I Wanna Try On Your Clothes

                                                   

Everyone looks great in What We Wore A People's History of British Style. The book is a collection of photos contributed by Brits of their former selves in their teens and early twenties. You may recognise some of the contributors like artist Tracey Emin. But most are fairly anonymous, people who after the golden glow of youth have settled into lives as machinists, youth workers, company directors and so on.

The photos cover a broad time period from the 1950s through to the late 90s. Some of the kids equate with a particular time and culture - 90s riot grrls, 80s new romantics and 70s soul fans with 'fros and flares. 

Others have cobbled together their own style from disparate sources. As in one photo from 1983, a bleached blond guy in his late teens or early 20s is dressed in school trousers, frayed Victorian undertaker's coat, old winker picker shoes and a cowboy hat. He looks cool and slightly smug. In the accompanying text he says, "Walking the streets of East Anglia dressed like this was a potentially life threatening pursuit." But I bet he preferred attention, good or bad, rather than indifference.

Elsewhere, others are less brave, engaging in smaller acts of rebellion, modifying their appearances with makeup or iffy haircuts and band t-shirts.

Although, I'm not sure this book really is a history. Photos are grouped into chapters, shaped around a particular activity such as shopping or going out. Other chapters are organised according to where the photo was taken - at home, or on the street. And within each chapter, the photos jump about from decade to decade, not following in chronological order, or tracing a particular style narrative. It's more a book to flick through.

And it's a great book to browse. You may identify with the people in the photos. You too may have affected the same style and listened to the same music. Or the photos may date back to a time before you were born and you may wish you were a teenage punk, Goth,  shoe gazer or whatever. Either way the book is testament to the golden years of youth.