Fashion and Jazz. Dress, Identity and Subcultural Improvisation by Alphonso McClendon (2015)

It is pleasing to find a new title on jazz as a cultural archive that does put the emphasis on an entirely unusual topic, namely the function, origin and development of a unique way of dressing and – if you want to – fashionable customization. For not only did jazz influence other arts such as painting and literature, it also added a very visual aspect to American culture, for instance, the way jazzmen and jazzwomen dressed.

While the most famous examples are maybe Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerlad who could afford fancy suits and expensive outfits, the majority of the modestly earning musicians dressed in style as well, while also making headlines, by the way they picked their hats, ties, shades, and accessories. Check almost any old LP cover of any jazz record. Odds are you will find well dressed if not superbly outfitted women and men looking back at you.

Going deeply into the origins of costumes and fashion history, Alphonso McClendon unveils many related facts of dressing and artistic individuality that found an outlet in a certain unique style, copied innumerable times by fans and devotees.

While maybe seen as a mere side effect of musical genius and not considered a region that needed research by most jazz fans, this title is truly entertaining and should appeal to lovers of both jazz and fashion.
McClendon approaches the blends of individual styles and expressions, fashion and jazz, in a number of ways, since mere “clothing the body,” or simple “putting on some clothes” is not what he researches. He goes into some of the basics of fashion. “Fashion is a fluctuating system, where persuasive dress and dressing equate to economic and cultural capital. Furthermore, clothes are goods that are exchanged for revenue and promotion.”

Anyhow, pleased audience and fans were inspired by the dressing style of the idol, often imitating and copying not only a particular suit, but also haircut, hat and entire color combinations. McClendon attributes this firm influence on immaculate and often loud dressing styles to a number of factors, some dating back to reports from British and Dutch traders of the 1800s who mention the intense visual aesthetics of local clothing as a means of representing individuality and style in African countries. Also the hierarchies at European courts hundreds of years ago were easily recognizable by outfit and materials used.

“Clothing worn by an individual acts as a guide, in some measure, distinguishing ethnicity, geography, religion, social inclination and sexual orientation.” Giving a short overview of the dress codes, we learn about the individual preferences of the musicians, who basically followed the general ideas of the fashion of the day, but always with a little extra glamor.

For example, the (male) swing bands of the 1930s usually wore tuxedos on stage, dark blues or black, while female band members (mostly singers) preferred the long evening dress. Those styles changed for the more casual or the more economical also due to the 1943 Limitation Order L-85 by the War Production Board. This included restraints on garment production in the US to support the war effort and have fabric ready for military goods and uniforms. So men’s suit jackets were limited to 25 inches in length and dress hems became shorter in length, no longer to touch the floor.

Starting in the mid-forties and early 1950s, Modern Jazz was the latest style and its masters preferred sports shirts and casual dresses, owing much to the West Coast Jazz now coming from California that featured predominantly white artists. While female jazz singers in the mid and late 1950s wore sack dresses, just as the fashion of the day suggested.

Some of McClendon’s findings (like his evaluation of the zoot suit and some other historical detail) may meet opposition from jazz researchers. But then we have an entire (good) chapter on Billie Holiday and another good one on expert dressers, jazz dandies as they are referred to here, such as Benny Carter, Ellington, Mulligan and Gillespie (who claimed that all of his accessories were rather practical in nature – the beret to mute his horn, the goatee to rest his mouthpiece on and the shades to protect his eyes from stage lights.)
On the other hand, there were quite a few well-dressed gentlemen in jazz bands, and individuality, style and an eccentric, outgoing personality just led to loud suits, hats and ties.

McClendon, who is more at home in the realm of fashion and style than in the world of jazz; nevertheless tries to describe and uncover several seemingly typical visual features jazz musicians possess. The author is Assistant Professor in the Department of Fashion and Design & Merchandising in the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Drexel University, USA. So this book is probably more of interest to the student of design and fashion in general, who wants to have a better understanding of the basics of jazz.

As McClendon states “The history [of jazz is] linked with remarkable images of fashion and formality resonates in society… Inseparable from the representations are the artifacts of dress including suits, tuxedos, gowns, furs, gloves, hats, footwear and jewelry that instituted social, political and economic transformation.”

But readers should not expect to come to a better understanding of the many faces of jazz, just because the respective musician wore a certain dress or a particular suit. After all, we know jazz as an art form coming to us as sound and abstract ideas and not as a visual impression. The latter may be owed to a combination of eccentricity and the benefits of loud dressing in the entertainment business, where clear lines between the stage outfit and the clothes worn before, and after the show do not exist.

Review by Dr. A. Ebert © 2015

Alphonso D. McClendon. Fashion and Jazz. Dress, Identity and Subcultural Improvisation.  (Bloomsbury Dress, Body, Culture Series) Bloomsbury, 2015, 216 p.