The Way We Wore

By Robert Elms

Robert Elms can remember the moment he fell in love with clothes: It was 1965, and the record player in the North London living room was spinning Otis Redding. His older brother was putting on a show for their parents, dancing across the floral carpet in his new blue Italian-made mohair suit. Five-year-old Robert sat mesmerised.

As the lead writer for hip style bible, The Face, Robert Elms defined what was cool in the mid-eighties for a generation of British teenagers. From mod to punk, there’s barely a look he didn’t dabble in over the years. This hilarious sartorial memoir is a love letter to London street fashion, from the Teddy Boys and suedeheads to wannabe cowboys and Comme des Garcon devotees.