{"title":"Books by Charlie Porter","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780241721049","title":"Nova Scotia House","description":"A FOYLES AND GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR He said he would understand if it was too much for me, that I could leave him, that I was young, I should be living, I said to him, I am living.   Johnny Grant faces stark life decisions. Seeking answers, he looks back to his relationship with Jerry Field. When they met, nearly thirty years ago, Johnny was 19, Jerry was 45. They fell in love and made a life on their own terms in Jerry’s flat: 1, Nova Scotia House. Johnny is still there today – but Jerry is gone, and so is the world they knew.   As Johnny’s mind travels between then and now, he begins to remember stories of Jerry’s youth: of experiments in living; of radical philosophies; of the many possibilities of love, sex and friendship before the AIDS crisis devastated the queer community. Slowly, he realizes what he must do next—and attempts to restore ways of being that could be lost forever.   Nova Scotia House takes us to the heart of a relationship, a community and an era. It is both a love story and a lament; bearing witness to the enduring pain of the AIDS pandemic and honouring the joys and creativity of queer life. Intimate, visionary, and profoundly original, it marks the debut of a vibrant new voice in contemporary fiction, and a writer with a liberating new story to tell.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682565300597,"sku":"9781802067446","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":54926159675765,"sku":"9780241721049","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781802067446_d412386b-b831-440f-a231-724e37e088d6.jpg?v=1792511506"},{"product_id":"9780008666392","title":"Belstaff","description":"\u003cp\u003eCelebrating 100 years, Belstaff has been dubbed ‘the coolest British outerwear brand of all time’ by Maxim magazine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBelstaff: Our First 100 Years is a celebratory, visual exploration of the people, designs, and story behind the iconic brand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith historical prestige, Belstaff has been worn by the likes of Hollywood icon Steve McQueen, explorer Ranulph Fiennes, and aviator Amy Johnson when she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. And today Belstaff prides itself – and its iconic logo – as being synonymous with independent spirits and as the adventurers’ clothier of choice – worn by Brad Pitt, David Beckham, John Boyega, and Ewan McGregor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBelstaff is about the people, passion, and pioneers who have made the company the British beacon that it is today, featuring archive adverts, iconic photos, and the story of British design and innovation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBegun as a family business in 1924 in Stoke-on-Trent, Belstaff put themselves on the fashion map with the novel idea of waxed waterproof cotton for motorcyclists – quickly becoming associated with style, speed, and adventure. This beautiful, sumptuously packaged book features archival designs and never-before-seen photos with an engaging history written by Charlie Porter (menswear journalist and author of What Artists Wear (Penguin) and Jodie Harrison, Belstaff’s global brand director and fashion author.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56221895197045,"sku":"9780008666392","price":75.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008666392_3a778f01-dddd-476b-8cf0-4c298647a5c5.jpg?v=1785658798"},{"product_id":"9780141991252","title":"What Artists Wear","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e*A \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year* \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The first time I opened \u003ci\u003eWhat Artists Wear\u003c\/i\u003e, I gasped with pleasure. Imagine it as a kind of punk cousin to John Berger's \u003ci\u003eWays of Seeing\u003c\/i\u003e, liberally illustrated with the most astonishing images of artists, decked out in finery or rags ... It transported me to somewhere glamorous, exciting, even revolutionary' Olivia Laing, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMost of us live our lives in our clothes without realizing their power. But in the hands of artists, garments reveal themselves. They are pure tools of expression, storytelling, resistance and creativity: canvases on which to show who we really are.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eWhat Artists Wear\u003c\/i\u003e, style luminary Charlie Porter takes us on an invigorating, eye-opening journey through the iconic outfits worn by artists, in the studio, on stage, at work, at home and at play. From Yves Klein's spotless tailoring to the kaleidoscopic costumes of Yayoi Kusama and Cindy Sherman; from Andy Warhol's signature denim to Charlotte Prodger's casualwear, Porter's roving eye picks out the magical, revealing details in the clothes he encounters, weaving together a new way of understanding artists, and of dressing ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePart love letter, part guide to chic, and featuring generous photographic spreads, \u003ci\u003eWhat Artists Wear \u003c\/i\u003eis both a manual and a manifesto, a radical, gleeful, inspiration to see the world anew-and find greater pleasure and possibility in the clothes we all wear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224893174133,"sku":"9780141991252","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141991252_e444157b-a8b4-412c-8547-1a9c6bdcb8b8.jpg?v=1786011294"},{"product_id":"9781802061147","title":"Bring No Clothes","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'He makes us see a subject we thought we knew so well from a completely different angle; in writing that is deeply researched, but inviting, warm, and full of personality' Katy Hessel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Charlie Porter is a magician' Olivia Laing \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy do we wear what we wear? To answer this question, we must go back and unlock the wardrobes of the early twentieth century, when fashion as we know it was born.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBring No Clothes\u003c\/i\u003e, acclaimed fashion writer Charlie Porter brings us face to face with six members of the Bloomsbury Group-the collective of creatives and thinkers who were in the vanguard of a social and sartorial revolution. Each of them offers fresh insight into the constraints and possibilities of fashion today: from the stifling repression of E. M. Forster's top buttons to the creativity of Vanessa Bell's wayward hems; from the sheer pleasure of Ottoline Morrell's lavish dresses to the clashing self-consciousness of Virginia Woolf's orange stockings; from Duncan Grant's liberated play with nudity to John Maynard Keynes's power play in the traditional suit. As Porter carefully unpicks what they wore and how they wore it, we see how clothing can be a means of artistic, intellectual and sexual liberation, or, conversely, a tool for patriarchal control.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs he travels through libraries, archives, attics and studios, Porter uncovers new evidence about his subjects, revealing them in a thrillingly intimate, vivid new light. And, as he begins making his own clothing, his own perspective on fashion-and on life-starts to change. In the end, he shows, we should all 'bring no clothes', embracing not just a new way with fashion but a new philosophy of living-one which activates the connections between the way we dress and the way we think, act and love. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow with a new Afterword by the author \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312949506421,"sku":"9781802061147","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781802061147_6f52431e-0626-4b7e-84d4-d8213ed50236.jpg?v=1786026823"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-charlie-porter.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}