The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

bitebookreview B eatlemania rocked the world when the ecstatic, female-led fan culture followed The Beatles between 1963 and 1966 as they toured the UK and abroad. While their music and good looks made teenage girls frenzy, the foursome's evolving clothing style also caused a stir. Toronto-based art critic and style writer Deirdre Kelly’s Fash- ioning The Beatles provides an in-depth analysis of the sartorial impact and legacy of the Fab Four, describing the looks that shook the world yet fascinated many. The book chronicles each year in chapters from 1960 to 1969 and then 1970 and beyond. It describes each member’s style and character before they became a band, the Beatles’ performance at unsavoury places in Liv- erpool, their early onstage attire and fashion influences, getting their big break and taking the world by storm in the 1960s to their break-up in the mid-1970s. Each written word catapults you into every aspect of their world as if you were privy to their conversations and actions. After being introduced to the foursome in Tough Leather (1960), we dis- cover their backgrounds, characters, initial impression of each other, in- fluences, the original guitarist and drummer in the band, their first trip to Hamburg, support act in Scotland and the start of their attire evolution including their leather look. As teenagers, George was surprisingly rebel- lious in his school uniform, Paul was cautious in his, John was a sheep in wolf ’s clothing pretending to be a Teddy boy, and Ringo was the real deal.