Photographer: Bill Cunningham | Introduction: Marty Bronson | Collaborator: Editta Sherman
Publisher: Penguin Books
Materials: Paperback Book with Metallic Cover
Country of Origin: Printed in USA
Date: 1978
Dimensions: 7.5” W x 10” H x .375" D
Condition: Near Mint
Bill Cunningham astride a bicycle was a fixture on the streets of New York for decades, always wearing a blue French chore jacket, camera slung round his neck. The original chronicler of street fashion, he was deciated to capturing how "real" people expressed themselves through fashion. From broke club kids to monied society nonagenarians, he captured true Style with a capital S on the streets and in the ballrooms of Manhattan for his weekly New York Times columns.
In the lates 1960s, long before the documentary and fame beyond New York, Cunningham, with the help of his friend, neighbor, and model, Editta Sherman, set out to chronicle the fashion and architectural history of the city in situ. They scoured thrift stores for period dress which Sherman would don to pose in front of buildings that reflected each outfit's time - Gothic Revival churches, Beau-Arts mansions, Art Deco office buildings – 128 in total here.
I purchased this first editon from the New York Historical Society on the occassion of the 2014 exhibition of the same name.