the best and the worst: week 06

and so, we sailed to the end of the sixth week of blogging (the first week of writing was purely experimental). for the entire week, my focus was on the history of fashion: looking at different periods, eras and movements. i have learnt of many of the periods in school from the angle of the literature that was written hence putting the various posts together was somewhat a stroll down memory lane. the struggle, though, was trying to find a balance between keeping the posts reader-friendly whilst being informative. putting a hundred years of fashion history into a few paragraphs was no easy feat but i'm pleased that (after much reading, cutting, copying and pasting) i did it anyway. thus i hope that you enjoyed this little learning journey that i 'forced' everyone to participate in.

without further ado, let's reveal the best of the week!

best: the ancients: china

yay for china! in researching for this post, i was taken aback to learn that the qipao or cheongsam was not the first outfit of the chinese. there was even an earlier post devoted to it. i have always been brought up thinking that the traditional outfit for the chinese was the slim fitting dress with the mandarin collar and the cloth buttons. whilst putting together this post, it was truly a lesson in my own culture and heritage. i haven't gotten round to asking my chinese friends but i am certain that many of them will be as surprised as me that the hanfu is the true traditional outfit. 

and the post that is the worst of the week...

worst: the goths

i think the goths took the bottom of the pile this week for a couple of reasons. firstly, it was the last article to be released in the week so there is always a huge risk that there is insufficient lapse in time for it to climb the charts. it is evident from the numbers this week that time was against the post. next, here in singapore, it's a public holiday (and thus a long weekend) which naturally translates into people not at work or at home. i can't expect everyone to stay home just to read my blog. i'm certain that the post will gain readership in the days to come but as of the weekly tally, it's the worst post of the week.

i don't think it's a bland post. it's just the bad timing.

before i wrap up this post, i would also like to make special mention of the post that is currently dominating the readership charts.

special mention: mary-kate, ashley...

this was a post i did a few weeks back on the olsen twins and this entire week, it shot up to number one and has been gaining very strong daily readership. if you are one of those who first visited my blog because of this post, i sincerely thank you for your support and i hope that you will visit this blog regularly as i bring you more diverse features. 

but if you have yet to read the post, do click on the link because i added a liner of update on the sisters. they have been awarded with something pretty special so do hop over to the post to find out what it is.

finally, it's been a good week here on The Online Edition in terms of the new knowledge that i gained and the boost in readership.

fash'on... BAM!

@dd it: bell bottoms

having gone through periods and eras of fashion this week, i could not help but think about some of my past fashion choices and i must say that the one that i miss the most are my bell bottoms. back in college, there was even a school fundraiser that a few classmates and i dressed up as hippies and ran about two kilometres each. yes, i did it in my bell bottoms.

so how do bell bottoms look like? (you see the 'not-so-young' folks wagging their fingers at you yet?)

image from pew pew

bell bottoms are trousers that become wider from the knees downward; they tend to have a 'bell-shaped' look at the bottom of the jeans, which is where the name of the pant style comes from. related styles would include flare, loon pants and boot-cut / leg trousers.

The Brady bunch

Celebrities and their bell bottoms

i have been searching in recent months for a pair of denim bell bottoms so if you know any place that is selling it... do drop me a note because this is one trend that i added, forgotten but now, would like to bring back to my closet!

fash'on... BAM!

the goths

YES! it's finally here. the long-awaited post on gothic fashion. before i overwhelm you with images and a full fashion show, it's only fair that we learn of the origins of the gothic movement. 

the goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. it began in england during the early 1980s in the gothic rockscene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. the goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify. tts imagery and cultural proclivities indicate influences from the 19th century gothic literature along with horror films and to a lesser extent the bdsm culture.

Gothic makeup

typical gothic fashion includes a pale complexion with colored black hair, black lips and black clothes. both male and female goths wear darkeyeliner and dark fingernails. styles are often borrowed from the punks, victorians and elizabethans. bdsm imagery and paraphernalia are also common.

Karl Lagerfeld's invite

in 1977, karl lagerfeld hosted the soirée moratoire noire party, specifying "tragique exigée absolument noire" (totally black tragic dress required). the event included elements associated with leatherman style.

goth fashion has a reciprocal relationship with the fashion world. in the later part of the first decade of the 21st century, designers such as alexander mcqueen, rick owens, gareth pugh, ann demeulemeester, rodarte, hedi slimane, john richmond, john galliano, olivier theyskens and yohji yamamoto brought elements of goth to runways. 

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Kirsten Stewart in Alexander McQueen

this was described as 'haute goth' by cintra wilson in the new york times. thierry mugler, claude montana, jean-paul gaultier and christian lacroix have also been associated with a gothic style. in Spring 2004, riccardo tisci, jean-paul gaultier, marc jacobs and stefano pilati dressed their models as 'glamorous ghouls dressed in form-fitting suits and coal-tinted cocktail dresses'. swedish designer helena horstedt and jewelry artist hanna hedman also practice a goth aesthetic.

fash'on... BAM!

the beats

after much feature on the eras and periods, i decided that i shall not place emphasis on the time factor today because the fashion that i want to discuss are not time-specific but are more counterculture and reactionary. we shall start off with the beats.

The Beats

the beat generation was a group of american post-world war two writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired. central elements of 'beat' culture included experimentation with drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in eastern religion, a rejection of materialism, and the idealizing of exuberant, unexpurgated means of expression and being.

in the 1960s, elements of the expanding beat movement were incorporated into the hippie counterculture.

image of Beatniks from House of Khan

the term 'beatnik' was coined by herb caen of the san francisco chronicle on 2 april 1958, a portmanteau on the name of the recent russian satellite sputnik and beat generation. caen's term stuck and became the popular label associated with a new stereotype - the man with a goatee and beret reciting nonsensical poetry and playing bongo drums, while free-spirited women wearing black leotards dance. 

Wally Hedrick

an early example of the 'beatnik stereotype' occurred in vesuvio's (a bar in north beach) which employed the artist wally hedrick to sit in the window dressed in full beard, turtleneck, and sandals, creating improvisational drawings and paintings. 

the Hippies

during the 1960s, aspects of the beat movement metamorphosed into the counterculture of the 1960s, accompanied by a shift in terminology from 'beatnik' to 'hippie'. there were stylistic differences between beatniks and hippies; somber colors, dark sunglasses, and goatees gave way to colorful psychedelic clothing and long hair. the beats were known for 'playing it cool' (keeping a low profile), but the hippies became known for 'being cool' (displaying their individuality). beyond style, there were changes in substance: the beats tended to be essentially apolitical, but the hippies became actively engaged with the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement.

so do you feel the beats?

fash'on... BAM!

armed for fashion?

the most characteristic north american fashion trend from the 1930s to the end of world war II was attention at the shoulder, with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves, and exaggerated shoulder pads for both men and women by the 1940s. the period also saw the first widespread use of man-made fibres, especially rayon for dresses and viscose for linings and lingerie, and syntheticnylon stockings. the zipper also became widely used.

1930s fashion

suntans (called at the time "sunburns") became fashionable in the early 1930s, along with travel to the resorts along the mediterranean, in the bahamas, and on the east coast of florida where one could acquire a tan, leading to new categories of clothes: white dinner jackets for men and beach pajamas, halter tops, and bare midriffs for women.

Prince of Wales, Edward VIII

fashion trendsetters in the period included the prince of wales (edward viii from january 1936 until his abdication that december) and his companion wallis simpson (the duke and duchess of windsor from their marriage in june 1937) and such hollywood movie stars as fred astaire, carole lombard and joan crawford. the lighthearted, forward-looking attitude and fashions of the late 1920s lingered through most of 1930, but by the end of that year the effects of the great depression began to affect the public, and a more conservative approach to fashion displaced that of the 1920s. 

Joan Crawford

for women, skirts became longer and the waist-line was returned up to its normal position in an attempt to bring back the traditional "womanly" look. other aspects of fashion from the 1920s took longer to phase out. cloche hats remained popular until about 1933 while short hair remained popular for many women until late in the 1930s. throughout the 1930s and early '40s, a second influence vied with the paris couturiers as a wellspring for ideas: the american cinema. 

paris designers such as schiaparelli and lucien lelong acknowledged the impact of film costumes on their work. lelong said, 'we, the couturiers, can no longer live without the cinema any more than the cinema can live without us. we corroborate each others' instinct.'

leg-o-mutton sleeves in The Hunger Games

the 1890s leg-o-mutton sleeves designed by walter plunkett for irene dunne in 1931's cimarron helped to launch the broad-shouldered look and adrian adolph greenberg's little velvet hat worn tipped over one eye by greta garbo in romance (1930) became the 'empress eugenie hat ... universally copied in a wide price range', it influenced how women wore their hats for the rest of the decade.' movie costumes were covered not only in film fan magazines, but in influential fashion magazines such as women's wear daily, harper's bazaar and vogue. adrian's puff-sleeved gown for joan crawford letty lynton was copied by macy's in 1932 and sold over 500,000 copies nationwide.

'Empress Eugenie' riding derby

Scarlett O'Hara's barbecue dress

the most influential film of all was 1939's gone with the wind. plunkett's 'barbecue dress' for vivien leigh as scarlett o'hara was the most widely copied dress after the duchess of windsor's wedding costume and vogue credited the 'scarlett o'hara' look with bringing full skirts worn over crinolines back into wedding fashion after a decade of sleek, figure-hugging styles. 

Lana Turner, 'sweater girl'

lana turner's 1937 film 'they won't forget' made her the first sweater girl, an informal look for young women relying on large breasts pushed up and out by brassieres, which continued to be influential into the 1950s, and was arguably the first major style of youth fashion. jean patou, who had first raised hemlines to eighteen inches off the floor with his 'flapper' dresses of 1924, had begun lowering them again in 1927, using vionnet's handkerchief hemline to disguise the change. 

by 1930, longer skirts and natural waists were shown everywhere. retail clothing and accessories inspired by the period costumes of adrian, plunkett, travis banton, howard greer, and others influenced what women wore until war-time restrictions on fabric stopped the flow of lavish costumes from hollywood. by the late '30s, emphasis was moving to the back, with halter necklines and high-necked but backless evening gowns with sleeves.

wartime austerity led to restrictions on the number of new clothes that people bought and the amount of fabric that clothing manufacturers could use. women working on war service adopted trousers as a practical necessity. the united states government requisitioned all silk supplies, forcing the hosiery industry to completely switch to nylon. in march 1942 the government then requisitioned all nylon for parachutes and other war uses, leaving only the unpopular cotton and rayon stockings. the industry feared that not wearing stockings would become a fad, and advised stores to increase hosiery advertising. in Britain, clothing was strictly rationed, with a system of "points", and the board of trade issued regulations for 'utility clothes' in 1941. in america the war production board issued its regulation l85 on March 8, 1942, specifying restrictions for every item of women's clothing. because the military used so much green and brown dye, manufacturers used more red dye in clothing.

wartime fashion

later in the war, most women wore simply-cut blouses or shirts and square-shouldered jackets. popular magazines and pattern companies advised women on how to remake men's suits into smart outfits, since the men were in uniform and the cloth would otherwise sit unused. 

eisenhower jackets

eisenhower jackets became popular in this period. influenced by the military, these jackets were bloused at the chest and fitted at the waist with a belt. because of the war, current european fashion was no longer available to women in the united states. 

in short, we often think that the fashion industry is an ivory tower apart from the real world but this age showed just how interconnected our daily lives are with what we throw onto our backs.

fash'on... BAM!

rise of the machines

the fashionable silhouette in the early 1900s was that of a confident woman, with full low chest and curvy hips. the "health corset" of this period removed pressure from the abdomen and created an S-curve silhouette.

image from historic fashion

in 1897, the silhouette slimmed and elongated by a considerable amount. blouses and dresses were full in front and puffed into a "pigeon breast" shape of the early 20th century that looked over the narrow waist, which sloped from back to front and was often accented with a sash or belt. necklines were supported by very high boned collars. skirts brushed the floor, often with a train, even for day dresses, in mid-decade. 

the fashion houses of paris began to show a new silhouette, with a thicker waist, flatter bust, and narrower hips. by the end of the decade the most fashionable skirts cleared the floor and approached the ankle. the overall silhouette narrowed and straightened, beginning a trend that would continue into the years leading up to the great war.

by 1907, clothing was increasingly factory-made and often sold in large, fixed price department stores. custom sewing and home sewing were still significant, but on the decline. new machinery and materials changed clothing in many ways.

garment sweatshops

the introduction of the lock-stitch sewing machine in mid-century simplified both home and boutique dressmaking, and enabled a fashion for lavish application of trim that would have been prohibitively time-consuming if done by hand. lace machinery made lace at a fraction of the cost of the old, laborious methods. new materials from far-flung british colonies gave rise to new types of clothing (such as rubber, which made gumboots and mackintoshes possible.) chemists developed new, cheap, bright dyes that displaced the old animal or vegetable dyes.

unfussy, tailored clothes were worn for outdoor activities and traveling. the shirtwaist, a costume with a bodice or waist tailored like a man's shirt with a high collar, was adopted for informal daywear and became the uniform of working women. wool or tweed suit called tailor-mades or (in french) tailleurs featured ankle-length skirts with matching jackets; ladies of fashion wore them with fox furs and huge hats. 

two new styles of hats that became popular at the turn of the century were the automobile bonnet for riding and sailor's hat worn for tennis matches, bicycling and croquet.

this first decade of the machine age marked the full flowering of parisian haute couture as the arbiter of styles and silhouettes for women of all classes. 

in 1908, a new silhouette emerged from callot soeurs, vionnet at the house of doucet, and most importantly, paul poiret. 

 merveilleuse, directoire and empire

the styles were variously called merveilleuse, directoire and empire after the fashions of the turn of the nineteenth century, which they resembled in their narrow skirts and raised waistlines. the new styles featured form-fitting gowns with high or indefined waists, or ankle-length skirts and long tunic-like jackets, and required a different "straight line" corset. 

fash'on... BAM!

all hail the queen!

victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in british culture that emerged and grew throughout the victorian era and the reign of queen victoria, a period which would last from june 1837 to january 1901. covering nearly two thirds of the 19th century, the sixty-three year reign would see numerous changes in fashion.

Queen Victoria by Alexander Melville

in the 1840s and 1850s, women's gowns developed narrow and sloping shoulders, low and pointed waists, and bell-shaped skirts. corsets, an ankle-length chemise-like skirt, and layers of flounced petticoats were worn under the gowns. by the 1850s the number of petticoats was reduced and the crinoline was worn; as such the size of the skirts expanded. day dresses had a solid bodice and evening gowns had a very low neckline and were worn off the shoulder with sheer shawls and opera-length gloves. 

Victorian dresses of the 1860s

in the 1860s, the skirts became flatter at the front and projected out more behind the woman. day dresses had wide pagoda sleeves and high necklines with lace or tatted collars. evening dresses had low necklines and short sleeves, and were worn with short gloves or fingerless lace or crocheted mitts.

day dress, 1875

evening gown, 1878

in the 1870s, uncorseted tea gowns were introduced for informal entertaining at home and steadily grew in popularity. bustles were used to replace the crinoline to hold the skirts up behind the woman, even for "seaside dresses".

dresses of the 1880s

image from fiberneed

in the 1880s, riding habits had a matching jacket and skirt (without a bustle), a high-collared shirt or chemisette, and a top hat with a veil. hunting costumes had draped ankle-length skirts worn with boots or gaiters. clothing worn when out walking had a long jacket and skirt, worn with the bustle, and a small hat or bonnet. travelers wore long coats like dusters.

Victorian fashion of the 1890s

in the 1890s, women's fashion became simpler and less extravagant; both bustles and crinoline fell out of use and dresses were not as tight as before. corsets were still used but became slightly longer, giving women a slight S-curve silhouette. skirts took on a trumpet shape, fitting closely over the hip with a wasp-waist cut and flaring just above the knee. High necks and puffed sleeves became popular. 

the silhouette changed once again as the victorian era drew to a close. the shape was essentially an inverted triangle, with a wide-brimmed hat on top, a full upper body with puffed sleeves, no bustle, and a skirt that narrowed at the ankles. the enormous wide-brimmed hats were covered with elaborate creations of silk flowers, ribbons, and above all, exotic plumes; hats sometimes included entire exotic birds that had been stuffed. Many of these plumes came from birds in the florida everglades, which were nearly entirely decimated by overhunting. well, i hope that you've 'hat' enough victorian fashion for today...

fash'on... BAM!

reformed, enlightened

earlier today, we've touched on medieval and renaissance fashion. witnessing the elaborate change that the renaissance brought to the entire world of fashion. following that, there was a great rococo movement that focused a great deal on complex forms and intricate patterns. fashion in the years 1750 - 1775 in european countries and north america was characterised by greater abundance, elaboration and intricacy in clothing designs. 

French court dress

the french and english styles of fashion were very different from one another. french style was defined by elaborate court dress, colourful and rich in decoration, worn by such iconic fashion figures as marie antoinette.

Marie Antoinette

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette

after reaching their maximum size in the 1750s, hoop skirts began to reduce in size, but remained being worn with the most formal dresses, and were sometimes replaced with side-hoops, or panniers. hairstyles were equally elaborate, with tall headdresses.

picture from everyhistory

english style was defined by simple practical garments, made of inexpensive and durable fabrics, catering towards a leisurely outdoor lifestyle. these lifestyles were also portrayed through the differences in portraiture. the french preferred indoor scenes where they could demonstrate their affinity for luxury in dress and lifestyle. the english, on the other hand, were more "egalitarian" in tastes, thus their portraits tended to depict the sitter in outdoor scenes and pastoral attire

for the sake of comparison, here are some french and english portraits.

image from lessing-photo

English family portrait

fash'on... BAM!

the rebirth

the renaissance period started about 1450 in italy and ended about 1600. the word renaissance came from the Italian word "renascrere" meaning to be re-born. many would say it was the age in which intellectual and creative energy was re-born. in the 15th century fashion was re-born and beauty of the human body was discovered once again. 

Lady Gaga in Alexander McQueen

renaissance dress makers considered the human form in two parts - hips and shoulders. the clothing was made to fit the wearer, yet on the outside it was padded to show the body in a completely different form than the natural one. a person's wealth was shown in the jewels sewn in the cloth, fabric, and layers of clothing. 

Italian Renaissance gowns

toward the later renaissance, fashion began to reflect mannerism. sumptuary laws decreed that commoners only to wear clothing of one color. in order to circumvent the sumptuary laws, men and women cut open the outer surfaces of their clothes to expose the contrasting color beneath, which was called slashing.

during the early renaissance, the necklines varied in cut and height. little changes in necklines, waistlines, sleeves and such help identify the dress to the different time periods and different rulers. with the change of rulers came a change in what was considered fashionable depending on what the queen or king wore.

image from freewebs

women's undergarments were also important in the renaissance when it came to being fashionable and distinguishing status and social class as with other, more visible fashions, such as outer dresses, head dress and footwear. 

the main women's undergarments was the chemise, or as it was also called, camicia or underobe. the role of the chemise was to form the shape of the dress and in the later years was shown at the neckline and sleeves of the dress, and therefore had to be decorated and fashionable. fashions of the renaissance were very complicated and elaborate and undergarments, even though rarely seen, were no exception.

women's hair and head dresses were the most elaborate, ever-changing and time consuming parts of women's fashions in the renaissance. women spent hours plucking hair from their foreheads and side of their face to achieve a high forehead, which was considered fashionable during the Renaissance. They pulled the remaining hair into a tight bun or braid and then covered their heads with some kind of head dress, depending on what was fashionable, which went from to turbans to veils and was always elaborately decorated with jewels, embroidery and rich fabrics. 

in the later renaissance, venetian women would arrange their hair into twin buns that resembled horns at the front of their head. sometimes these horns would be up to half a foot, and with the combined height of hair and shoes, women could appear to be up to a foot and a half taller than they really were. what was considered fashionable for women's hair and head dress changed considerably many times throughout the renaissance. 

Gable or Kennel headdress

close to the turn of the century, women wore what was called the gable or kennel headdress. these were very elaborate head dresses, consisting of many different parts to complete the style. the hair was center parted, and fell loosely down the back, and a white under cap was worn directly over the hair and was tied under the chin. pinned to the under cap was a stiffened tight fitting cap, or coif, with the front and the lappets, or loose flaps, were covered with black material. the front edge of the coif was decorated and rigid with use of metal. pinned to the coif was placed a semi-circular black hood, decorated around the front, that was like a veil, covering the top of the chest and back. women's hair and head dress during the renaissance most likely were as influential in determining status and social class and being fashionable as the outer dress. thus women spent a lot of time doing up their hair and arranging their head dress and most probably took great joy in creating their elaborate styles.

the shoes were very extravagant as was the rest of the outfit. the platform could add height to the wearer and came in a height of up to thirteen inches and jeweled ornaments adorned the leather. although very fashionable, these high shoes were never actually seen in public, as they were covered by the long skirts the women wore. during this period the gracefully curved heel became known as the french or louis XV heel. 

Louis XV heel

the change from platforms to heels changed the whole idea of shoemaking. walking became considered an art with wearing heeled shoes and a hoop skirt moving forward and backward. hemlines were hiked up to the ankles and thus the costly foot attire was shown off to the public. 

the renaissance period caused fashion to change forever. it was a period that set the stage for years to come. elaborate details, along with colorful fabrics and expensive jewels were just a few elements of the renaissance fashion. people went to any length to outdo each other in their garments. as the period went on the decorative details got more and more elaborate leading up to the elizabethan age. the italian renaissance influenced all the countries around them. many countries copied the renaissance "look", because of the elegance and beauty of the clothing. the fashions of the italian renaissance were so influential that, when italy was conquered by spain, france, and austria, the fashions in europe changed and were never the same. the fashions of the renaissance period were truly in a league of their own.

fash'on... BAM!