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A review by gabsalott13
Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl's Love Letter to the Power of Fashion by Tanisha C. Ford
5.0
What a bright read! Tanisha Ford’s Dressed in Dreams is enough parts memoir and (black pop) cultural commentary for either audience to be satisfied and surprised in every chapter. Speaking of chapters, each is organized around a fashion staple of a certain time period and geographic place. In terms of geography, Ford is definitely righting my sort of book—she’s a descendant of the Great Migration raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, one of those Midwestern cities (Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee) otherwise known as “Up South.” Just as Ford knows her fashion, she knows her roots, and is in touch with how certain cultural trends that define black Midwestern style are paralleled in other regions across the U.S., something we share given our particular diasporic history.
This goal of connecting various trends is an enjoyable constant throughout Dressed in Dreams. I loved the Jheri curl chapter she unites Generation Z black girls, who came of age in the late relaxer/keratin treatment and early natural hair care era, with early Millennial women who came of age during the Jheri curl phenomenon. She makes you truly question the trends many find nostalgia for—how was the Jheri curl trend similar to the keratin treatment fad, and how was it different? Did these styles and treatments differ regionally? Were they driven by underpinning class aspirations? The questions are endless.
It’s a joy to see Ford return to and interrogate the trends of her youth, partially because she is the sort of relaxed academic who will take you along for her intellectual ride. Despite this conversational tone, she still weaves in some informative bits of design history, so that we are learning something new about the styles we love. I can’t lie—given my own fashion apathy (a good high school friend once described me as a “chapstick lesbian”), I often found myself asking if I had *ever* paid as much attention to someone’s clothing as Ford has throughout her life. However, it’s a testament to the author’s skill that despite not knowing many brand names, I would still highly recommend this book. Ford’s distinct blend of universality and specificity makes this a good time for any black girl born in the 1970s onward, regardless of the size of their closet.
This goal of connecting various trends is an enjoyable constant throughout Dressed in Dreams. I loved the Jheri curl chapter she unites Generation Z black girls, who came of age in the late relaxer/keratin treatment and early natural hair care era, with early Millennial women who came of age during the Jheri curl phenomenon. She makes you truly question the trends many find nostalgia for—how was the Jheri curl trend similar to the keratin treatment fad, and how was it different? Did these styles and treatments differ regionally? Were they driven by underpinning class aspirations? The questions are endless.
It’s a joy to see Ford return to and interrogate the trends of her youth, partially because she is the sort of relaxed academic who will take you along for her intellectual ride. Despite this conversational tone, she still weaves in some informative bits of design history, so that we are learning something new about the styles we love. I can’t lie—given my own fashion apathy (a good high school friend once described me as a “chapstick lesbian”), I often found myself asking if I had *ever* paid as much attention to someone’s clothing as Ford has throughout her life. However, it’s a testament to the author’s skill that despite not knowing many brand names, I would still highly recommend this book. Ford’s distinct blend of universality and specificity makes this a good time for any black girl born in the 1970s onward, regardless of the size of their closet.