Thanks to the number of internet sites selling used books, this 1974 title isn’t as hard to come by as it once was… but it was still exciting to find it in hiding in a Goodwill in small town Arizona, even with a little water damage on the pages.
Filled with creative and inspiring images, it’s also an incredible piece of history documenting textiles arts in the post-hippie world of early 70s California. The authors and their subjects were (and, we hope, still are) people who genuinely lived the lifestyle and who wanted to capture their culture.
Who doesn’t wish they had a neighbour who could hand-make a pair of shoes, turn an old bed sheet into an embroidered marvel, or ornament a toilet with coins? Amazing.
"Native Funk and Flash" by Alexandra Jacopetti, with photographs by Jerry Wainwright.
