Dedicated Follower of Fashion

In the mid-1960s fashion in Britain was becoming increasingly daring and outrageous, driven by the youth-oriented culture of Swinging London. Boutiques such as Biba, designers like Mary Quant, and the television personalities like Cathy McGowan who popularised them became celebrated as much as the entertainers who wore their mod clothes. Fashion trends changed rapidly, and the Carnaby Street shops did a brisk business, from those trying to avoid seeming out of step with the latest craze. Ray Davies saw all this and satirised the hypothetical extreme, a superficial dandy whose "''clothes are loud but never square / It will make or break him so he's got to buy the best ... He thinks he is a flower to be looked at ... In matters of the cloth he is as fickle as can be.''" ==Inspiration==

Ray Davies claimed that the song was inspired by a fight he had with a fashion designer at a party: Davies claims he wrote the song in one sitting, typing the lyrics out on a typewriter, with no later revision. It was performed with Davies mostly accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, with the rest of the band joining in on the "It will make or break him so he's got to buy the best 'cause..." and Dave Davies echoing the "Oh yes he is" lines in the refrain. The band attempted recording the song a number of times, playing with the arrangement, lyric diction, and guitar sounds. Ray Davies was never totally satisfied with the released version, and was angered that the song's production and release were rushed by the band's managers and Pye Records. Specifically, he attempted the opening multiple times. Pete Quaife said of these attempts: At least two of the alternative versions are available as bonus CD tracks and as bootleg recordings. ==Reception==

The song reached number four in the UK on the Record Retailer chart. It became their first top five single since "Tired of Waiting for You", which reached number one in early 1965. It reached the top of the charts in The Netherlands and New Zealand. In the US, however, it barely managed to crack the Top Forty, peaking at No. 36. The lyrics won Davies an Ivor Novello Award for songwriting in 1966. Despite the praise for the song, Kinks guitarist Dave Davies described the song as "terrible", saying, "[it was] the one Kink record I haven't got." Billboard said the song had a "clever, music-hall melody and lyric in the bag of [the Kinks] smash 'A Well Respected Man.'" ==Legacy==

Despite its commercial success, the song actually began to trigger some of the identity crises that would later plague Davies' personal life. He wrote later: In subsequent years many of those the song derided would later take its title to heart. , then working as a fashion writer for The New Yorker and The New York Times, borrowed the song's title for a book collection of her essays. Outside of fashion, the song's title has remained a metaphor for slavish conformity, but in a more positive sense as an analogy for the growth of online social networks. In 1993, the song was included in the soundtrack of the Jim Sheridan film In the Name of the Father. == Personnel ==

According to band researcher Doug Hinman, except where noted: The Kinks • Ray Davieslead vocal, acoustic twelve-string guitar • Dave Daviesbacking vocal, electric guitar • Pete Quaifebass • Mick Avorydrums Additional musician • Nicky Hopkinspiano ==Charts==