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October 18, 2019
I adore fashion and sewing is a means to that fashion end. I adore watching the change in fashion and even predicting where it will go. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not going to go into the business of fortune telling. That's not what I'm talking about here. But anyone who's been in fashion or watched it longer than 2 or 3 trends, will tell you what's coming next.
Here's how this tracks.
- 1944 - You had severe, frugal and rationed-yardage outfits as fashion during World War I.
- 1947 - You have a va-va-voom silhouette, small waist, lots of skirt - opposite of 1944.
- 1964 - British Invasion - fashion, music, art - the silhouette changes to the androgyny of Mary Quant and Twiggy - opposite of the hourglass silhouette
- 1967 - Hippie Fashion - A Bohemian take on fashion that went into the 70s
- 1980 - Power suit and a new id for women - powerful & pretty with angular silhouette - strong shoulders, clear waist, straight hips.
- 1990 - Grunge, sloppy, ill-fitting (too large, too small), torn, worn out looks to move from the refined, angular shape of the 80s.
So that each movement after the one before is like a pendulum swinging - from the bustle and corset of the 1900s to the androgynous look of the flapper, to the straight, frugal look of the 30s and 40s during wartime to the hourglass silhouette of the 50s to the British Invasion androgyny of the 60s to the hippie Bohemian look of the 70s to the angular feminism refinement of the 80s to the sloppiness and ugliness of the 90s/00s/10s to
......you guess what's next.
Each phase goes from androgyny to feminism to androgyny to feminism or from refinement to sloppy to refinement to sloppy. But each trend has a "new take" on the feminism or a "new distinct trait" of the androgyny.
The Androgynous Rebels
From 1920 flapper, to 1950 beatnik to 1970 hippie to 1990 Grunge.
Here's the androgynous look through the ages, when it first appeared. The flapper was considered outright scandalous in the 1920's, while the beatnik was as anti-establishment as any hippie or Grunge devotee could ask.
But a few years later and it's a different androgynous look.
From Audrey Hepburn to Jackie K to Hepburn/Givenchy, all these looks are totally modified and look scrumptious, easy to wear and very flattering.
This is how fashion trends work:
They come out and are outrageous, exaggerated and over-done, then when they hit the streets and become more common-place, they style is modified and broken-down to its essence and becomes down-right classic.
Here's How The Hourglass Trend Works
In the 1890's, there was the bustle, and the whole purpose was to make the waist look extraordinarily small and give the hourglass look. Even though there were plenty of women who wore this who weren't even close to a small waist, the bustle did the trick.
Then post World War II, a return to the feminine look, so missing during the war, brought about another look for the hourglass. It was a freer look - or at least freer as compared to the 1890's look.
Then came the 80's and the power suit which brought about a feminine silhouette, but again much more empowered than the almost femme fatale look of the 50's.
And in the 2020's we see the feminine silhouette returning, but again with a newer twist. It's accessorized with combat-sized boots and power purses/satchels and large hats. Right now because it's so new the style is exaggerated, however with time, this will modify, especially as the styles come to the stores.
For the more classic Hourglass
These looks all have that 1980's power silhouette, but modified so that they look really classic.
The Take-Away
With the new more feminine silhouette coming in. the fun thing to do here is to take what's on the runway (and therefore by its nature exaggerated and over-done), and modify it.
So how much fun is this and really they don't need that much modifying - let's take these one at a time.
From Louis Vuitton
This totally exemplifies my view of runway - way over exaggerated socks and shoes to show the clunky accessory-look. The point of this is to put empowerment into femininity, not to show feminine or hourglass silhouettes as weak or the connotation that a more girlie-girl look is less powerful - and runways do this in spades to make their point.
But there's a lot here - there's the color block on the shoulders (if your big through there, makes yours dark, if your large in your hips, make yours light.). The puffing shoulders which adds to the silhouette largess of the shoulders and hips making the waist look smaller (this is a perspective thing), and you don't have to do this all exaggerated like here, but something to think about in your shoulders. The fur trim as the clunky
accessory, but modified and made smaller, is much more classic and wearable.
From Miu Miu
Here again the huge accessory is part of the look of this newer feminine feel, but taking the top which is smaller and more classic, and then putting a bottom in a solid from the top would make an beautifully spring/summer outfit (these are all from the S/S 2020 shows). Also you don't like sleeveless or that much décolletage skin showing, raise the neckline and add
sleeves. (There's a great resource in the Library on how to draft your own sleeve head to match a pattern that doesn't have one.) Also seriously consider making the dress a little longer - at ankle - even for day for a swishier look!
Pare down the purse, but notice the clunky size of the sandals. These are clunky, but still in good classic proportion, so these work, and these are so hot with this dress.
Lastly notice the raised waistline - this is a little empire-esque, so I'd lower it a tad to make it more classic.
From Marc Jacobs
This reeks of Linda Rondstadt during the 70's! But there's lots here that's fun.
Note:
Puffed sleeve head
Raised waist (good position here)
Collar and cuffs
Length
OK - so the sleeve heads are way too puffed and if you did that now, you would look affected, but I promise you in 2 years you would be hot in style, but for now, a little puff is good.
The collar and cuffs are cook, but pare the size down and it looks much more normal.
Love the length, and love the print which screams Spring and Summer.
From Fendi (w/o Lagerfeld)
On this one the short boy-ish haircut and the shoes give away the clunky-feminine style, but modify that and it's a winner look.
OK - so you don't like a bathing suit - don't blame you, but how about this - a shirt that buttons to the waist out of the print with Capri or pants in the same look so that the shirt acts as a tunic while the pants give you freedom to move around. Obviously this is for a more open look than if you are in a more formal office, but it's certainly a cool look for a summer
evening out or weekend look.
From Paco Rabanne
Color, color, color and blocking too. This is a great lesson in matching prints. It's hard to do, but fun when you do it.
The combination of the top, and the bottom with the tights or leggings makes for a very interesting idea in how to put together an outfit. So this means you can do a solid or lightly printed turtleneck or cowl neck with a tunic or jumper-esque type garment, and then pick up another color in the leggings or tights (preferably something darker and more recessive - there's a resource in the library all about color, recessive, how to match, and much
more - click here).
This is really advanced stuff but taking what the designer has done here and working within those parameters, for example using the pop-style floral tunic with the abstract floral top, can help you work through this.
This is a very happy look and lends itself beautiful to Summer, however making this more muted in darker colors can work fabulous for Fall/Winter too.
From Gucci
This is equally happy, but needs some toning-down to make this work.
The strong print is definitely summer, and using a more modified style (raised neckline, shortened sleeves), this can work beautifully for work. For Fall/Winter, a dark ground is more appropriate, but for Spring/Summer this lighter ground looks great.
The sleeves need some work. These sleeves are what I call "in the soup" because there's no way those sleeves can stay out of whatever you're eating - but shorter, they can look really fabulous.
The secret here is to keep that large print centered - see how the design in center is symmetrical on both sides? That means this is really well constructed and this is something we sewists can do in spades.
So this gives you some ideas about where we're headed. I've set a reminder to bring this post back up this late winter (to make you feel better about the weather), but also to remind you of things coming up and give you more time to let these ideas cook. But in the meantime, not only think about these for Spring/Summer, but changing them out a bit to a more Fall/Winter style (higher necklines, longer hems, etc.), and
colors to be ahead of the curve.
More than anything else - make a dress - dresses are so hot now!!!
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PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as both Claire Kennedy and SewingArtistry - if you want to friend me to check out the goodies over there for free!
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