Jocks & Nerds : Men's Style in the Twentieth Century
Jocks and Nerds are just two of the 12 "male identities" Martin and Koda ( Fashion and Surrealism ) identify as this century's "persistent style modes"; the others: Worker, Rebel, Cowboy, Military Man, Hunter, Joe College, Sportsman, Businessman, Man About Town, Dandy. Illustrated with fashion shots from GQ , Esquire , L'Uomo Vogue and other magazines, the book also includes movie and publicity stills and candid photographs of the famous wearing their emblematic clothing--Eisenhower's jacket, Mark Spitz's red-white-and-blue swimsuit, Bogart's trenchcoat, Brando's T-shirt. There is plenty of frightful writing, for example, this description of cowboy dress: "His spurs, essential for moving a recalcitrant horse, give him armadillo-like invulnerability." Other passages, however, buoy up otherwise tiresome lectures: "Today's rolled chinos and blue jeans with the cuffs turned up still suggest the minor rebellion in protected circumstances associated with college life."Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.