This volume puts male sexuality on the catwalk. It is a designed and illustrated celebration of men throught the ages who have dressed extravagently in order to show their power, to express their sexuality, to set themselves apart from the conformist herd - or simply out of joie de vivre. The author charts the male's stylish and self-confident course through history, from the medieval knights, with their lavish heraldic dress, to the stuffed and codpieced Elizabethans, the fops, incroyables, bucks, dandies and swells, to the aesthetes, zooties, mods, hippies and punks of the 20th-century. McDowell discusses the influence of sport, class, movies and popular music on later generations and focuses on figures such as royalty, cowboys, sportsmen and screen idols - who have provided role models for the 20th-century. The metamorphosis of the late 20th-century fashionable man is considered, with reference to the influence of fashion photographers and the influence of gay culture. It also looks at the new generation of menswear designers - Versace, Armani, Ralph Lauren and Gaultier.
