Not since the 1950s has the curvy woman been so celebrated in fashion. The return of curves, and what this means to womenswear in the future.

A celebration of the womanly figure was a movement on the catwalks for autumn/winter 2010/11. Miuccia Prada, Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, and Dolce & Gabbana brought curves back to the catwalks, even casting lingerie models in their shows.

“It was all about very simple proportions and minimal, basic and simple shapes, but not forgetting what makes a woman sexy,” said Miuccia Prada.

At Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs explained: “I wanted to go back to the luxury of what it is to be a woman. Now with everything so readily available, I just wanted to take a moment and to think back to when the joys of being a woman was enough. You didn’t need to stand on your head – you could just put a beautiful dress on, and your gloves, and it was enough.”

WGSN’s plus-size consultant Michael Stapelberg says: “While there have been a few good high-street retailers and brands that have specialised in the plus-size market, it is a definitive moment when aspirational labels such as Prada, Marc Jacobs, and Dolce & Gabbana have shown that the more curvaceous form is, in its own right, an aspect of womenswear design that needs serious consideration. They have done this by specifically designing for this more realistic, feminine shape.”

The return of the 50s and 60s silhouette is one we have been tracking at WGSN over past seasons. One of the key looks to come from the autumn/winter 2010/11 catwalks – prim and proper – focuses on the return of the womanly hourglass silhouette, influenced by the cult US TV programme Mad Men.

The recent Brigitte Bardot exhibition in Paris heightened the demand for a vivacious, sexier style, an extreme turn in direction from the size-zero infatuation that has been dominating fashion.

The appeal of the womanly silhouette is apparent from the current wave of ‘curvy’ models and actresses. Paving the way for high fashion’s acceptance of bustier, rounder models is Lara Stone, who is the face of Louis Vuitton’s spring/summer 2010 campaign. Meanwhile, Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks has become the role model for curvy women globally.

Trend 2:

“Career-wear separates are quietly and shrewdly reinvented. Witty fabric juxtapositions, genteel volume and stylish design details reflect a new attitude. Silhouette captures a new modern fluidity, as shape softens from a very hard structural outline into a relaxed, more constructed drape.”

Trend 3:

Clogs were one of our key items for summer 2010 and here we see them continue through to winter. Whereas summer’s options were more traditional and retro-inspired, next season they are heeled or worked into winter ankle boots.

The wooden soles are darker stained and closed toes offer a more practical winter option, while sheepskin adds on-trend texture. Spring/summer 2010 sees a renaissance for clogs, with big-name designers such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel backing the trend. The key look is for the traditional wooden-soled style with domed studs, but Prada offered a contemporary Perspex option decorated with dangling jewels.

Refrences:

McQueen, 40, a fashion designer who won global renown for his exuberant shows and outrageous clothes, was found hanged at his home near Hyde Park in London. His death came just over a week after the death of his mother Joyce, to whom he was very close. McQueen’s death also comes as he revealed had begun dating a porn star who he met on the internet in the months before his death.

His death may also prompt Gucci, the group behind the Alexander McQueen brand, to close the label. Analysts speculated that without the designer who founded it, the label would not be profitable enough to survive. Gucci has refused to comment on the future of the label.

The father of Annabelle Neilson, said to be McQueen’s ‘muse’, said his daughter had been left devastated by McQueen’s sudden death.Earlier McQueen’s friends said they would be taking comfort from the thought he had been reunited with his mentor Isabella Blow. Selina Blow, Isabella’s sister-in-law and a fellow designer, said that the one consolation in McQueen’s passing was the idea that he would no longer be separated from the woman who helped make his name.

An influential fashion journalist who became one of McQueen’s closest friends after championing his work, Isabella committed suicide in 2007 following a battle with depression.

With the fashion season in desperate need of a heave dose of happiness with this lose, the show starts, the music proclaimed “Everybody’s famous … everybody’s gorgeous.” That kind of sentiment seems to be the main requirement of a fashion house now, delivered with self-reflecting sparkle and a clear commercial edge. African tribalism was John Galliano’s starting point, although the strawlike bangs on the models, their accentuated eyes and glossy platforms (with golden fertility-symbol heels) sometimes just made you think of “Desperate Housewives.”

Well, it’s a kind of a script, too. Mr. Galliano revisited the transparency and molded bodices of his July couture show. There were crisp day jackets belted over short pleated skirts; some breezy printed silk minidresses and others in embroidered suede or in a textured camel-colored knit. The message was sexiness, luscious color mixed with neutrals, and lots and lots of leg.

Although the collection showed finesse and a strong femininity, the sensibility seemed vague, and some of the shapes were reminiscent of vintage Alaïa or a Versace. Part of the trouble with being a romantic today is that the beauty seems too artificial and nostalgic. Mr. Galliano is trying to find a way to adapt.

At Nina Ricci, Olivier Theyskens’s ruffled, sweeping dresses — shown with sheer black stockings and démodé jackets — would look perfect in French film or in a literary-minded fashion shoot. He reprised his round-shoulder leather jackets with satin jodhpurs, but he seemed much more interested in variations on his dresses. Some evoked corsetry ribbing, others were in those blurry floral prints, as if produced from a smoking lamp.

The effect was quite beautiful, especially the look of a mud-brown crocheted cardigan spilling over a silk print dress. But a little more scrutiny forces you to the conclusion that these are Mr. Theyskens’s familiar themes, and maybe he needs to evolve more as a designer.

As for fashion line Balmin, with clothesn as photogenic as they are wearable, and it doesn’t seem to hurt their wow factor that they are ridiculously expensive. Mr. Decarnin siphons from his various references the elements he likes — the pagoda jacket shoulder we have seen at Martin Margiela and from Tom Ford during his Saint Laurent days; the military regalia of Alexander McQueen and Michael Jackson; the bondage-inspired decoration of early Versace — and blends them into a knowing look.

And the look seems to insist that fashion is not rocket science or an art project. New from Mr. Decarnin this season are ripped acid-washed jeans and the fluffy ballerina tutu lashed around the bodice with crystal-studded bands.

A huge squirt of dry-ice vapor opened the Rick Owens show on Sunday as Mariacarla Boscono emerged wearing a minimalist one-shoulder black jumpsuit, a nun’s cap and a pair of soft flat boots that made her feet look like the triangular base of an iron beam.

Mr. Owens’s first black dresses, which subtly incorporated legs and sometimes geometric vents at the sides or a neckline of beige tulle, pointed to a cool, more stripped-down look from the designer. Yet, somehow, he didn’t seem interested in pursuing this thought. The show turned almost medieval-looking, with jackets in black or ashy gray cotton that tied with a knot of fabric at the front and a matching front-knotted A-line skirt. There were also long dark coats with gathers that made the shoulders look hunched and hence the neck and capped head small, and plain short dresses with matching capes knotted at the neck.

To some extent all runway shows are a journey, if only down the runway toward Next Season. So it might seem strange or sentimental or possibly both to call Marc Jacobs’s show, with its inspired view of American women, a journey. But that is the only way to see it.

MARC JACOBS An embroidered silk tunic over slim metallic trousers.

That was the era evoked by the models’ squashed if determined-looking boaters, their school ma’am jackets and modified suffragist skirts (gathered up to show some leg). The difficulty and delight of looking at Mr. Jacobs’s shows is trying to figure out what he is up to. His collections used to seem a large, unsorted lot of references; they are less so today. But a single strong gesture like the batty hats (by the magical Stephen Jones) can stop a fashion Kremlinologist cold and lead to weird conclusions. Some editors said they saw Mary Poppins.

Maybe because many designers don’t put enough thought into their collections to warrant our curiosity, much less our investigation, the broader associations Mr. Jacobs offers aren’t readily apparent. In certain respects, the metallic floral prints, the soft turbans and tunic tops — including one in white taffeta embroidered with shimmery leaves — evoked a 1930s glamour. And Stefan Beckman’s mirrored set, which featured a curved wall of doors, led some to think of Golden Age movies like “The Women.” The hard-core fashionistas saw a connection to Yves Saint Laurent’s 1978 “Broadway Suit” collection and its references to Afro-American culture.

In fact the music — George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” — told us a lot. The high styling of relatively modest clothes like a faded plaid blouse with a brooch and a jaunty brocade skirt suggested a black aesthetic. And the mix of gingham tops and apronlike tunics recalled not merely the common threads of working women, black or white, but also their drift through the dirty ’30s from country to city. It was an era lifted by hope rather than aspiration.

To be able to evoke those images and emotions without resorting to caricatures, to connect fashion at the liveliest levels to the things we value, is what makes Mr. Jacobs a remarkable designer. He is the best we have. As André Leon Talley, the editor at large at Vogue, said backstage, explaining Mr. Jacobs’s edge, “He makes his own rules, and he breaks them.”

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, of Proenza Schouler, represent the next generation of American talent. One of the frustrating things about their collections is that despite a steady amount of commercial success, they can’t seem to identify an American look of their own. They have a lot of curiosity and energy, and certainly the sophistication of their clothes has gone up. But you sometimes think they are not looking as hard at things as they might, asking themselves: “Is this good enough?”

They found inspiration for this collection, they said, in the work of the artists Robert Ryman and Donald Judd, as well as in some of the shapes of the ’40s. From their round-shoulder white jackets, with a grommet-tacked edge, one might see instead the ’80s (and shades of Mr. Jacobs’s collection last season for Louis Vuitton). The jackets and blouses were appealing, though, along with silk pencil skirts with slouchy patch pockets and slim pants in a Rymanesque contrast of ecru silk.

Like other designers this week, Mr. Hernandez and Mr. McCollough showed liberal amounts of volume: loose coats with exposed zippers, airy suede tunics and harem trousers. Their strongest addition to the season, though, was the jumpsuit. Some styles blended jumpsuit and overalls; the best was in slim black leather over an ivory glazed-silk blouse. Those pieces, along with a summery style in Indian silk, should have provided them with an imaginative, playful opening. Fashion seems desperate at the moment for play.

Sophie Theallet, a designer with a serious French hand (she worked for Azzedine Alaïa), put on her first show on Tuesday. The lines of her dresses — shirtwaists in boldly striped cotton, skimmy shifts in tropical prints or vivid orange silk with delicately pleated hems — were as modest as they were feminine. Stars of the season: the greens. Guests of honor: nuances of red and soft and refined pinks, mauves and neutrals in full evolution.  And essential are bright – almost neon – accents targeted at beachwear which is ever-more influenced by the street and clubbing. Last but not least, white (color 26!) and indigo blue remain very much in focus.

These are the colors which will be introduced at Interfilière in January 2009 for the Summer 2010 season. The color card specially produced for maximum color accuracy is available from Eurovet.

The background and shapes: the Capri spirit of the Fifties, haute couture precision, the desire of a perfect, radiant elegance… Motifs and prints are rich, lines emphasize the contour and strike the right balance, details and finishings are perfect. Nothing is left to chance, nothing is vague: everything is well conceived, neat, pretty, ravishing, harmonious, graceful.

The most demanding design direction with its apparently contradictory, subtle mixtures of authenticity and the new modernity. The desire for durable luxury with genuine lingerie fabrics but now in the revolutionary lightweight fibers. Collections combine perfect performance, generous volumes, details which project natural eccentricity, hand made and artisan effects, as if aged by time…

01 10 19   02 11 20 03 12 21 04 13 22 05 14 23 06 15 24 07 16 25 08 17     09 18

Refrences:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/fashionnews/7223477/Alexander-McQueens-family-left-raw-by-his-death.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/fashion/shows/30REVIEW.html?_r=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/fashion/shows/10REVIEW.html

http://www.fashiontrendsetter.com/content/fashion_events/interfiliere/Interfiliere-Fashion-and-Color-Trends-Summer-2010.html

Music and Fashion

Teenagers tend to get their style of dress from musicians that they like since singers and songwriters have always set the tone for fashion trends. The music and fashion industry have become so intertwined that recording artists are now using their fame to sell their own fashion line of clothing.

Jennifer Lopez, Sean (’P-Diddy’) Combs and Gwen Stefani are just a few entertainers that are cashing in on the ‘marriage’ between music and fashion. Who can forget Run DMC’s fashion phenomenon ‘Adidas’. The shoe went right along with the Rap Song and shoe sales skyrocketed which lead to massive sales of their other clothing such as hats,track suits, t-shirts, and more.

Sleeveless Rock Band T-Shirts became very popular sense awesome bands like AC/DC, Metallica, Poison, Ratt, Ozzy & others made them all the rage. The band Nirvana brought the Grundge look to the masses in the 90’s. Although this look started out in the city of Seattle, it quickly became a popular fad because of music.

Kangol’s in the 80’s became a big fashion statement after rap star LL Cool J sported this hat as his trademark. Madonna, the queen of the trend setters came on the scene in the 1980’s and changed the way young girls dressed forever. She was beautiful, bold, fun and uninhibited. Girls as well as guys loved her and wanted to dress like her. The calf-length black leggings, head bands, bangle bracelets, granny boots, ballerina skirts, net spandex tops and large earrings all became the new style for girls fashion. There is one television network that’s responsible for bringing us the stars and their fashion statements.

Listen Up For Fashion

If you pay an even slight attention to popular songs, you’ll hear brand named clothing mentioned quite regularly in the lyrics. For instance, the song ‘Vogue‘ sung by Madonna, mentions a number of iconic actors and actresses who people modeled their wardrobes after. Listed were Grace Kelly, Jimmy Dean, Fred Astaire, Jean Harlow, Lauren Bacall, & Katherine Hepburn. They had ’style and grace’ as the song says and brought their own style of fashion to many homes. On a subconscious level this would relate the song Vogue with the popular fashion magazine of the same title, generating even more clothing sales.

Hip-hop fashion is a distinctive style of dress originating with the African-American and Latino youth in The Bronx (New York City), and later influenced by the hip-hop scenes of Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), and The Dirty South, among others. Each city contributed various elements to its overall style seen worldwide today. Hip hop fashion complements the expressions and attitudes of hip hop culture in general. Hip hop fashion has changed significantly during its history, and today it is a prominent part of popular fashion as a whole across the world and for all ethnicities.

Tommy Hilfiger was one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, though Polo, Calvin Klein, Nautica, and DKNY were also popular. When Snoop Dog wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day. Hilfiger’s popularity was due to its perceived waspiness, which made it seem exclusive and aspirational. Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market: black models featured prominently in the company’s advertising campaigns, and rappers like P-Diddy and Coolio walked during its runways shows.

It’s ironic that someone who is in a perpetual state of half dress is so strongly influencing fashion. Lady Gaga’s aversion to pants has been well documented, so it’s no surprise to read that the blonde balladeer is responsible for a huge increase in the sales of knickers in Britain. It’s another thing altogether to find allusions to this pop culture omnivore (who is attired by a Warholian gaggle of twentysomethings working under the moniker Haus of Gaga) at the haute couture in Paris. And yet it was hard not to detect a hint of the Gaga effect in Gaultier Paris ‘ leg-bearing bodysuits, Christian Lacroix’s sculptural skirts, Givenchy’s dangling chains, and even the pouf-skirted finale dress at Chanel.

The AMC series “Mad Men” has been honored for its sharp writing, polished acting and engaging portrayal of life at a New York advertising agency in the early 1960s.

 

// It has also been much noticed for something else: its fashion sense.

The series, which features all the looks of that era — thin-lapeled suits and skinny ties, crinoline-puffed dresses and pencil skirts, Peter Pan collars and subdued pinks and greens — has attracted attention from fashion designers and clothing merchandisers. Banana Republic, which has placed “Mad Men”-inspired clothes in its window displays, is even offering a walk-on role for the winner of a contest.

“Mad Men,” which returns for its third season, isn’t the first Hollywood creation to influence fashion trends. For decades, movies and television shows have played a primary role in dictating people’s fashion choices, whether they’ve been aware of it or not.

In the last decade, the once-unchallenged role of movies in shaping public tastes has been largely usurped by television and the concert stage. The costumes for Carrie Bradshaw and her style-besotted pals in “Sex and the City” famously sparked a run on Manolo Blahnik stilettos, Fendi baguettes and garish nameplate necklaces. Variations of the crested blazers, mini-kilts and headbands worn by the private school divas of “Gossip Girl,” were instant best sellers. And today a merchant might be well advised to seek inspiration instead from the cyborg-like bodysuits worn on stage by the Black Eyed Peas at Madison Square Garden.”Sex and the City” trendsetter Sarah Jessica Parker, who played Carrie, talked about her shoe addiction constantly during the HBO series, which ran from 1998 to 2004 and spawned a 2008 movie. Soon, stilettos — paired with a thrown-together look — became something the cool crowd of viewers would follow, along with brands such as Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo.

Jean Paul Gaultier was feeling an “Avatar” moment way back in January. Just a month after the release of the James Cameron blockbuster, he injected strains of its Edenic imagery into his couture collection.

References:

http://www.style.com/stylefile/2009/07/is-it-just-us-or-was-lady-gagas-influence-all-over-couture/

http://www.clothingandsociety.com/music-and-fashion

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/13/mad.men.fashion/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/fashion/04COSTUME.html?adxnnl=1&pagewanted=2&adxnnlx=1273780925-Y3+fVTqtOOSBhesQseRCdA

Political:

Before the Democratic National Convention, a plethora of questions swirled around the blogosphere. Would Barack Obama finally win over Hillary Clinton’s most loyal supporters? Would Bill Clinton’s speech come off as sincere or forced? And most important of all, what would Michelle Obama wear?

Apparently, Mrs. Obama put considerable thought into that last question, and it really paid off. Her simple blue dress received rave reviews from giddy commenters all over the web, and with her jeweled pin, she may have single-handedly brought back the brooch.

Michelle Obama’s style continues to command attention from fashion lovers everywhere. Given her record, we predict 2010 will be another big year for the First Lady. She kicked off January with a brand new bob, induced panic by layering a long-sleeve tee underneath a Narciso Rodriguez sheath, and made a fashion statement when she wore an Alexander McQueen blouse the same week of his passing. She also appeared in her seasoned favorites, from Jason Wu to Thakoon to Talbots.

When Mr. Obama and his wife triumphantly took the stage in St. Paul to claim the Democratic presidential nomination, the candidate, dressed in one of the crisp, neutral suits that have made him a GQ darling, was momentarily upstaged by his wife, and not just because she knuckle-bumped him in front of the world. What grabbed the eye was the sleeveless purple silk crepe sheath made for Mrs. Obama by Maria Pinto, the former Geoffrey Beene assistant who has long been an Obama favorite. Simple in silhouette and, at about $900 retail, not the kind of garment most working-class voters can reasonably aspire to, the dress was immediately subject to water cooler dissection.

Social:

Neiman Marcus hit the skids hard due to the recession. November 2009 store sales were down 12.7 percent over the previous year. The company cut jobs, trimmed inventories, and experienced heavy losses — but the brand has yet to stray from its original mantra. Men will flock to Neiman Marcus (and already have, with December 2009 sales up 4.9%, partly on men’s clothing) with bonus bucks because the brand represents an intense aura of prestige. It was originally launched in 1907 to present the best clothes money could buy to rich Texas oil men.

The brands are tried and true, with Armani, Gucci, Versace and D&G, representing the finest Italian threads at their best. The founders of Neiman Marcus built an empire on luxury, hosting art exhibitions at stores and weekly fashion shows in the 1950s, and releasing the extravagant Christmas catalog in 1960. People are longing to embrace luxury again and this is a brand that offers style, fashion and service — even at malls — for recession-weary shoppers. 

H&M, the world’s third- largest clothes retailer after Gap of the US and Inditex of Spain, has seized on the economic downturn to snap up vacant retail units. Sales rose 15 per cent in December compared with the same month in 2008, while those in stores open more than a year were up 3 per cent, compared with analysts’ consensus expectation for a 1 per cent drop.

Comparable sales fell 6 per cent in the fourth quarter, reflecting weakness in October and November. H&M said consumption remained constrained and the market driven by discounts during the three-month period but there were signs of the gloom lifting. The positive trend continued in January, with total sales up 13 per cent so far this month.

Some luxury brands have always catered exclusively to either men or women—think Dunhill, Ermenegildo Zegna, and Brioni for men or Jimmy Choo and Christian Lacroix for the ladies. But most are happy to promote their stores as emporiums for both sexes. Yet just as some educators believe that single-sex classrooms are better for learning, some luxury brands are finding that single-sex boutiques boost the bottom line. While it’s not exactly a man’s world on Main Street, luxury brands are increasingly offering greater exclusivity in men-only shops.

For all the talk of women’s rising spending power, luxury brands seem to be courting the fashion-savvy male these days. “Luxury fashion brands that have catered primarily to women see the menswear market as a growth opportunity in a low-growth market,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the New York–based research firm the Luxury Institute. “They have had some male offerings for some time and feel they can gain market share from weak competitors, primarily top Italian brands that cater to men only and whose tired and outdated brands currently attract primarily older men due to lack of great marketing and ‘cool’ factor.”

In some cases the move to men-only stores follows a steady rise in menswear sales. Louis Vuitton, which recently opened a men-only boutique inside Harrods, has seen “very strong growth” in its menswear business, says Jean-Baptiste Debains, president of Louis Vuitton Asia Pacific. “We want bigger and more differentiated places for men…and I believe it is a trend that will spread.” The luxury giant’s interest in creating different shopping atmospheres for men and women extends to existing equal-opportunity stores, which have made subtle changes to color and lighting schemes in the men’s departments. “We know that men don’t necessarily have the same expectation and don’t behave in the same way in stores,” says Debains.

Technology:

While we won’t be wearing T-shirts made of titanium in the 21st century, technology will play its part in clothing of the future, predicts Marcy Koontz, an assistant professor in the Department of Clothing, Textiles, and Interior Design, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The most radical innovations will occur in the area of “clever clothes.”

New fabrics will take the lead, and fashion designers will embrace the decorative and functional potential of revolutionary materials. Fashion fabrics with integral anti-perspiring or scent-releasing features will become ordinary. “Technologists will invent more multi-purpose fabrics, accessories, and makeup and extend the range of sensory and audio products to wear. Computer-aided design will provide made-to-measure garments for the mass market.”

The fashion world of the recent past will still be recognizable, however. “Youth will be in charge. Pop music, videos, movies, television, and the fashion press will still promote fashion’s idols and help to spark the latest fads.” There will be more sophisticated “virtual fashion” websites to speed the dissemination of style ideas worldwide. Despite access to online shopping, people will still want the experience of trailing around the mall looking for that perfect outfit.

Paris, the traditional designer mecca, will face increasing competition from rival centers–including New York, Milan, and Tokyo–but it will retain its position as the epicenter of culture. In Japan, the growing youth and fashion industry will become stronger. By the middle of the 21st century, African states, the South Asian subcontinent, and China will have become potent fashion forces.

Refrences:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-michelle-obama-fashion-aug292008-pg,0,7518329.photogallery

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/fashion/08michelle.html

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/02/the_michelle_obama_look_book_2.html

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/01/27/Despite-Economy-Neiman-Marcus-Stays-Glamorous.aspx

http://www.newsweek.com/id/232695

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2666_129/ai_67328787/pg_2/?tag=content;col1

Big Bands played a major role in lifting morale during World War II. Many band members served in the military and toured with USO troops at the front line. Many bands suffered from the loss of personnel and quality declined at home during the war years. An ill-timed recording strike in 1942 worsened the situation and vocalists began to strike out on their own. Big band styles have never really disappeared and can be found in local Swing Bands around town as well as music used in films and television shows. Suits that played a major factor in the overall appearance of these bands are still worn but in various updated shapes and cuts.

Throughout the war, people tuned into their local broadcast to hear updates and news around the world, but as the television began to dominate households, so did the availability of sitcoms and shows. The medium of television provided another platform for viewing current fashions which enabled viewers to mimic the styles seen on these loveable characters. They were so influential that when Lucille Ball allowed the story line of I Love Lucy to incorporate her pregnancy into the format of the TV show, more attention was paid to maternity clothing. This trend caught on due to women wanting to emulate their favorite TV stars and thus began the look of the kept housewife. This image has been carried on for decades and is still prevalent today with pin-up styles, Stepford Wife images, and 1940’s looks shown in everything from Dita Von Teese to Gossip Girl.

Teddy Boys influenced this somewhat Edwardian flavor of dress as a trend that caught on to many other young adults which set the bar in fashion among all cliques in many parts of the world. In the late 1940s and 1950s Teddy Boys were among the first subculture group to develop unique fashion statements which were strongly associated with American rock and roll music of the period. Changes in the socioeconomic status of adolescents had begun during World War II and many of them had to improvise their choices in fashion. This is very much prevalent in the dress of adolescent males today with their skinnier cut pants, jackets with added details, longer length cuts, narrow shoes, and skinny ties.

Some individual members of the French couture continued designing in Paris throughout World War II, but most had left Paris or closed their ateliers. Mainbocher and Schiaparelli had gone to New York, Balenciaga had gone to neutral Portugal. Chanel gave her last show in 1940. But once the war had ended, the couturiers began to plan for a revival of their businesses. This revival was given an enormous push forward by the collections of 1947 and the New Look, the name given by the fashion press to the collection mounted by Christian Dior.

Dior had worked before the war for Piquet and after, briefly, for the House of Lucien Lelong. (Lelong was not a designer but ran an establishment carrying his name.) In 1945 Dior was offered financial backing to open his own establishment, and in 1947 the House of Dior made fashion history. The new styles were successful overnight, and the House of Dior became one of the most influential of the houses in the haute couture. Dior remained a major designer until his death in 1957.

Another major designer of the postwar period was Cristobal Balenciaga. The Spanish-born Balenciaga opened his first Paris establishment in 1937. When he returned to Paris after the War, he became a favorite of Carmel Snow, the editor of Harper’s Bazaar who featured his work often in the magazine. His work showed a mastery of almost sculptural forms and shapes and frequently his styles were well ahead of their time. A major force in the haute couture for the 1950s and on into the 1960s, he suddenly and unexpectedly closed his establishment in 1968. Balenciaga died in 1972.

Chanel did not reopen her atelier until 1954. Once again she became a major force in the couture, continuing to influence styles until she died in 1971. The couture remained a vital, active force in fashion throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Interest in the couture remained exceptionally high and many other Parisian couturiers were active in the postwar period.

To achieve the fashionable look, women returned to more confining underclothing than had been seen since before 1920. Fortunately for the comfort of women, many of the undergarments required to maintain the soft curves of the New Look were made of newer synthetic fabrics that pulled the body into the requisite shape without the rigid, painful bones and lacing of the early 20th century. Necklines were plain, round, or square and ended either close to the neck or lower. Many dresses had small square or rounded Peter-Pan style collars, larger round or square collars, and Chinese style or “mandarin” standing collars. Although some full-skirted suits were worn, most tended to be made with narrow skirts. Jackets fit closely to the waistline, extending below the waist where they either flared out into a stiffened peplum or had a rounded, stiffened, and padded hip section ending several inches below the waist. Suit necklines varied in placement, but tended to stand away from the neck somewhat.

Skirt lengths dropped sharply. Examination of fashion magazines of the preceding months shows that there was already a tendency toward somewhat longer skirts. Many other designers in the spring of 1947 also showed longer skirts, but to the women on the street who had worn her skirts just below her knees for the preceding four or five years, the change was radical. Although there were pockets of resistance to the longer skirts the change seemed irresistable and within a year the longer skirt lengths were widely adopted. The square, padded shoulder that  had been worn since the late 1930s was replaced by a shoulder-line with a round, soft curve which was achieved by a shaped shoulder pads. Whether the skirt was full or narrow, the waistline was nipped in and small. The rounded curves of the body were emphasized. Many daytime and evening dresses were cut quiet low. The curve of the hip was stressed. In jackets with basques, sections that extended below the waist, the basque was padded and stiffened into a full, round curve. The colors of clothing during this time were of plain and solemn colors. Most outfits were of a solid color such as ivory, black, navy, or other dark colors.

Refrences:

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/40sclothes.html

Survey of Historic Costume

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When Lucille Ball allowed the story line of I Love Lucy to incorporate her pregnancy into the format of the TV show, more attention was paid to maternity clothing. Women began to emulate television fashions that were concentrated on ball gowns and cocktail dresses worn by singers of those shown off by actress Loretta Young in the entrance scene to her weekly series.

Air travel made it possible for people of the postwar period to move easily from one place to another. The relatively low-cost of this transportation and its speed, as compared with ship travel, coupled with and increased affluence for many Americans, encouraged more of them to travel abroad. In 1929, 500,000 Americans travelled abroad and by 1958 the number of Americans who went abroad reached 1,398,000, and they spent and estimated $2 billion in their travels. Travelers returned with fashion goods from the countries they visited. They also became more receptive to imported goods sold in the United States.

Music in the 1940s was mainly built around the jazz and big band styles that were popular during the day. Artists like Rosemary Clooney, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw helped to define the musical era with their unique brand of entertaining crowds through their music. This was also the era of World War II, and many musical acts strived to reflect the pain that the country was going through while still remaining upbeat and positive about the impending future. The 1940s was a time for many breakthrough artists who made their mark in the history of music and several of them are still recognized as innovators in their day.

One of the innovators of the 1940s musical style was Dizzy Gillespie. Known for his trademark puffy cheeks formed from being a prominent jazz trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie was one of the prominent band leaders of the day. He also helped to create the bebop style of music, which consisted of a fast-tempo style of jazz combined with scat singing. Scat singing was a phenomenon that came to prominence during this era and it consisted of several nonsense but rhythmical syllables strung together to fit with the music. Dizzy Gillespie was also known for having a bent trumpet because it produced a unique sound that was characteristic of his particular sound.

Bing Crosby helped to define the music of the 1940s as well as much of the music today. Crosby was a great musical talent during his day and musicians continued to be influenced for several decades, including Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin. He was also a prominent entertainer in the field of improving troop morale during the war as he appeared several times to perform for them. Crosby instilled the idea into popular music that a performer could be a genuine artist rather than becoming a novelty act. He opened the door for future artists to have a well-rounded persona with lyrics that had significance. His popularity continued to throughout the 1940s and he also appeared in several movies.

 The 1940s were a boom time for movies also. Government declared the movie industry to be essential for boosting morale and sharing war updates and propaganda. Hollywood was full of glamorous movie stars and the number of costume designers and young stars grew. If you lived in the city, every Saturday night the thing to do would be to go to the movie house where they would start out with news reels of updates on the war.

Refrences:

Survey of Historic Costume (fifth edition)

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/40smusic.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY–4SXzwkw

Political Influence: In 1947 after World War II Parisian fashion turned in dramatic new directions that the fashion press labeled ”The New Look.”  These styles dominated fashion design until the mid-50s when some silhouette changes began to appear.

The changing patterns of life in the United States and Western Europe had a major impact on what people wore. Many American women had returned to fulltime homemaking after working for pay during World War II. Department stores expanded sportswear departments for men, women, and teens with the changing lifestyles for a large number of Americans living in suburbs after returning from war.

Social Influence: Changes in the socioeconomic status of adolescents had begun during World War II. Before the War many young people become wage earners and members of the workforce soon after they entered their teens. But the postwar socioeconomic changes kept many young people dependent on their families for a longer period of time- through high school and  beyond- and this accentuated the period of adolescence as a separate stage of developement. The teen market in records and clothes grew rapidly and teenage fashions and fads played an important role in the garment industry.

But it was Britain in the late 1940s and 1950s that the Teddy Boys created the first truly independent fashions for young people. Teddy Boys were working-class British adolescents who adopted styles of menswear that had a somewhat Edwardian flavor: longer jackets with more shaping, high turned-back lapels, cuffed sleeves, waistcoats, and well-cut, narrow trousers. Teddy Boys adopted an exaggerated version of these styles, somewhat akin to the prewar zoot suit. They wore elongated loose jackets with wide, padded shoulders and, often, a velvet collar. Trousers were very narrow and tight, and short enough to allow garishly colors socks to show. In the 1950s, flat, broad shoes were replaced by wrinkle pickers, shoes with exaggerated pointed toes.

Technological Influence: Before World War II clothing was made from a limited number of fibers: the natural fibers and the manufactured fibers. The successful marketing of nylon, invented before the war but not given wide distribution to the civilian population until after the war, touched off a search for other synthetic fibers. Many of these came onto the market in the 1950s. The major apparel fibers appeared at this time included modacrylics, acrylics, polyesters, triacetate, and spandex. Other fibers were also developed, but these either has limited use or were found mostly in household textiles or industrial applications. Many companies that had formerly been chemical companies began to manufacture fibers, which were chiefly derived from chemical substances.

The expansion of travel helped to promote drip dry fabrics. In the late 1950s, there were wash-and-wear fabrics and with manufactured fibers, and especially with blends, American consumers experienced difficulty in identifying fibers and knowing how to care for these products. Congress passed the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act in 1960. This legislation decreed that, as an aid to consumers, textile products had to be sold with labels that identified the fiber content.