Marnie Fogg
What makes great fashion: 80 Masterpieces Explained
I would like to invite you to my fashion bookshelf with a book that I got almost accidentally, and that has become one of my treasures.
Last year my birthday was not going quite as fun as I have imagined – I literally spent four hours in a dental chair (that’s exhausting!), half of my face was numb of anesthesia, and on my way to my little birthday party I came to a bookstore to pick up pre-ordered books that were supposed to be my birthday present… Only to discover that they were shipped to the wrong shop. Upset and already late for my own birthday party, I decided to make myself a cheer-up treat and within seconds picked a book from the art and fashion department. Because of the cover used in a Russian edition, I have mistaken it for another book. I was sure that I bought a compact version of The definitive History of Costume and Style and I didn’t even bother to look at the title as my head was busy with other thoughts. As you can understand, it was Marnie Fogg’s “What makes great fashion”.
Now, to the book itself. The author, Marnie Fogg has published several books related to fashion history. She is a university lecturer on Visual Studies and Fashion and works as a fashion consultant. Trustworthy.
The title… Honestly, I found the title misleading. What makes a great fashion – if one is looking for an answer to this question, thie book will be a disappointment. It will not help you to find a so-called “investment piece” that would serve you and will be inherited by your grandchildren, neither will it guide you to a great fashion collection, nor help to understand why some dresses become a masterpiece and others don’t. It does though describe 80 interesting fashion designs shortly, but I do believe that a different title could work better. Much better.
The book itself is very pleasant to look at and hold in hand. I have read it in Russian translation, but the publisher kept the design (except for the cover) and quality similar to the original UK edition. Richly illustrated and easy to read, this book can serve as a nice coffee table book, and thanks to compact format (13×18 cm) it can reside on the smallest coffee tables, or become “a cherry on top of the cake” if you like to stack beautiful books as interior decoration.
Content wise, the book explores 80 iconic outfits that have changed fashion and influenced our culture, yet what makes this edition a masterpiece among other books with a similar content, is the author’s style typology. “What makes a great fashion” is a compendium. Marnie groups the styles thematically into chapters (revivalism, exoticism, rebellion etc) that are conveniently color-marked. Each thematic group is represented through eight styles or core stylistic ideas. Thus, the 80 explained masterpieces serve as an example of a certain style. Each entry has two to four extra references of the outfits representing the described stylistic idea. Podium, archive and museum photos or snapshots from movies in a great quality, often with a focus on details provide great visual illustrations. Most entries have three concise texts that are marked with a corresponding icon: the quote section helps to grasp an overall feeling, the mannequin section describes the stylistic context and may contain cultural or historic references, and the zoom section pays attention to the most outstanding details of the outfit.
In the end of the book you will find short information about mentioned brands and fashion designers, a chronology and a list of references.
Why do I think this book is worth reading? It provides a typology and definitions of styles. Try to google a style. Any style. You will most likely end up with a cocktail of images that are very loosely connected and a bunch of articles, blog entries or books that do not make sense. Yet, we all communicate about it somehow – “boho style”, “business style”, “preppy”, “French style”, “romantic style”, “rebel style”, “casual style”… We sincerely believe that we understand what it means, when in reality we often use some cultural stereotypes. And to be honest, even those stereotypes can seldom boast an actual definition. Since fashion is only starting to be considered a form of art and theory of fashion is just emerging, most information on styles in fashion comes either from the history of costume, or from the history of fashion, or from art and culture studies. Thus, styles are often presented in a linear perspective, for example as style of a certain decade (the 50-s style, the 90-s style) or linked to the name of a fashion designer or his/her collection (Dior’s “new look” or Saint Laurent’s safari). In the XXth century some of the styles got names that are still in use, but the content has changed – let’s say, sports style, but think Edwardian sports jackets and today’s athleisure. At the same time due to post-modern quotations, multitude of co-existing styles and revivals, borders between so-called styles get blurry and eroded. That is why I find Marnie Fogg’s attempt to give names and add structure brilliant, although I do not always agree with how she does it, and I find this typology incomplete.
For whom:
For the general audience I find this book totally worth reading. Instead of browsing the internet, you get a solid foundation for your own judgment and numerous examples of each style done by a genius designer rather than a so-so version by a mass producer. After reading this book you will inevitably start thinking more carefully about meanings and associations beyond garments that you are choosing to wear. Because fashion trickles down, and what starts as a masterpiece with a powerful vision and meaning often ends up as “the stuff”, just another skirt, one of the seasonal must-have that needs to make way into our wardrobes after being worn by our favorite influencer.
If you are a professional working in fashion industry (fashion designer, stylist, fashion journalist, design student, researcher etc.) this book may seem a bit shallow at first site because you have seen the described outfits and read about them elsewhere. It may be quite informative though if you studying or if you haven’t had an extensive course in fashion history (for example, you are writing about fashion, but you were majoring in another subject). Yet, as I’ve mentioned before, this book is precious in terms of defining styles and binding definitions with outstanding fashion designs. Thus, if you are working in a team or with clients, it can serve as a medium for finding common grounds and making yourself understood through words as well as images. For example, some of my clients and friends, when looking through this book start almost intuitively “trying on” all that they see. “Oh, that is lovely! How can one wear that?! I like the idea but I would never wear such things…” I see it as a great starting point to talk about stylistic preferences and dislikes. It can help to figure out and negotiate certain things at the initial stage and choose direction. The book also does a good work expanding vocabulary, helping to make a bridge from the imagery and the world of ideas to their verbal equivalents and back. A great reference book – short, illustrated, to the point.