If you haven’t yet paid a visit to the National Football Museum since its relocation from Preston to Manchester, it’s new exhibition might just be the one to tempt you in. The name; Strike a Pose; 50 years of Football and Fashion is a complete giveaway and takes a look at everything that links both football and fashion from the way that kits have evolved over the years, through the many dodgy haircuts and the rise and rise of the WAG.
This is not merely a fashion show however, as the exhibition effectively deals with how the coupling of the beautiful game and fashion have changed both society and popular culture and also led to violence in the terraces. Inspired by the best selling book from 2004; The Fashion of Football From Best to Beckham, From Mod to Label Slave by Mark Baxter and Paolo Hewitt, they have run with the authors’ belief that what unites fashion and football is passion.
Things started to change in the 1960’s when the footballing minimum wage was scrapped and they could then start to lead more lavish lifestyles than their predecessors could ever have dreamt of. Fans started to take sartorial inspiration from their stylish icons, a trend that continues today. The late and great George Best owned a fashion boutique in Manchester on Bridge Street, so it is fitting that the exhibition looks at the part he played in the 60’s.
Another fun inclusion from recent times is the ovecoat favoured by Jose Mourinho during his time at Chelsea, and itself an inspiration for a song sung by the fans at matches. There have also been some notable faux pas, lest we forget those white suits the Liverpool team sported before the FA Cup Final in 1996. Gamely, Robbie Fowler has supplied one of these offensive items for the exhibition, fine in 76′ but a definite no no two decades later.
It hasn’t yet been disclosed which famous hairstyles have made the cut but obvious inclusions would be the Keegan bubble perm and the 80’s mullets sported by Glen Hoddle and Chris Waddle. There are many photographs on display courtesy of one of Britain’s finest photographers Terry O’Neill who shot to fame in the 60’s with his candid shots of celebs. An avid footie fan, O’Neill happily provided images for the display, including a great shot of a very young Bobby Moore, described by the museum as an unlikely style icon.
The dark side of football is also explored and looks at the links between the terraces and the skinheads, mods, casuals and how the different styles spilled over into explicit violence, and even today exists in the form of racism. This is an excellent exhibition which runs until the 27th August 2013, so get along there if you can.