An absolutely wonderful book that will be loved by anyone who loves clothes. It really does lift the lid quite brilliantly on the styles and fashions from the ‘50s through to the ‘90s. At times provocative but always stylish and witty.
One day in 1965 the five-year-old Robert Elms fell in love with clothes. His brother had just returned to the family’s Burnt Oak home in a new suit he’d picked up from his North London tailor. Otis Redding was playing in the front room. This, Elms realized, was what you grew up for.
This is the story of a life’s obsession. From Ben Sherman shirts to boxtop loafers, from bondage trousers to Comme des Garcons, Elms has been there, bought it and worn it. It’s about why you’d rather not go out at all than go out in the wrong sort of brogues, and why you just had to have a Budgie jacket to cut it in the playground in 1970. It is also a touching, passionate social history of London street fashion; a fond memoir of working-class lads in tumultuous times and leary schmutter.
