This is a very good topic Albert Cat. It is a very important question to
discuss. Thank you for asking the question.
Several years ago I offered a challenge to h-costume to name a fashion since
1957 that was original design. I will now offer the challenge back in more
time... lets try since 1949. Not a textile, accessory, or method of
clothing... a new silhouette. The reason I am changing from the 1950s to
the 1940s... after my extensive research into fashions from the 1890s though
the 1920s... most of the 1950s fashions can be seen in the 1890s through
1929. If you think the "New Look" was new, do a search on eBay for fashion
images in the "Art" section using the keyword "Bon Ton." These are the
designers' fashion plates from 1910s-mid 1920s. Look for a plate from May
1920 by the designer Lanvin. You will think you are looking at 1940s/50
wasp waist. I think someone on this list pointed out to me that Dior's
mother was fashionable in the 1890s. The more you look at the styles of the
1890s, you can see where Dior was inspired. So far in my research, Lanvin
is the earliest designer of "The New Look." But... and there is always a
but... forgot about this recent find. It kinda blew me away...1896 ladies
gown by George Henry Lee of Liverpool, England. You can see a thumbnail of
it on my updates page on the Library. Go to
http://www.costumegallery.com/updates.htm and scroll down to the date July
18. The gown is the first one of the first row. I have seen so many 1950s
evening gown in this same style.
If I remember from my previous challenge... we came to the conclusion, what
goes around comes around. I laugh so much at my 14 y.o. daughter when she
tells me, "You don't know anything about fashion." I gave her this same
challenge and then show her where the style was worn fashion before. Her
first answer was mini-length skirts. Mini-length was worn in Ancient Egypt.
Designer logos on the exterior of clothing... The designer Patou was the
first to do this with a female tennis star in the early 1920s. The
competitiveness of the designers Patou and Chanel really deserve a lot of
credit for how the fashion industry is today. Patou would do one new thing
in the industry and Chanel would try to out-do him, and vice versa. This
competition even came to the way the business of fashion is today. An
interesting book about this is named Patou by Martin Battersby. Great book
on how the fashion industry grew.
The more you get into the researching a time period in depth, you realize
that several styles were popular in one time period. During the 20th
Century, I think the most change in style occurred during WW1. Most people
believe that the 1920s was when the skirt length changed. But the shorter
skirts can be seen in common fashion magazines during WW1. Also if you look
at the very fashionable girls in the Cosby Show... those very styles were in
fashion magazines during WW1. It is almost like the designers copied them.
Even the very popular gunny-sack dresses from the 1990s... same thing shown
common fashion magazines during WW1.
I think Michaela hit the nail on the head for a principle thing to frame
the fashions of 20th Century . I think it will be remembered more for the
various advances in the textile industry. A couple of years ago, I took a
month-long course at our local DuPont factory. This is plant is of the
largest DuPont factories in the world. I was floored by the technology used
in the factory. Employees were traveling around the plant on hover-crafts.
Computers would move gigantic rolls of textiles from one side of the huge
manufacturing building to another. The guild warned us to not get in the
way of the rolls... the computer will not stop transporting rolls for people
in the way. Each week we moved to another building and watched the entire
manufacturing process of another textile. BTW, for anyone wanting to take
this DuPont course, it is offered once a year to Boy/Girl Scouts and their
leaders once a year for their textiles badges. I think the child has to be
12 y.o to take the course.
Another very important thing for the 20th Century is mass production of
clothing. Mass production of men's clothing came in place during the mid
19th Century. But mass clothing production truly didn't take off until the
1920s for women. By the late 1970s, mass production made it cheaper to
purchase ready-made clothing than made-at-home. I really don't think any
one silhouette will represent the entire 20th Century. (Is this what you
are looking for Albert Cat?) Because of mass production, the fashion
seasons' (industry term) changed annually in the early 1900s to changing to
six or more seasons in present day/end of the 20th Century. Fashions have
changing so quickly since the 1980s because of advances in communication and
manufacturing technology. Fax machines, internet, computers, shipping
speed advances, money exchanging overnight in banks, have made the process
quicker than what used in 1900. Today the factory-to-store time frame can
happen in a few days in the last decade of the century.
I remember well in 1995 some of the lessons in a Fashion Forecasting class
in college. One lesson was how fast a runway fashion at a show in the
fashion capitals of the world, could be in a Walmart in little time. Think
of the manufacturers watching the Emmys or Oscars and seeing the dresses
knocked off and shown on Entertainment Tonight the following night. This
production speed has been happening for the past 15 years. My Forecasting
professor called the MTV generation effect. Think of how fast a scene, set
dressing, and clothing changes in a music video. We are all part of the MTV
generation. We want everything fast and then throw it away in a short
amount of time. We are all guilty of throw it away instead of repairing
products. Mass production makes it so much cheaper to purchase a new
product instead of repairing. Think of your VCR or TV. How many times you
have had it repaired, compared to just purchasing a new one in the past 20
years. How many times have you taken your shoes to be repaired in the past
two to three decades? The majority of our MTV generation does this throw it
away instead of repairing clothing. Look at all the clothing in thrift
stores. There is so much clothing donated to stores like Goodwill. They
only keep the best of the donated clothes. The others are bundled in very
large bundles and shipped to foreign countries to be recycled into other
textile products.
My library newsletter definition for Thursday was *classic fashion*. LOL!
I hadn't opened my regular email before sending out the daily definition and
saw this email topic There are several classic fashions that have been
around for the past 20 years. Some classics like the Izod style shirt has
been around for decades. I have one dress that I only wear to my children's
high school graduation. This same dress has been in style in 1996, 1999,
2001, 2004, & 2005 and probably 2010 when my last one child graduates. A
classic style survives years. We thought in the 1970s and 80s nothing else
could possibly be new in fashion design with denim. "Blue jean" fabric is
concerned a classic ... the past five years we are seeing the same designs
with denim that was in 70s. The straight leg/boot cut blue jeans with the
very tight fit of the 1980s, was made popular by Marilyn Monroe in a film.
(Can't remember the movie title.) If you look closely in the film,
Philadelphia story, the pants that Katherine Hepburn wears is very similar
to the *baggy* pants (not droopy) of the 1970s and 1990s.
A Hairstyle Recycle Exercise: A good example of what goes around comes
around in fashion.
Go to http://www.costumegallery.com/Hairstyles/Longhair/Women/menu.htm This
is a free access area of my Library.
Click on the thumbnail, Ladies Long Hair (lower right image). A thumbnail
menu will show up on the left. I want you to do something before you click
on any of the thumbnails on the left menu. You have an assignment and you
need to read all the directions below.
READ THESE DIRECTIONS FIRST: Click on a thumbnail, an enlargement will
appear on the right. Scroll down slowly. Look at the lady's hairstyle
closely. DO NOT pay attention to the costume... put your hand over it if
needed. I want you to think of a time in the 20th Century when her
hairstyle was worn. Do not scroll down the webpage and cheat to see the
photos' date, until you come up with a 20th Century decade for the
hairstyle. After you have decided on a 20th Century decade for the
hairstyle, scroll down and see our estimated date of the fashion within a
five year span. Lady #8 will blow your mind. How many of you wore this
very same style? BTW, if you run across the ladies with really long hair,
put your hand over her hair below the waistline, then guess a modern decade.
Now please go on and click on the thumbnail images. If you think that was
fun... go look on the Lady #11 in the Ringlets section, or Lady #8 (put your
hand over the long ringlets). She screams 1960s helmet hair!
Oh, I am going to make everyone feel old on the list... Last month, my
daughter went shopping for school clothes. She was thrilled that she had
the latest craze in teenage fashion.... jogging suits in several solid
colors! I could not stop laughing when she proudly showed off her new
school clothes to me. Made me want to sing Olivia Newton John song, "Let's
Get Physical!" What goes around comes around! And she still says Mom
doesn't know a single thing about fashion!
Penny E. Ladnier
Owner,
The Costume Gallery, www.costumegallery.com
Costume Classroom, www.costumeclassroom.com
Costume Research Library, www.costumelibrary.com
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