of a brighter future, Adanna must navigate a whirlwind of emotions and rediscover her own strength. Chijioke, ...