Songfacts®:

• This Ray Davies composition can be interpreted either as a tribute to Carnaby Street and its ethos, or a gentle send-up of the contemporary British fashion scene. Recorded February 2, 1966, and running 3:05, it was released on the Pye label in the UK on February 25 backed by "Sittin' On My Sofa," and on Reprise in the United States on April 27. The band's 10^th UK single, it was produced by Shel Talmy.
  
  According to the online discography compiled by Kinks fan Dave Emlen, it was re-released in the US in August/September the following year, still on Reprise but backed by "Who'll Be The Next In Line."
  
  "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion" is one of the band's best-known songs, and has been included on a number of albums.
• Although Carnaby Street dates to the 17^th century, like the Kings Road, Chelsea, it will be linked forever to the fashion explosion that happened particularly in Britain during the so-called Swinging '60s.
• In spite of its chart success, not everyone in the Davies camp was enamored with the song. After Kinks bass player Peter Quaife died in June 2010, his obituary in the London Independent quoted him on it thus: "an incredibly boring song to play, and I had to play it night after night." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 3
• According to a 2011 NME interview with Ray Davies, despite its fey overtones, the song is actually a scathing attack on a fop who made fun of the singer's trousers.
• Producer Shel Talmy helped frame The Kinks' raucous guitar sound, and also had a great ear for a hit song. In a Songfacts interview with Talmy, he said: "Ray Davies was one of the more prolific songwriters I have ever worked with. He could literally write a dozen songs overnight if he felt the mood. We used to get together about once a month or once every week or two and go through the stuff he had. I would pick out the ones that I thought were real far along, and the ones that were not so far along, and the ones that would probably never be far along. 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion' was one that stood out immediately."