AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Graphic Design
AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications) Details
From Publishers Weekly Published to accompany a show of the same name at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this handsome book explores the British fashion industry's genius for drawing upon its past to reinvent the future, often with a postmodern, nearly apocalyptic, flair. In Buruma's introductory essay-a proper academic examination that belies the playfulness of the material-he insists that in England, "dressing up has become a free-for-all ... most of the codes and trappings of class have either collapsed or become increasingly confused ... so that it is no longer subversive for a working-class boy to dress like an Edwardian fop ... or for an aristocrat to pose as a working man." This spirit is reflected in the book's lush, full-bleed photographs and reproductions, an eclectic sample of the museum's collection, which co-mingles fashion treasures from the past-not just in garments, but in canvases and tapestries-with the work of present-day designers heavily influenced by those very works. From the subtle conservatism of Saville Row to the expressionistic works of the UK's latest fashion trailblazers-including Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood-to such avant-garde pieces as Simon Costin's gorgeous "Incubus Necklace" (made with silver, copper and glass vials of human semen), this impressive show catalog hits all the highlights with grace and wit. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more About the Author Andrew Bolton is Associate Curator of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Read more
Reviews
Apart from the STUNNING arrangement, I was first struck by the shear QUALITY of the paper it is printed on. Not something that I am in the habit of noticing or raving about.....but the pages are THICK, HEAVY, nearly card-stock quality!The fashion shots are BREATHTAKING!!! There was veritable torrent of wicked cool juxtaposition on EVERY page! The background is staged by very fine, English interior design and architecture. The scenes that are staged remind me of a REALLY yummy high fashion, photo shoot or edgy rock music video. Delicate 18th century gowns, appropriately displayed on featureless white mannequins, with straggly, windswept hot pink or purple wigs. Gutter punk, hard core, street freaks with mowhawks made out of cigarettes, barbed wire, tampons, newspaper or severed barbie doll legs....posed out in a proper looking gentlemans' room. Complete with white mannequin dog wearing torn black fishnets. Couture designer representations of period fashion, paired with wigs that would give Detroit Motor City's "Hair Wars" a run for it's money. A poignant scene with a plaid clad punk, a skulls jaw the only visible thing on his face, dying in a gothic bed. A woman at his side wearing a skinny black dress and a silver 3-D spinal cord and rib cage. And a nursemaid in prim black and gray, civil war era fashion attending to the right of his deathbed.....A FEAST for the artistic senses! This would have been a FANTABULOUS exhibit to visit! I'm just glad I get to own the book as a consolation prize!The only downside, was the lack of page to page description of what is featured in each picture. There seems to be an index of descriptions in the back, but it's a bit hard to follow. Or my attention span keeps getting too distracted with looking back and forth, from description to picture plate.
