Bad Girls of Fashion: Style Rebels from Cleopatra to Lady Gaga - Softcover

Croll, Jennifer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554517850 ISBN 13: 9781554517855

Publisher: Annick Press, 2016

Synopsis

The title says it all: Bad Girls of Fashion explores the lives of ten famous women who have used clothing to make a statement, change perceptions, break rules, attract power, or express their individuality. Included are Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, Coco Chanel, Marlene Dietrich, Madonna, and Lady Gaga. Sidebar subjects include: Elizabeth I, Marilyn Monroe, Rihanna, and Vivienne Westwood.

Photos illuminate the text, while edgy, vividly colored illustrations depict the subjects with interpretive flair. Readers will learn not only about changing fashion styles through history, but about changing historical attitudes toward women, and the links between fashion and art, film, music, politics, and feminism. With an energetic, appealing writing style, Croll demonstrates how through the ages, women — often without other means of power — have used fashion as a tool, and how their influence continues to shape how women present themselves today.

About this title

About the Author:

Jennifer Croll is the author of Fashion That Changed the World and has written for magazines including NYLON, Adbusters, and Dazed and Confused. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Ada Buchholc is a Polish illustrator whose clients around the world include New Republic, Little White Lies, and enRoute. She lives in Poznan, Poland.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 7 Up—The 40-plus "style rebels" past and present run the gamut from cheeky to outrageous to murderous, but the book's focus is on how these women used fashion to defy society and make their mark on the world. Queens (Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette), designers (Coco Chanel, Rei Kawakubo, Rose Bertin), artists (Cindy Sherman, Frida Kahlo), performers (Lady Gaga, Kathleen Hanna, Rihanna), writers and editors (George Sand, Anna Wintour), and even political dissenters (Pussy Riot) enter the spotlight for a few pages, then cede to the next "bad girl." The layouts are somewhat confusing; "Fashion Spotlights" featuring other bad girls are interspersed among the pages covering the main subjects, and sidebars about social and cultural events pop up in odd spots. While Buchholc's hand-drawn illustrations are charming, other art verges on clip art territory. An interesting choice in this mostly chronological presentation is the omission of death dates for its subjects, comical in the case of long-dead rulers and would-be monarchs such as Wallis Simpson, but more serious in other instances, such as the case of fashion stylist Isabella Blow, who took her own life in 2007. The ensuing narratives do mention the women's deaths, but having that information up front would be more accessible. "Iconic Look" sidebars about the subject or her era give author and illustrator a chance to shine. VERDICT This is a good, if somewhat scattered, launching pad for beginner rebels and women's history buffs.—Liz French, Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Annick Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1554517850
• ISBN 13: 9781554517855
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208
• Illustrator: Buchholc Ada