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Bad Boys of Fashion: Style Rebels and Renegades Through the Ages by Aneta Pacholska, Jennifer Croll
elizabethlk's review against another edition
4.0
I was very excited to read Bad Boys of Fashion after Bad Girls of Fashion had been so informative and delightful, and I wasn't disappointed. With a great blend of common knowledge, obscure historic and fashion tidbits, and vibrant illustrations and photographs, Bad Boys of Fashion serves as a great introduction to men's fashion and the ways it has profoundly impacted our world today.
The ten main featured men in this book are given full short biographies that show us ways that fashion has impacted every part of the world and that give us cultural and historical contexts for images that are so ingrained in our societal memory. Ranging from sports to movies to art to politics to civil rights, the base we are given is broad. While I did wish there was a bit more diversity in the men featured (of the ten main men, half of them were USAmerican and all of these ten were either Black or white with no other races featured), but the men featured in the Fashion Spotlight and Iconic Look sections helped to add some diversity, with more countries and races represented.
Overall, this YA nonfiction offers up so much of what makes YA nonfiction great for even adults to read. Bad Boys of Fashion teaches us about fashion, history, culture, and the world in a way that is easy to grasp and enjoyable to follow. It is definitely worth the read for anyone interested in these subjects, and I would recommend it for sure.
The ten main featured men in this book are given full short biographies that show us ways that fashion has impacted every part of the world and that give us cultural and historical contexts for images that are so ingrained in our societal memory. Ranging from sports to movies to art to politics to civil rights, the base we are given is broad. While I did wish there was a bit more diversity in the men featured (of the ten main men, half of them were USAmerican and all of these ten were either Black or white with no other races featured), but the men featured in the Fashion Spotlight and Iconic Look sections helped to add some diversity, with more countries and races represented.
Overall, this YA nonfiction offers up so much of what makes YA nonfiction great for even adults to read. Bad Boys of Fashion teaches us about fashion, history, culture, and the world in a way that is easy to grasp and enjoyable to follow. It is definitely worth the read for anyone interested in these subjects, and I would recommend it for sure.
kateteaching7and8's review against another edition
4.0
@kidlitexchange #partner
Thank you to the @kidlitexchange network for the advance copy of this book.
I've never been big on fashion, but I love history. Bad Boys of Fashion is an interesting take goes through decades of fashion trends and trendsetters detailing their history and impact on history. Each chapter consists of a main article (the bad boy who best embodies the chapter's theme), a shorter fashion spotlight article, and a very brief iconic look section. This examines how each of these men changed the face of fashion and how their cultural period influenced them and was influenced by them. The author looks at fashion rulers, aesthete, machos, revolutionaries, artists, characters, athletes, provocateurs, role-players, and idealists.
I wasn't sure at first if this book would hold my attention as I'm not really into fashion. However, it had a huge focus on history which totally sucked me in. I loved learning about each icon's life and how it impacted their fashion choices. I also really liked the illustrations throughout the book which added a great aesthetic to the book. I also got a completely new perspective on people that I had previously learned about/studied in school, but never viewed them as playing a role in fashion. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and believe that YA readers will too.
Thank you to the @kidlitexchange network for the advance copy of this book.
I've never been big on fashion, but I love history. Bad Boys of Fashion is an interesting take goes through decades of fashion trends and trendsetters detailing their history and impact on history. Each chapter consists of a main article (the bad boy who best embodies the chapter's theme), a shorter fashion spotlight article, and a very brief iconic look section. This examines how each of these men changed the face of fashion and how their cultural period influenced them and was influenced by them. The author looks at fashion rulers, aesthete, machos, revolutionaries, artists, characters, athletes, provocateurs, role-players, and idealists.
I wasn't sure at first if this book would hold my attention as I'm not really into fashion. However, it had a huge focus on history which totally sucked me in. I loved learning about each icon's life and how it impacted their fashion choices. I also really liked the illustrations throughout the book which added a great aesthetic to the book. I also got a completely new perspective on people that I had previously learned about/studied in school, but never viewed them as playing a role in fashion. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and believe that YA readers will too.
elizabethlk's review
4.0
I was very excited to read Bad Boys of Fashion after Bad Girls of Fashion had been so informative and delightful, and I wasn't disappointed. With a great blend of common knowledge, obscure historic and fashion tidbits, and vibrant illustrations and photographs, Bad Boys of Fashion serves as a great introduction to men's fashion and the ways it has profoundly impacted our world today.
The ten main featured men in this book are given full short biographies that show us ways that fashion has impacted every part of the world and that give us cultural and historical contexts for images that are so ingrained in our societal memory. Ranging from sports to movies to art to politics to civil rights, the base we are given is broad. While I did wish there was a bit more diversity in the men featured (of the ten main men, half of them were USAmerican and all of these ten were either Black or white with no other races featured), but the men featured in the Fashion Spotlight and Iconic Look sections helped to add some diversity, with more countries and races represented.
Overall, this YA nonfiction offers up so much of what makes YA nonfiction great for even adults to read. Bad Boys of Fashion teaches us about fashion, history, culture, and the world in a way that is easy to grasp and enjoyable to follow. It is definitely worth the read for anyone interested in these subjects, and I would recommend it for sure.
The ten main featured men in this book are given full short biographies that show us ways that fashion has impacted every part of the world and that give us cultural and historical contexts for images that are so ingrained in our societal memory. Ranging from sports to movies to art to politics to civil rights, the base we are given is broad. While I did wish there was a bit more diversity in the men featured (of the ten main men, half of them were USAmerican and all of these ten were either Black or white with no other races featured), but the men featured in the Fashion Spotlight and Iconic Look sections helped to add some diversity, with more countries and races represented.
Overall, this YA nonfiction offers up so much of what makes YA nonfiction great for even adults to read. Bad Boys of Fashion teaches us about fashion, history, culture, and the world in a way that is easy to grasp and enjoyable to follow. It is definitely worth the read for anyone interested in these subjects, and I would recommend it for sure.
bethmitcham's review
4.0
This is a series of features of iconic fashion men who used their clothes to promote their lives. It starts with King Louis XIV and runs through Kanye West, with detailed chapters alternating with shorter essays and then one page homages.
In each case, the emphasis is how their clothes affected their lives, how they deliberately used their fashion sense to shape their careers and their influence. Artists and sportsmen crafted images that helped sell their work or gain them additional employment. Some guys seemed more cynical about manipulating the world while others wanted to be authentically themselves and force the world to accept that.
I wanted to see more of the ties between people; the book was good about pointing out the future effects and echos each man left behind him, as many kids wouldn't have heard about their names but do know some of the people benefitting from their pioneering ways. The photos were a bit dim (many are old) but the illustrator's bright work highlighted the image the men worked on. I liked the quotes in each chapter although a few times they appeared next to photos but the two weren't actually related, which was slightly confusing. I also appreciated the matter-of-fact approach to both sexuality and drug use -- the book assumes that homosexuality or bisexuality is a fact of life that history didn't always treat well, and that drug use had many ill effects but didn't immediately end all lives it touched.
In each case, the emphasis is how their clothes affected their lives, how they deliberately used their fashion sense to shape their careers and their influence. Artists and sportsmen crafted images that helped sell their work or gain them additional employment. Some guys seemed more cynical about manipulating the world while others wanted to be authentically themselves and force the world to accept that.
I wanted to see more of the ties between people; the book was good about pointing out the future effects and echos each man left behind him, as many kids wouldn't have heard about their names but do know some of the people benefitting from their pioneering ways. The photos were a bit dim (many are old) but the illustrator's bright work highlighted the image the men worked on. I liked the quotes in each chapter although a few times they appeared next to photos but the two weren't actually related, which was slightly confusing. I also appreciated the matter-of-fact approach to both sexuality and drug use -- the book assumes that homosexuality or bisexuality is a fact of life that history didn't always treat well, and that drug use had many ill effects but didn't immediately end all lives it touched.
librarianryan's review
4.0
This was an incredibly interesting read. The author looks at the history of fashion, pointing out people who helped define generations, or who stood out of the crowd for being forward thinking. Each chapter you have the main figure looked at like David Bowie, followed by someone in the same power circle who took cues from or changed the power circle in the same way as the main figure. For example, would grange even be a style if Kurt Cobain hadn’t formed Nirvana and took over the world. It’s then followed by a one page iconic look. Like Biggie Smalls. There were parts where I thought the book got too political, but it made the reader think about cloths and politics. Overall I think this was an excellent book. However, I wish there were Story credit to the little sections that read like sightings of these fashion figures.
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