MilesStyle: The Fashion of Miles Davis Paperback – May 5, 2020

I love this lively, unique book and it’s fresh perspective on Miles Davis. It is, in part, about Miles’ creative choices of clothing. But the fashion angle is also a springboard that leads to other insights about Miles’ mind, music, and self-image. Author Michael Stradford has in-depth knowledge of music and musicians. He was a radio DJ, music director and program director for major stations in Toledo, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Louis, Houston, and Los Angeles, then became Quincy Jones’ Vice President of A&R at Qwest Records. The fact that Stradford is both well-qualified and well-connected is evident in his overview of Miles’ music and it’s important place in America’s music heritage, and in the impressive list of people he interviewed for the book. Stradford is an exceptionally good interviewer and the range of people he interviewed is amazing. They include great jazz musicians who played with Miles, famous rock musicians who were inspired by him, his ex-wives and lovers, fashion experts who had a hand in or studied Miles’ ever evolving clothing, and academics and social observers who provide insightful commentary on Miles’ towering persona as a black celebrity whose life spanned decades worth of changes in racial attitudes in America. I really like the way Stradford interspersed his Q&A style interviews with well-written chapters about Miles personal life and the evolution of his clothing and music. It makes it far more lively and interesting reading than if he had incorporated it all together as running text, like a standard biography. I saw one review of this book showing that the reviewer had the mistaken impression it’s a photography coffee table book. It does have some classic photos of Miles from various stages of his life that highlight his sense of fashion style. But it’s not a standard photo coffee table book and isn’t portrayed as such in the book description. It’s much more ambitious than that. It’s a coffee table book for the mind that will give you a whole new understanding of and appreciation for Miles Davis, a man for whom the word “style” applied to all aspects of his life.

Miles Davis is indefinable, but infinitely explorable. And much as his music, his lifestyle, and his persona have been traversed, the deeply individual and influential fashion styles that he embraced and embodied has yet to be considered and contextualized within his life and art as well as we discover in Michael Stradford's new book. Other reviews have shared more details, but I can just add without reservation that this book is a must-have for any self-respecting Davis fan, for anyone who wants to understand the Man from the words of those who knew him, played with him, lived with him and even designed for him! Fashion is not just a phase, but for form that transforms along with his musical sensibilities. Prepare yourself for a richly engaging, entertaining and extremely personal read, which can only be complimented by listening to his landmark albums as you take the journey through his life. I cannot praise this book enough!

Not much to say other than a very poor visual presentation and book quality. I will confess that I was immediately disappointed once I removed it from the package. I was looking forward to a bit more graphical images of Miles since this was about his style but the few poor black and white images were disappointing, all seen before. And blank pages? This is the very first time I will return a book. Maybe a better read on Kindle

When I first went to college in 1969, like most guys, I was listening to the Beatles (Abbey Road was just released), Chicago, Led Zeppelin and the Woodstock Soundtrack. Later in the year the guy across the hall told me to come over and hear the album he just bought, Miles Davis: Bitches Brew. It was my entry into a whole new world.Here I am 50 years later reading Michael Stradford's lively history of Miles, his music and above all his fashion. MilesStyle: The Fashion of Miles Davis brings you close to the musician and the person with insights from those who knew him best. The icing on this cake are the discussions of the MilesStyle, its roots, evolution and its progression over Miles's 40 plus year career. If you think you have style, think you know someone who does or simply want a well-researched and fascinating journey of style, you'll want to read MilesStyle: The Fashion of Miles Davis.

Some would say that Miles' fashion mirrored his musical talent. I would argue against that and say that it was an amalgam of traits possessed by this very complex man. This fascinating book would support theory as it goes beyond music and fashion to explore the essence of both and shows why Miles Davis remains one of the most brilliant musicians of jazz and one of the flyest brothers to ever put on a pair of platforms.

As a huge Miles Davis fan I was so excited to finally receive my book! I’m 1/2 way through and felt compelled to write a review. Easy read, great questions, really interesting, and fabulous perspectives from those interviewed. I’ve personally always been intrigued by the fashion & styles of incredible musicians. Miles, Prince, Gaga, Madonna, it’s a true expression of who they are, and a real sign of the time they grew as incredible artists. Highly recommend! It’s a fun read, great summer book!

Libro dai contenuti poverissimi, giusto delle interviste, impaginazione, carta e foto sinceramente indecenti.

I was disappointed that there were no color photos, and no photos of Mile's later creative and original stage costumes - not one. -- Madeline A. Bruce.

Et bien grosse déception pour ce livre, la qualité du papier, est choquante. ON dirait que quelqu'un a passé les pages sur une photocopieuse, quant aux photos, horrible qualité, et pour un bouquin sur la mode, on s'attend à un peu de couleurs, la photo en couleur existait à son époque, et étant dans le métier je SAIS qu'il y a de milliers de photos de Miles en COULEUR !!!De plus celui qui a écrit ça ne s'est pas cassé, il a copié les enregistrements sans y mettre de correction ni style.Très déçue;

When you seek to write a book on the style of Miles Davis, you simply can't do that without a decent pictorial history of what you're referring to. From his famous button-down green Oxford shirt, to his iconic patch pocket one button double breasted suit, to his fly martian look of the 70s.This book has nothing of these things. Absolutely nothing.It lazily complies the anecdotes of a few people who whilst certainly knowing Miles Davis, seem barely qualified to discuss anything pertaining to his style. The writings (which are padded out with blank pages, big type and unnecessarily huge line spacing as of no more than passing interest, and do absolutely no justice to the man or his style.It is almost like you have a person who can't write about Miles Davis from a musical point of view, so tries a few interviews to make a stab at writing about him in another way.This book is dire. How many pictures of the style of Miles Davis is there? I'm not even sure I could count half a dozen. Unbelievably not one in colour. I'm looking for full colour illustrations and deep commentary to accompany.This is a poor buy. If you admire Miles' style and are into that, you'll be badly disappointed.

The book says it is published by Amazon so no price / usual publishing details on the back.A few interesting quotes but very little in the way of good photos.A disappointment.