April 26, 2019

Walt and I are redoing the guest bath when has needed an freshening up for a long time.  We live in one of those MCM (Mid-century Modern) homes, that has been a lot of fun for us.  But for me it's been a real transformation in my thinking about this style. 

I grew up in a time when MCM was just passing out of fashion and the more modern was really the chic trend.  All the trademarks of the MCM style were becoming old and tired, while the style of Mary Quant, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, and Cher was hip, au courant and most of all new.

It's amazing how those styles stay with us all our lives, and the old, tired look of MCM has been imprinted in my mind as old-fashioned - even while the younger generation finds it fresh and new.  

But lately I've been embracing this style and moving past Bauhaus, Art Deco and the Arts and Crafts/Misson movements into MCM (which is how MCM was born), and the bones of this fashion trend are really well-founded and have have good provenance. 

It has caused me to think a lot about fashion trends and how we perceive them.  How can we move from the opulence of the 1980s to the ugliness of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.  It's like Grunge has been with us forever - and it has. 

From Lacroix                         to                        Jean McAllister
   

Studying fashion trends gives an interesting perspective on current fashion because it can even predict future trends. I knew in the 1980s that fashion would trend away from the glamour and exotic of the 80s to something completely opposite.  But what was that opposite?  Well, it was Grunge.

Today after we have had almost 3 decades of this style, we are trending away from that style.  The interesting part about today is that something happened during the last 3 decades, that hasn't happened in almost 100 years.  The economics of a fashion trend had become so embedded into the fiber of our lives, that it has lasted way past it's excitement and especially way past the normal lifetime of a trend. 

Usually trends go for about 10 years - look at the post-WWII fashion which lasted from about late 40s to late 50s, then we had the OpArt, Pop Era of the 60s, the Hippie of the 70s, the Opulence of the 80s and the Grunge after that.  For each of these trends, the pendulum swings back and forth....40s were very opulent with gobs of fabrics being use, while the OpArt/Pop of the 60s, were less yardage and a cleaner, sleeker look, while the hippie of the 70s was a more peasant looks, then the refined look of the 80s with all the glitz and glamor of Alexis Carrington herself!

So what's ahead?  Take a look at where we have most recently been:  anti-fashion, ill-fitting, ripped/torn/worn-out, over-sized, under-sized, androgynous and most of all ugly.  Take any one of these and go completely the opposite and that's where we're headed.  So that could be high-fashion or well-fitted, or impeccably tailored and finished, or beautifully sized/fitted or feminine and most of all beautiful.  Usually one style or trait of that style will fall out as being the dominant characteristic of the newer style. 

I saw this first in John Galliano's Spring 2011 collection


Since then it's out there to see, if you look.
From Rodarte                             to                                   Jason Wu


What seems to come out more than anything else is femininity.  So of all the directions fashion could have gone, like:

• well-fitted
• impeccably tailored
• finished edges
• beautifully sized/fitted
• feminine

It seems femininity has won the contest.  But that doesn't mean the other aspects can't be used or at least kept in your consciousness.

So what does that mean for we sewists.  One thing that we creators can do, because we can turn our styles and fashion on a dime, whereas stores have stock, backlog and manufacturing time to contend with, we can change our fashion almost at whim....one day it's forward, one day it's retro - now how freeing is that?!!!

But we can use the other aspects of where fashion might go in our current sewing.  Here are some ideas:

• Making garments with finished edges, this means all edges are finished so that you can tell at a glance that this is completely the opposite of the rough, unfinished edges of the past fashion craze.
• Well-fitted - sewists have always been keen about well-fitting garments, but this goes beyond the fitting - it's also about proportion and balance.  Well-fitted here means that everything is in balance and flatteringly so as opposed to the over-sized, ill-fitting of yesterday.
• Impeccably tailored - and yes this includes fitting and finishing, but also shaped well, and hanging well.  Well-tailored suits are all about how they hang on the body or even better put;  how they sit and fall on the body.
• Feminine - that's already in spades with everything that's so obviously feminine.

And where is John Galliano today?....here are his latest takes from Spring 2019.

Just as feminine as in the 2011 show.  This is his look and here to stay for him.

Looking around on the internet is the easiest and simplest way to see what's going on and one of my go-to sites is vogue.com.  It's free and has practically every fashion show from the 90's on.  Additionally on their main "fashion page" they have interesting articles.  I don't always agree with them, but what these articles do pick up are the major trends, and designers to watch and those that are trending.   They give you good ideas on who to follow or at the least who to look at to possibly follow!

What you definitely do pick up on, is that the death of Karl Lagerfeld has ended a major trend in designers.  Most designers today are out on their own.  They are not heading design teams at major Maisons (or Houses) in Europe or the US.  It will be fascinating to what what Chanel does now that Lagerfeld is gone.  So many of these Maisons have lost their "name" designers as they opt to go out on their one.  And even those young designers who flirted with positions in major houses in Europe (like Alexander Wang at Balenciaga) have opted to be out on their own rather than continue with the big houses. 

This makes it a little more difficult to follow the up-to-the-minute fashions as these new designers prefer their own house as opposed to working for a major one.   Zac Posen, Alexander Wang, Rodarte, The Row, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung even Haider Ackermann (in his tamer moments) are worth following as much as Elie Saab, Nanette Lepore, Badgley Mischka,  Reem Acra and Dolce & Gabbana from the old school. 

Watching these trends helps us to refine and focus on designs that are good for our particular shapes, sizes and styles.  Keeping in your individual likes and what works well for you is always in style, and although that can be updates and freshened from time to time, staying within that look that works for you, is the best.  It's great when we are kids and can experiment with each fashion craze as it appears, but as we get older, after having been through all those fashion crazes, we can ascertain what's good for us and what's not.  Stay with that, but there's nothing wrong with bringing in a new aspect of the au courant looks. 

Ways to do that in the past, were raveling edges to a style that looked good in the 80's on you.....see-thru look with an opaque tank underneath (it's boring to see the whole breasts all the time, not considering that it's also TMI).  Today, those same techniques can be applied to that individual classic look that you like for yourself - finish the edges, raise the waistline to above the waist, see-thru is still good, but the skin-toned tank or shell underneath makes that look really smashing and most of all making the silhouette more feminine makes a look so up-to-date now.

We sewists have so much more of an advantage over most shoppers.  With the transformation out of the ill-fitting/unfinished look of the past, stores marketing personnel and marketing financiers are having a terrible time trying to create something that fits better, is more finished and has good style within the same financial bounds as the fashion of the past (it costs way more to make something even that appears better made, much less is better made).  We sewists, don't have that problem.  And although it may appear that we are paying more for our clothing, because our clothing is more durable, fits better, is more flattering and therefore lasts longer, it is by far the more economical way to stylish clothing than the buy-every-minute clothing of the past.

Do a little research (I still like vogue.com for this) and freshen up your own wardrobe this spring!

On yes - and the SewingArtistry.com site is back up - and a surprise is coming very soon - a good surprise!!!!
 

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