Bibliograph

From Goodwill to grunge, a history of secondhand styles and alternative economies, Jennifer Le Zotte

Type

Label

From Goodwill to grunge, a history of secondhand styles and alternative economies, Jennifer Le Zotte

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

resource.governmentPublication

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

From Goodwill to grunge

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

951094409

Responsibility statement

Jennifer Le Zotte

Series statement

Studies in United States culture

Sub title

a history of secondhand styles and alternative economies

Summary

In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales came to be both profitable and culturally influential. Initially, selling used goods in the United States was seen as a questionable enterprise focused largely on the poor. But as the twentieth century progressed, multimillion-dollar businesses like Goodwill Industries developed, catering not only to the needy but increasingly to well-off customers looking to make a statement. Le Zotte traces the origins and meanings of "secondhand style" and explores how buying pre-owned goods went from a signifier of poverty to a declaration of rebellion. Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt. --Cover

Table Of Contents

Thrift stores and the Gilded Age shopper -- Dressing Dada and the rise of flea markets -- Garage sales and suburban subversiveness -- The invention of vintage clothing -- Elective poverty and postwar politics -- Genderfuck and the boyfriend look -- Connoisseurs of trash in a world full of it -- Epilogue: popping tags in the twenty-first century

resource.variantTitle

History of secondhand styles and alternative economies

Classification