Stylin': African-American Expressive Culture, from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit

by Shane White, Graham White

For over two centuries, in the North as well as the South, both within their own community and in the public arena, African Americans have presented their bodies in culturally distinctive ways. Shane White and Graham White consider the deeper significance of the ways in which African Americans have dressed, walked, danced, arranged their hair, and communicated in silent gestures. They ask what elaborate hair styles, bright colors, bandanas, long watch chains, and zoot suits, for example, have really meant, and discuss style itself as an expression of deep-seated cultural imperatives. Their wide-ranging exploration of black style from its African origins to the 1940s reveals a culture that differed from that of the dominant racial group in ways that were often subtle and elusive. A wealth of black-and-white illustrations show the range of African American experience in America, emanating from all parts of the country, from cities and farms, from slave plantations, and Chicago beauty contests. White and White argue that the politics of black style is, in fact, the politics of metaphor, always ambiguous because it is always indirect. To tease out these ambiguities, they examine extensive sources, including advertisements for runaway slaves, interviews recorded with surviving ex-slaves in the 1930s, autobiographies, travelers' accounts, photographs, paintings, prints, newspapers, and images drawn from popular culture, such as the stereotypes of Jim Crow and Zip Coon.

Genres: Fashion, History, Nonfiction, African American, Race, Cultural

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

SHANE WHITE is the Challis Professor of History and an Australian Professorial Fellow in the History Department at the University of Sydney specializing in African-American history. He has authored or co-authored five books, including "Playing the Numbers", and collaborated in the construction of the website Digital Harlem. Each project has won at least one important prize for excellence from institutions as varied as the American Historical Association and the American Library Association. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

Reviews

[Cam's Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives an excellent overview of Black history with plenty of evidence backed with primary sources. Good starter book.

YALL- WHITE PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HATERS!!! I just have to say it lol literally every chapter involved white violence against Black people literally because they could. They were (& are) just. plain. hateful. The first response to Black progress was to demean them & if that didn’t work, violence- which we still see to this day.

We really couldn’t wear nice clothes in public (only on Sundays) without having to worry about being ridiculed by whites for “being too good”. We really couldn’t host parties in peace without newspapers going on about how “niggers are so loud & rowdy.” Any & every thing we did was seen as “trying to be uppity & better than the white man,” that we needed to be “grateful because without white Jesus we would’ve still been savages in Africa.” Ugh. WE COULDN’T (& CAN’T) MIND OUR BUSINESS IN PEACE.

This book shed light on a few things that I didn’t know about Black American history- that we had Black pride as early as the 18th & 19th centuries with parades in cities that abolished slavery, that we had galas & balls… Literally NONE of this stuff is discussed in primary schools.

Despite the violence, I had fun learning about myself🤣 they really broke my culture down its roots & have explained actions that I catch myself doing today. Towards the end, the authors wrote in how Black publications promoted self-love in the early 20th century. I love us for real. Black people are the shit. We are literally THE blue print. 🖤✊🏾

[Ehardeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far so great!

[Edie Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A history of what Black Americans wore from the days of slavery to the zoot suit riots. A well researched book that puts all the information in context

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Methods are solid, writing is decent. I didn't feel very engaged with the topic, though others more interested in fashion and/or African American history may feel differently. I do appreciate the authors' use of visual sources like paintings and photographs.

[Anishafan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information for fashion history

[Sarah Hasanat]

I have not read the entire thing but the first chapters on slavery, fashion and hair styles.