Nonfiction Wednesday – Fashion Rebels

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2016 is a weekly celebration of imaginative children’s nonfiction materials hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy.

Fashion Rebels: Style Icons Who Changed the World Through Fashion

 

Get to know the women who’ve wielded the power of fashion and brought about change with this illustrated biography that features twenty-five of history’s most influential fashion icons.

Throughout time, daring women have made fashion choices that have altered the course of history. From Marie Antoinette, who wore a hairstyle as large as her presence, to Coco Chanel, who imagined a world without rib crushing corsets and heavy gowns, to Katharine Hepburn, who walked around the studio in her underwear when studio executives refused to let her wear her then-scandalous jeans, these women were mavericks as well as rebellious icons.

Their fashion choices mirrored and redefined what it meant to be a woman in their era. They didn’t follow trends or cultural conventions, but instead set the course with their own style. Their brave and inventive fashion choices paved the way for female empowerment.

Featuring hairstyle tips, DIY projects, inspiration boards that break down each icon’s style, and illustrated timelines that cover the evolution of pants, skirts, the little black dress, and more,Fashion Rebels: Style Icons Who Changed the World through Fashion invites readers to treat fashion as an act of fearless creativity—and even become fashion trailblazers themselves.

Think fashion is just about looking cool or following trends? Think again – for women throughout history, fashion could be an act of rebellion against a patriarchal society that denied them the most basic of rights. Through the clothes they wore or designed, the women in Fashion Rebels found a way to change the world around them.

If you’ve got a fashion-obsessed tween or teen, this look at fashion pioneers is a definite winner. Twenty-three trailblazing women across history are featured and celebrated, from Cleopatra to Frida Kahlo, and each woman’s unique sense of style and historical impact is explored and considered. There are plenty of full-colour illustration that are reminiscent of fashion drawings, and each spread is packed with fascinating information and intriguing facts.

Fashion Rebels encourages readers to look at fashion in a new way, and to look beneath the trends to find the cultural and historical factors that have shaped and influenced them. Young women in the western world enjoy unprecedented freedom when it comes to personal style and expression, and this freedom was won for us in large part thanks to the determination and fearlessness of women throughout history.

Fashion Rebels could be a great springboard for a fascinating research assignment looking at fashion throughout history, and the causes and repercussions of different trends.

Eye-opening and thoroughly-researched, this would be a great choice for budding fashionista or history buff in your life.