The most impressive thing about Kelly's book is how naturally she keeps the focus on The Beatles' style. Her book tells a pretty complete version of The Beatles' story, a story that has been told and told and told so much that it always seems surprising and not-at-all surprising whenever a new writer takes it upon themselves to tell it again. Reading that story through a style lens is like reading The Beatles' tale for the first time. Whether revisiting their achievements on stage, in the studio, on TV, or in film, the author effortlessly returns the story to her central topic, because fashion really was important to the guys.
They didn't just stumble into their various iconic images. George Harrison had been fashion focused ever since he started tailoring his own drainpipes as a school boy. After he became a superstar, he was still at it, personally customizing his jeans. Fashion played a role when George charmed George Martin by insulting the producer's tie, which Kelly describes in intricate detail. It played a role in The Beatles' relationships with friends (like Astrid Kirchherr, who designed their haircuts), business associates (like Brian Epstein, who placed the parameters around The Beatles' fashion choices that helped make them iconic), and wives (who helped the guys smash gender barriers by swapping clothes with them). And let's not forget that The Beatles opened their own boutique to sell shoddily made hippie wear (one of their few major flops) and that Paul McCartney's daughter Stella went on to become a renowned designer.
Kelly also travels some odd little side streets in The Beatles' story that don't get much attention in the usual tellings, such as when the band endorsed a line of grotty jeans in illustrated ads that make Ringo look as stemmy as Penelope Tree or how they experimented with makeup early in their career. The only thing glaringly missing from Fashioning the Beatles is a cavalcade of color photos, but the fact that it is impossible to read this book without wanting to hunt down every image Kelly describes is a testament to how engrossing it is.
