Bloomsbury Fashioning Indie: Popular Fashion, Music and Gender (Dress Cultures)

Product Description When indie rocker Pete Doherty began a relationship with supermodel Kate Moss in 2005, the British indie music scene, which first appeared in the 1980s, became mainstream. Its signature lookslender bodies clad in skinny jeanshad reached the height of popular fashion. With in-depth research into the lucrative transformation of indie style first into high concept menswear and later into the womenswear phenomenon known as festival fashion, Fashioning Indie provides a unique account of what happens when a subculture is incorporated into the commercial fashion system. Rachel Lifter argues that, amidst these changes, the ideal figure of indie also transformed: from a slender, white, guitar-playing man into the festival fashionista. Celebrated for her individual style, the festival fashionista also proved to be an ideal subject of 21st-century popular fashion, wherein the lines between alternative style and mainstream fashion cultures blurred. As the music and fashions of festivals face increasing scrutiny in debates about diversity and inclusion, and the transformations of indie style coincide with the global expansion of the second-hand retail sector, Fashioning Indie provides essential insights into the broader culture of popular fashion in the 21st century and the values that inform it. Review [Fashioning Indie] is recommended for those studying twenty first century fashion, especially those focusing on its intersections with independent music, music festivals, and the vintage and secondhand clothing markets. On those subjects, this book lays out many important concepts, events, and influential figures, making it a very solid resource for students and scholars. --Journal of Dress History"'Indie' may be short for 'independent, ' but the thrifted, often ill-fitting clothes that indie kids wear tell a more complicated story. Lifter tells that story here-with all its messy cultural and racial politics intact-in sharp and accessible prose." --Brent Luvaas, Drexel University, USA"Through extensive media analysis and original interviews, Lifter's book offers valuable insights into the fascinating nature of indie style and adds to the literature on style, authenticity, festivals and vintage fashion." --Shaun Cole, Winchester School of Art, UK"Fashioning Indie brilliantly captures the cultural history of indie fashion and music scenes since the 1980s through current popular festivals. Rachel Lifter thoughtfully positions the indie producers and consumers within the subcultural market and larger Western fashion system." --Therèsa M. Winge, Michigan State University, USA About the Author Rachel Lifter is Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the MA Costume Studies program at NYU Steinhardt, USA. Her writing appears in Fashion Cultures Revisited (2013), Fashioning Professionals (Bloomsbury 2018) and Fashion Stylists (Bloomsbury 2020).