The Style Thesaurus: A Definitive, Gender-Neutral Guide to the Meaning of Style and an Essential Wardrobe Companion for All Fashion Lovers

The “clothes we wear... function as a language that can, to some extent, be read,” asserts journalist Kane in her comprehensive debut survey of clothing styles that “reappear time and time again” on city streets and in high-fashion magazine spreads. In each brief entry, Kane distills a style’s history, signature garments, and role in popular culture, such as the short-hemlined, unconstrained “flapper” aesthetic that emerged in the wake of WWI as women cast off the strictures of the corset and sought “the freedom that men had, figuratively and literally”; the cowboy style of the “Old West,” characterized by leather or suede chaps that protected cattle ranchers from scrub vegetation; and 1970s disco wear, which combined sequins and glitter with flexible fabrics that allowed club goers to “get noticed while being comfortable,” and remains a key reference point for today’s eveningwear. Rather than dispensing prescriptive fashion advice, Kane lets each entry stand on its own to celebrate the “diversity of human expression” and elucidate style’s links to history and culture. Students of fashion will be enlightened and delighted by this detail-rich resource, and even novices will be persuaded that “we are all stylists, assembling meaning to find our tribes.” Photos. (Oct.)