Josh Sims

A visually striking book, as one would expect from a fashion company, but the actual text is strange. For starters, it has almost nothing to do with Ben Sherman, the person, the company, or the clothing so I'm not sure why they chose "Ben Sherman" as the title proper. It's also strange that both in the subtitle and in the prefatory sections the author insists that the subcultures he is about to cover are essentially British--strange because on just about every page is a reference to each show more subculture's American influences. The book even begins, in its brief history of Ben Sherman, by explaining that Sherman got the idea for his shirts while living in America with his American wife, and that he copied the American Ivy League look, and that after returning to England to start his company he continued buying his fabrics from the United States.

The vast majority of the book covers the first fifteen years of the period under consideration, with the very short, final chapter being given he job of handling the remaining 35 years, which was a bit odd. show less

This is a great book to delve into. Some of it was a trip down memory lane. Twiggy was in vogue when I was in high school. Mini skirts were fashionable. And, I remember that if a teacher thought the skirt was too short, my friends and I were sent to the principals office, where a ruler was used to measure how many inches the skirt was about the knee cap. If it was too short, we were sent home and told to come back properly dressed.

This book noted various trends such as wrap around dresses, show more Audrey Hepburn's little black dress, A line dresses, trench coats, tube tops, wedged shoes, large hopped ear rings, and pant suits. It was a pleasant book filled with lovely images. show less

BB jesus 2PAC R.I.P.