A survey and a prize!

[Ookoo]

I'm asking for your opinions about the most important designer for each decade from the 1940's to the 1980's. Not necessarily your favorites, I'd like to know which designers you think most influenced and represented the fashions of that decade.


1940's:

1950's:

1960's:

1970's:

1980's:

(It's OK if you don't have an opinion for each decade)

As a thank you, everyone who participates will get a chance to win this pretty Easter hanky signed by Sally Victor. I'll put all the names in a hat next Saturday, and notify the lucky winner.

 

[joules]

That is the coolest prize! It must have been a GWP with a hat?
I have a question. Are you asking for just the one most influential, per decade, or would you like a listing of multiple influential designers? Or, either way is fine? I'll need to think this through overnight.

 

[denisebrain]

That is a difficult question for me, characterized by the 40s and the completely different feel of fashion during the War and post War.

Totally based on when he exerted the most influence, I guess I'd say Dior for the 40s, and arguably for the 50s too, but I'll say Balenciaga or Givenchy for the 50s. Maybe Cardin or YSL for the 60s, maybe Halston for the 70s, and Gaultier for the 80s. Sorry for being wishy-washy!

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

Most influential: (imho)
40s Dior
50s Anne Fogarty
60s Oleg Cassini
70s Halston
80s Armani

but my most FAVORITE(s) of all time would be Balenciaga or Vionnet or Jacques Fath

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Here's my list:

Late '40s: Dior
50s: Chanel for suits, Dior for everything else.
Early 60s: Givenchy
Mid-late '60s: Barbara Hulanicki for Biba
'70s: Halston and Laura Ashley
'80s: Versace

Nicole

 

[pinky-a-gogo]

My choices :

40's = Adrian - Dior
50's = Dior - Balenciaga
60's = Pucci - Cardin
70's = Halston
80's = Gaultier - Mugler

 

[joules]

Okay, this morning I will say:

40's ~ Adrian
50's ~ Dior
60's ~ YSL
70's ~ Halston
80's ~ Mugler

 

[Jonathan]

I would need to answer the question differently according to whether I was talking about high fashion, street fashion, American fashion etc. So here are my answers for Parisian couture... :

1940s - Lucien Lelong, because he kept Paris alive during the war and managed to keep couturiers producing creative fashions, inspiring hope in the face of wartime occupation.

1950s - Balenciaga, because he was a master of taking the main trend and tweaking it with his own style. Givenchy would be a close second.

1960s - Its a bit of a tie here for me... Pierre Cardin - Because he challenged couture's dictatorial rule over fashion and left couture to become a ready-to-wear designer. The other would be Chanel, as much as I dislike her - her eton jacket tweed suit became an icon of modern women's style.

1970s - Yves St. Laurent - because he kept Paris couture alive and interesting when all other Parisian couturiers quit or became bland off-the-rack designers

1980s - Christian Lacroix - because he was the first new Haute Couturier in 20 years and brought back colour, fun and extravagance to fashion.

 

[Living*Doll*Vintage]

I'm going to get the best prize here of all!!!

I'm still such a novice regarding fashion and the designers, I will be devouring this thread and committing as much to memory as possible (granted, that's not saying a lot, but I can try~)

 

[Linn]

I've been thinking about this and it's hard to pick just one. I like Jonathan's answer. So - I'm going to pick, two per decade. OK if I don't win the prize.

1940's - Adrian, Dior and Claire McCardell - oops that's three
1950's - Chanel, Balenciaga
1960's - Oleg Cassini, Mary Quant
1970's - Yves St. Laurent, Calvin Klein
1980's - Armani, Ralph Lauren

Linn

 

[Ookoo]

There's no "wrong" way to anwer.

I've loved vintage clothes for years, but just recently begun to appreciate the designers. I'm taking baby steps towards becoming more familiar with them, and wanted a few names as starting points.

I appreciate all your replies so far!

It's interesting that there's more consensus of opinion for the earlier decades.

 

[Ookoo]

Thanks again to everyone who replied!

I decided to put all the names on pieces of paper. and toss them in the air. Whichever one my cat pounced on first would be the winner.

So the winner of the Easter Egg Hanky is.....(drumroll please)........vintagemerchant! Congratulations!

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

yay me!!!

thanks for a fun post, Ookoo!!

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

oh, and i JUST sold my Sally Victor hat this morning, they would've been very happy together here!!

 

[joules]

That was fun, Ookoo! Thank you for the game.

It's your lucky Sally Victor day, Mary!

 

[BagDiva]

1940's - DIOR
1950's - Chanel
1960's - Mary Quant
1970's -Yves Saint Laurent
1980's - Ralph Halpern
1990's - Versace

 

[cooltriker]

ok with my very little knowledge i would say

40's and 50's def ..DIOR

60's i would say Mary Quant

late 70's/80's i would say Vivian Westward and Zandra rhodes

but all the ones i mentioned i would have said influenced the urban street trends..

ok i will go and hide now as i think they are not the type of designers/influences you may have been looking for

 

[ladieswholunch]

1940's - Dior
1950's - Chanel
1960's - Mary Quant
1970's - Vivienne Westwood
1980's - Jean-Paul Gaultier

Growing up in London (and being a teenage punk rocker) I really felt the influence of Westwood & Gaultier in the 80's - (Gaultiers bras for Madonna are a lasting image of 80's pop culture for me) - those 2 designers really influenced pop culture and London street style.

And my mum was very Quant in the 60's..

I like Jonathan's answers the best too.

 

[joules]

I think Jonathan scores high on the persuasive authority indices!
(J. I learned about that from your shoe book, in the Robert Clergerie section.)

 

[Ookoo]

I thought that I would at least recognize the names of the top designers, yet there are some listed here that I've never heard of! There's so much to learn!