Due for a fashion change?

[lkranieri]

I have been mulling over something I read recently in a 1960 fashion article from a Manitoba newspaper:

"Historically, a silhouette remains in fashion from six to ten years. During this period, each season designers use their talent and artistry to create new styles within the framework of the accepted look. When all the design variations of this look have been projected, fashion becomes static. A creeping boredom results and women become indifferent to clothes. This sets the world stage for a radically new fashion change"

I think we tend to break clothing styles into decades, so I have always rather agreed with the ten-year turnover. I am curious to know if you all agree and, if so, are we bored and due for a turnover?

 

[Linn]

Interesting question. I think lately that the fashion silhouette has not only changed more rapidly than every six -ten years but one would be hard pressed at times to even say what it is. I used to follow fashion or at least shop at and look at the high end stores. When I shop now I would say that a lot of what I see is "retro" inspired and it's all over the map. Or it's so trendy (or weird) and youthful in a bad way that I am totally turned off. The "maternity" top of the past few seasons is the least flattering piece of clothing I've ever seen - (Unless you are expecting and actually need it.) I am also tired of the dropped waistline in pants, skirts and shorts and am ready for the natural waist to reappear. I don't think I am bored but I am definitely "indifferent" to a lot of what I see in the marketplace!

I am also old enough to remember some of what is being re-introduced and I have zero interest in much of it.

My personal preference is for classic lines with a little bit of an edge in the detailing - which is probably why I am buying more and more vintage and less and less current clothing. Almost everything I've purchased "new" in the last two years is really classic and/or vintage inspired - like sheath dresses, A-line dresses, etc. !!!

I think Mad Men has had a major impact on what we are seeing in retail stores, which is a good thing, but there also seems to be so much out there now that is really, really short and tight -or super "drapey" and baggy, and meant to appeal to young girls and younger women. Even J. Crew seems much "trendier" this season than last year. This observation is based on their catalog but there wasn't much in it that appealed to me.

Not sure if any one will agree with me but that's how I see it!

Linn

 

[lkranieri]

Originally posted by Linn The "maternity" top of the past few seasons is the least flattering piece of clothing I've ever seen - (Unless you are expecting and actually need it.)

I am going to drift away a little from my initial post about style changes and address one reason that was not mentioned in the article, but that touches on one of your thoughtful observations.

As I prefer to amble along in clothing that is comfortable, more than anything else, from whatever era I find in my closet, I am quite uninformed about recent fashions, but am struck by the fact that I am not struck by any contemporary fashion trends. The one exception is the very thing you mentioned about maternity-style tops and I am quite sure there is a not-so-subtle psychology there--that the wearer is advertising her fecundity. I am absolutely certain that fashion is intended to convey a message and that you have hit on an important one.

So, the maternity top subtly announces that the wearer can bear children...and I find myself wondering how styles such as the New Look did that. Perhaps the flaring skirts suggest wide hips that are very well-suited for childbearing? Then what the heck do the 80s shoulders tell us? They have appeared and reappeared many times throughout the decades.

 

[Midge]

I think lately that the fashion silhouette has not only changed more rapidly than every six -ten years but one would be hard pressed at times to even say what it is.

Excactly what I thought first when I read the question... And it often strikes me, it's so much the same everywhere - like so many brands and shops exist pretty much all over the world, and you could buy something at H&M (they do have nice things though, no question!) and see somebody living on the other side of the globe wearing exactly the same - sometimes I miss a bit of individuality.
I love going abroad and finding shops (even if they're mass-market) that we don't have here, and I am even more looking out for "special" small shops who do not carry just mainstream stuff. That's a reason why I love going to places like Vienna, Helsinki or Montreal (incidentally, these are my favourite cities !), because I usually find that kind of stuff there - be it vintage, a label that's not available here or some small creative shop with their own stuff.

Yes, a lot of the trends in the last years have been retro - even retro that I remember (80ies - though I still like the looks). Didn't mind the leggings coming back though, I always loved them and still do. Me being younger and not having lived the whole 50s/60s/70s the first time round, I did like these trends, but never did them totally. My mother keeps saying "oh, if I had kept this and that from my wardrobe" (of the 60s/70s)... well, I wish too, she had some fab stuff! She's always been fashionable, and she has always sewn a lot of her own clothes and still does, only nowadays, she often uses vintage patterns, though she uses modern fabric, so the look in the end is never totally retro - just totally her.

There are new looks, that I see and pick up because I like them, but often I make my own "interpretation" of them. Like the skinny jeans, when they came up - if you had told me that four years ago, I would have sworn I'd never wear any other shape of jeans than bootcut or bellbottom! In the end, I realised they're not too bad, and they do fit me. Never say never! ;) But with a heap of wonderful bellbottom jeans in my closet, that fit beautifully, I didn't go out, buy a ton of skinny jeans and throw the old ones away - I ended up changing several pairs of bellbottoms into skinnys and I still love them.

As for the "maternity tops" - I have a few (but one's a very outer-wearable piece of vintage underwear!). Honestly speaking, I never gave the "meaning" of it much thought. Those that I have I bought because I liked them, but I am careful, not a lot of them look good, and it's really easy to not look good in them...

I've never considered myself a total follower of fashion - I used to buy a lot at typical mainstream stores like H&M, Benetton etc., but never followed a trend for it's sake - I only ever by what I like. For the last 10-12 years, I've always been wearing vintage pieces too - a lot of it just "everyday" stuff that I like, that's usually easily washable, and over the year, the vintage pieces have become more and more. My clothes, if they are fairly well-made, usually "live" in my closet til they almost fall apart (and some of the vintage stuff is quite long living! ). So I wear "out of season" stuff a lot too! Sometimes it just has to stay in my closet long enough, and it comes into fashion again, like my little H&M needle-stripe waistcoat that I've had for over 10 years :spin: Isn't this just a sign for how crazy these times are? And that's what I think they are.
I like to think like my best friend. She has a little fashion blog on Facebook, and she really has a great eye for mixing pieces and styles, and making them look good. As she says, her goal is not to look too much like "got out of bed and groped blindly in my closet", but also not to make it look like it's trying too hard - or too "fashion victim".

I don't read fashion magazines, the Sunday newspaper's style section is enough for me to know what's going on - plus what I see in the streets. I think nowadays it's more fun to dress how one feels than what fashion dictates - it's just so "the same everywhere".

Just today at lunch I saw a girl from another department wearing a purple "maternity" top, and one of my co-workers said to another one, "isn't that the top that you have too?". To which the other one replied "yes, I have it in green and pink, and it's from" "H&M!". Need I say more? :duh:

So, are we in for a change? Yup, looking forward to it, it's overdue, but I fear it'll be something more that we've seen before... (or totally unwearable) may the style change or not, I'll do what I like.

Karin

 

[Midge]

To quote the rerun of "Style on trial" that I just watched again... somebody on that show said something interesting:

"Look at 2004, 05, 08 - you can't really tell if something was from this or that year, but look at the 70s - between 1971 and 75, there's a huge difference."

I think he's got a point there.

Karin

 

[Jonathan]

I don't think fashion is as cyclacle as some fashion historians like to think. I am more of a fan of the evolution/revolution theory. Sometimes there is a revolution in fashion and everything changes quite quickly, and sometimes there is an evolution in fashion and things change very slowly.

The New Look was around for almost 20 years. The soft shoulders, narrow waist, full skirt silhouette was cutting edge in 1947, common by 1954, becoming outdated by 1958, but still hanging on in 1966 (if you look at tv shows like Petticoat Junction, full skirts, narrow waists and soft shoulders are still very strong in 1966.)

At other times, there is a revolution, like with the miniskirt in the late 1960s, or punk in the 1980s - an influence that changes how everything is looked at. The miniskirt shifted the fashionable age from 40 to 20 and punk brought a new way of looking at beauty and grooming (I haven't owned a comb since 1982... and women in heavy soled army boots is now a boring look, not a shocking look like it was)

However, since the 1940s there has been an increasing use of revivalism in developing the fashionable silhouette. The New Look was a revival of the mid 1910s, the late 1950s and 60s shapless looks often looked to the 1920s, the early 70s fitted styles looked to the 30s and 40s, the late 70s & early 80s looked to the 1950s full skirts, and by the late 1980s there began a progression of combined revivals such as broad shouldered 40s combined with 60s mini skirts.

Nowadays, the idea of a silhouette is, I think, dead. There are some 'don'ts' in fashion, like high waisted 'mommy ' jeans, but its more about trends rather than silhouettes that create the current fashion.
I think we are in the middle of a huge change in fashion theory. There is nothing that hasn't been explored in fashion and now its a matter of rethinking how we look at fashion. There is no longer a 'last season' look ...

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Well, I, quite frankly, am bored when I go shopping these days, which, I admit, is not often. I have wonderful vintage dresses in my closet, and only have two that have the same shape & look. Of course, in my resale inventory, I have a slew of things of the same styling. I like some of the retro-inspired fashions I see out there, but usually not enough to buy them. And since I work at home, I don't really "need" much of a wardrobe.

I don't think much of what I see is worth what the price is, especially in accessory items and shoes. And I can't afford the clothing that's made of the fine wools, silks, and linens I love. That's one great thing about vintage--you can get such awesome quality for so much less than what you'd pay for an equivalent, new item--assuming you could even find one....

Other than some of the new, "way out there" styles I see, I think fashion has not changed much in a very long time. Jonathan, I think we're due for a revolution, IMHO, some of which may get us "back" to an older style, but some of which will be new and refreshing, I hope.

 

[Linn]

I think this is a really interesting discussion and it seems that depending on our "age" and comfort level we have different points of view. I am probably close to Karin's mother's age. I remember the '60's and '70's from the first time around - not that I necessarily adapted every trend but I had my mini dresses mixed with my more conservative A-line work dresses, and a maxi-coat over my "hot-pants" but for the most part I was not a "slave to fashion" and really love and have worn "classic" clothes most of my life.

I wore Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren in the '80's - no Punk.

I think that Lynn brought up a very interesting point about the maternity tops. Not sure that I agree completely. I see these tops more as covering fat stomachs - LOL, or at least they look like that except on the tiniest girls. Maybe being able to bear children is the hidden psychological message. I am frequently not sure if the person wearing these is actually pregnant or wants to be! Or thinks it hides something she doesn't want to accentuate!

I would say if we want to extrapolate from this that the big shoulder pads are (or we think they are) about powerful women that this was true in the '80's but I'm not sure the message was the same about shoulder pads in the late '30's and '40's. Joan Crawford comes across as strong but I'm not sure that was the message for all women at the time. I bet Jonathan has an opinion on this!

It would seem that the New Look with not only wide hips but padded hips and tiny waists do suggest childbearing. What about the Trapeze of the '50's and the Chemise of the late '60's? Or the little girl shirtwaist and baby-doll look of the '50's? (Keep the little woman busy being a "homemaker" and mother???!)

Most of the time since I became a "grown-up" I have edited current fashion to flatter my body type and refused to buy clothes that are totally unflattering. I am not quite as good about comfort as I should be with some vintage - I don't wear confining undergarments but there are a few "wiggle" skirted dresses and a few dresses with very little room in the ribcage that I do like to wear - sometimes. BUT - I much prefer to wear something stylish and comfortable.

Shopping is not as much fun as it was. I do not see much difference with what is available in terms of design at Neiman's or Target except for price. In fact I picked up a raspberry colored denim mini-skirt on sale at Target on Monday that I wore grocery shopping today - with a ten year old print top and vintage jewelry. (And matching Croc's.)

The funny part is that since I live in Hawaii most of the time I am in shorts and tank tops or tee shirts. I am on the Opera Board and have two "dressier" meetings per month. I usually wear vintage!

Linn