ROBERT ELMS

The Way We Wore, is a book beyond the life in threads. It's a memoir, a story narrated from Robert Elms first-hand experiences and how he became obsessed with clothes from such an early age. He has 'been there-done that and literally bought the t-shirt [s]'.

It documents many key themes: three decades of England's social history and London's street fashion- the foremost of these how youth culture and fashion is inspired by the urban and working class lads. Elms provides a careful and chronological analysis of subculture trends: Teddy Boys, Skins, Mods, Punks, Soul Boys, New Romantics and the prelude of Acid House and the rave scene of the nineties- how each variation and new aesthetic was determined by a specific sound. Music acted as a bridge for fashion: it gave it direction. At the tender age of Six Elms states he discovered his love, passion and obsession for clothes. He says, 'I understood that there was a path, a lineage'...to look the part-birthday money was saved up to purchase a Ben Shermann shirt, trips were taken to Kilburn to buy those brogues and stepping into the East End to rumage round for the right Humprey Bogart trench coat.

However, in the latter half of the book we soon discover that elms loses his touch-he appears to be ignorant to new seasonal fashion trends. I blame his age for his lack of integrity. We get an immediate sense of nostalgia- fear of the future as he condemns the new acid house and rave trend- claiming that its 'stylistically uncreative' and that it 'eradicated everything, even the past'.

If you happen to be a fashion historian, guru or victim you will find this book entertaining and useful. It scrutinizes youth and subcultures and its relationship to men's wear. Elm's is very descriptive within his writing and therefore conveys an accurate account of what fashion was like in the latter half of the twentieth century. He believes dress is the ultimate indicator to culture and everything that surrounds it.

The sheer lack of images to support his analysis was quite discouraging. If visuals were included this would give a broader and more factual understanding to his argument. A further displeasure is Elms narrow mind and his snobby attitude towards fads, to which he disapproved- the hippy and rave movement- giggling at their supposed ridiculous attire- and not to mention his narcissist appraisal of his career as a write. In consequence this tone towards his description of dress can often be misleading; he, on occasion fails to acknowledge their social significance and therefore prefers to rant.

Nevertheless we come to realise that in retro-spect the revolution of youths from the second half of the twentieth century working-class Britain and African- Americans integrated together to form new trends and styles, which were eventually publicised by music and various bands.