Hats Off…

Just got my hands on Stephen Jones’s book: Stephen Jones & the Accent of Fashion. I knew it would be a great book with lush photos and well written, interesting essays. But there are loads of those sorts of books out there. No, this is an extra-super-fantastic book, full of treats like, yes, a Hamish Bowles essay, an Anna Piaggi photo-fest, loads of fantastical outfits, and images by David Bailey, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Juergen Teller, but it’s also got photos of Chrissie Hynde flashing her bum, and Boy George when he was a cloakroom attendant at the Blitz nightclub, and Kylie Minogue in a headdress twice her size…..

Stephen Jones has been making glorious hats for 30 years and at any given moment over that time he has been part of the zeitgeist. No, not part of it. At its centre. One example: Jones was a New Romantic who embraced punk while at the same time designing a beret for the Princess of Wales. So a book celebrating his work is not just a book about Jones, but about the style, fashion, music, design and performance and how they have all intersected and influenced each other since 1980. It’s a fantastic book. I’m ordering several copies to give to people I love inordinately.

.

Here are some choice photos from it.

John Galliano – Autumn/Winter 2004-2005 (c) Photography: Etienne Tordoir/ Catwalkpictures.com

Comme des Gar̤ons Homme Plus РAutumn/Winter 2007-2008 (c) POPEYE August, 2007, Photography: Rrosemary, Styling: Keisube Baba, Hair & Make-up: Tomita Sato, Model: Danny

Boy George (c) Courtesy of Stephen Jones Millinery London

Christian Dior Couture – Autumn/Winter 2007-2008 (c) Photography: Etienne Tordoir/ Catwalkpictures.com

Dior Autumn/Winter 2007-2008 (c) Photography: Willy Vanderperre, Styling: Olivier Rizzo

Here, below, are some not very brilliant snaps by me of the book itself, because luscious and great as the photos above are, they don’t convey how eclectic the book is, and how full-on-fun.

And finally: for some of Stephen’s future rather than his past, see the inspirations behind his lastest collection of hats right here on A-LittleBird.com, in our Guest Editor slot. Genius, or non?