Man About Town The Changing Image of the Modern Male

Fashion-forward men and women will be intrigued by Man About Town: The Changing Image of the Modern Male, the eye-catching, informative and entertaining new book from fashion editors Catherine Hayward of British GQ and Bill Dunn of British Esquire. In today's hyper-speed information age, fashion, along with what's hip in music and the visual arts, changes at the blink of the eye, and the willing and ever-present media is more than happy to let people know what's "now" and "hot" for the millisecond. But according to Hayward and Dunn, fast-changing fashion (even if what's new is actually retro) is a defining element of 20th-century culture, and they capture the highlights (and lowlights) decade by decade. (Hamlyn [Sterling, dist.], $29.95 176p ISBN 0-600-59832-2)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Hayward, fashion editor at British GQ, and Dunn, senior editor of British Esquire, take us on a centennial journey through men's fashions and image. In this decade-by-decade presentation, the "major players" from Freud to Muhammad Ali to Calvin Klein are introduced, and historical events that influenced style are enumerated, showing the metamorphosis in fashion, from formal to casual, even chaotic. Though the authors provide a very literal, chronological approach to style, glimmers of insight seep through the text. This historical guide through 20th-century men's fashion would make a suitable companion to Material Man: Masculinity, Sexuality, and Style (LJ 5/1/00), edited by Giannino Malossi, which is more exploratory and interpretive of men's fashion and what it means to be a modern man. Recommended for larger libraries and social science and fashion libraries. Nadine Dalton Speidel, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.