Global aesthetics: black style.

Black Style Edited by Carol Tulloch Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and the Victoria and Albert Museum Publications, September 2004 $40, ISBN 1-851-77424-6

Black style influences and inspires modes like no other in the world. From the manner in which women and men coif their hair, to the suits and dresses they don for a black-tie event, a Saturday night date, a church social or a high-school prom, black people audaciously and consciously choose to express their individuality, celebrate their heritage and pride, and make their own stamp on society through their dress.

In Black Style, Carol Tulloch, a senior research fellow in Black Visual Culture at Chelsea College of Art in London, England, writes, "The contributions presented in Black Style also expose the complexities and 'ongoing redefinition' of what it means to be 'black' through the black body and how it is dressed." In her book, Tulloch and an assembled panel of contributors from the fields of cultural, literary and women's studies, examine textile design and color, hairdos, and accessories--and let's not forget attitude--to bring forth what constitutes black style.

The book focuses on the aesthetics of clothing and fashion in Britain, Jamaica, West Africa, and the United States, and comments on the way dress plays an integral part on black personae and the way our people choose to be identified and recognized. In one chapter, the writers note: "African-American style, of course, appears in a multitude of guises determined by a range of different factors, such as social class, age, gender, sexuality and region. To complicate matters further, race and ethnicity are undoubtedly slippery constructs." Although some of the historical details and social implications of the sartorial creations by black people can be learned from various and more in-depth titles, the approach here--in both the writing and the visuals--is reflective of and well suited for today's hip-hop generation.

--Reviewed by Clarence V. Reynolds