The Man of Fashion: Peacock Males and Perfect Gentlemen Book

The Man of Fashion is an exuberantly designed and illustrated celebration of men through the ages who have dressed extravagantly in order to show their power, to express their sexuality, to set themselves apart from the conformist herd--or simply out of sheer joie de vivre. Throughout history, the peacock male--memorable, magnificent, or assertively confident--has strutted through the pages of men's fashion. Top fashion writer Colin McDowell charts this self-confident course, from the medieval knights, with their lavish heraldic dress, through the stuffed and codpieced Elizabethans, the fops, incroyables, bucks, dandies, and swells, right up to the aesthetes, zooties, mods, hippies, and punks of the twentieth century. McDowell discusses the influence on later generations of sports, class, the movies, and popular music, and he focuses on those iconic figures--including royals, cowboys, and screen idols--who have provided role models for our century. The metamorphosis of late-twentieth-century fashionable man is considered in detail, with special reference to the power of fashion photographers, the influence of gay culture, and the rise of the new generation of menswear designers, in particular Lauren, Armani, Versace, and Gaultier. Entertaining, informative, and endlessly surprising, this will be an indispensable volume for fashion historians, students, and enthusiasts.Read More