Fab Gear: The Beatles and Fashion [ハードカバー]

Just another Beatles coffee table book full of pictures we've seen before and somewhat insignificant text. Needless to say, I was very disappointed as this was not what I was expecting. For completists only.

This book turned out to be a disappointment, and something quite different from what I had expected and hoped. As a Beatledork extraordinaire who has long-admired the many intricacies of Beatles fashion, this was a book from an apparent kindred spirit that I had eagerly anticipated.

But for a book on such a specific topic, it skips an awful lot. Firstly, I had certainly expected a text book peppered generously with pictures, rather than a picture book peppered generously with words. There are surely more than enough Beatles photo books on the market and the last thing the world needs is one more. And yet, for a book you'd certainly hope would have plenty of photos, this one manages to have too many -- particularly, too many that are too large. And it surely has too few on words, with significant trends in the Beatles' clothes repertoire relegated to the status of a caption.

While Hewitt certainly goes into great detail on some topics, including the various early leather jackets, collarless suits, and mop top haircuts, he skips over huge landmarks like the suits worn in A Hard Day's Night, the group's post-1966 hairstyles, and the scruffy "fashion" choices of India and the White Album. Though he goes into deep detail regarding the management of the Apple Boutique -- well-tread ground -- he has hardly a word to say about the clothes the Beatles themselves were wearing rather than selling at the time. He spills plenty of ink on the admittedly fabulous outfits the boys wore to the Sgt. Pepper album launch, but glosses right over the changes that had taken place by Magical Mystery Tour. Indeed, according to Hewitt's non-caption text account, you'd think the Beatles went straight from matching black suits to Sgt. Pepper, when in fact they had been branching out into more adventurous colors, cuts, and patterns all throughout 1965 and especially 1966. Most egregiously, there was nary a word to say about John's adaptation of his iconic granny glasses!

The photos themselves are often lovely, but they are also frequently seen -- and far too often, they have little more than a line or two of analysis to go with them. Hewitt also has the incredibly frustrating tendency to reference and describe particular photos and then not include them in the book. Surely he could have done a better job of either including photographs of the outfits he discusses, or discussing the outfits of which he includes photographs.

This book is far from a total waste of a reader's time -- and Hewitt ought to be commended for his original research -- but it does feel like a wasted opportunity. If I'm going to get a super dorky Beatles book, I want a super dorky product. This one is not nearly comprehensive or detailed enough to fit the bill.

How did each Beatle's slightly unique take on the mop top reflect his personality? What influenced their gradual shift away from simple black suits in 1965? How many colors were there, exactly, of those three-quarter sleeve henley shirts each Beatle wore throughout 1969? What possessed Paul to wear brown shoes with a black suit on the Apple rooftop, and how did John and Ringo on that same day turn their wives' coats into unforgettable fashion statements? These are the types of questions I wanted to see discussed. Maybe someday a like-minded soul will venture to actually take them on.

This is a delightful book replete with photographs of the Beatles and tidbits about their clothing, hair and how their iconic dress and hair influenced fashion. The words "fab" and "gear" which were NOT coined by the Beatles, but applied to them became the then au courant, faux British terms to describe things that met with great approval. These two terms were more often than not applied to the Beatles.

Readers see how boots with 1" Cuban heels (George Harrison's sister Louise says in a 1965 interview that the boys' boot heels were an inch high when asked the heel height by a young fan); round frame eye glasses; thin ties and wild, weird, wonderful colors (George in pink sneakers for example) were proudly worn by the Beatles. The fashion statement of the day was "if the Beatles wore it, then it must be good." The boys' iconic haircuts became very much a beloved fashion statement.

This is just a fun book with pleasing pictures that just about any Beatle fan will enjoy.