The History of Fashion Trends - Research Paper Example

?Fashion in its literal sense is a term coined for a generally adopted style or design in shoes, accessories and clothing (Breward). However, today it has a much deeper, intrinsic meaning. It has, since time immemorial, been the foremost form of self-expression, self-definition and a reflection of one’s personality. It is a product of social, cultural and climatic forces that inhibit societies. Before the 19th century clothing was tailor made to suit the needs of each individual (Breward). However, at the advent of the 20th century, the idea of standardized clothing became more popular as sewing and stitching technologies became widespread and the world moved into the era of industrialization (Breward). It was then precisely that the fashion industry was born; henceforth the concept of fashion came into existence. Although, fashion has its roots since time immemorial, the history of fashion design is no older than the mid 19th century when Charles Fredrick Worth launched his first fashion house in Paris (Jones). Ever since, the concept of fashion designers has dominated the fashion world. Throughout 20th century, almost all of the high end fashion spread from Paris and London (Jones). The boundary between haute-couture and daily wear garments was not strictly defined. At the onset of this century, the concept of fashion photography emerged as did fashion magazines (Jones). Every century and perhaps decade is marked with changes in fashion trends. A major breakthrough in women’s fashion came in 1920’s with the introduction of flapper styles with emphasis on slack clothes and shorter skirts with temporary revivals of long skirts (Jones). By the start of 1930’s a large part of western world faced the effects of the Great Depression and haute couture became less popular (Watson). The focus shifted from the more romantic haute couture line (marked by a revival of waist lines along with a bust outline, longer hems, and skin-tight evening gowns) to everyday, utility wear (Watson). The 1940’s, being years of war, were marked by the production of uniforms, whereas the 1950’s saw the return of fashion with changes in haute-couture (Watson). The end of the 20th century was characterized by globalization of the fashion industry with fashion centers emerging all over the world most notably Rome and New York (Breward). The history of fashion has witnessed two popular fashion movements and trends namely The New Romantic and the Punks. It is worth contrasting the two movements in order to gain a deeper insight into these two highly popular trends. The late 1970’s and early 1980’s were marked by the onset of the New Romantic movement characterized by new trends in fashion and music in U.K (Riello and McNeil). The movement is originally marked by the new wave music and has survived to date with few alterations. Friday and Saturday nights were no longer the most celebrated with music; rather, Tuesdays also received special attention when the club “Gossips” introduced Bowie nights on this day (Riello and McNeil). The trendsetters in Punk fashion include Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier wardrobe worn by bands such as The Exploited (Jones). Flannel shirts printed with political slogans and band names became a popular practice during the 1980’s (Jones). Leather jackets and denim vests were studded painted and tailor made and replaced the earlier practice of tailor made blazers (Jones). Female punks typically entailed shaving the entire head except for a strand in the front (Jones). Perhaps the most prominent recognition of this era was given by the onset of spiked or apparently electrified hair with flamboyant colors and streaks. The main distinction between the New Romantics and its predecessor (the Punk) then became focus on glamour and looking good in the latter, a reflection of softer, more fragile, self-conscious attitudes contrary to the violent, anarchic and crude culture portrayed by Punks. The New Romantics came to be known for their anti-Punk attitudes as they replaced sloppiness with sophistication and classiness, vulgarity with gracefulness, dressing down with dressing up. The New Romantics therefore is largely credited for the fact that it bought media under substantial control which eventually led to the outbreak of a new generation of fashion magazines such as i-D which gave due popularity to club culture (Watson). The trendsetters in the New Romantic group paid more attention to the sartorial aspects of fashion rather than sternness of the Punk. The entire look was personalized, themes based on fiction were chosen and Hollywood glitz and glamour was followed. The Goth fashion, that was a modification of its predecessor, the punk, bears little resemblance to the new romantics fashion as far as music is concerned. Goth was inherently anti- chart material much in contrast to the New Romantics (Riello and McNeil) .The New Romantic was a club-centered, and completed fashion product in contrast to the Goth which was to a large extent incomplete at this stage and revolved around live band performance (Riello and McNeil).The Betcave in 1982, however, was a breakthrough in this regard, as this is when the Goth scene precisely fine tuned into a club-oriented fashion (Riello and McNeil). However at this stage also the music was largely revolving around underground bands and not perfected pieces of music. It is important to define the significance of pop culture in this discussion, which refers to the preference of a particular set of fashion ideas, attitudes or perceptions over other less dominant ones by the unofficial consensus of the population (Storey). Pop culture depicts those elements of fashion that get embedded into our culture by virtue of the mass media. Notably this concept was materialized in the late 20th and early 21st century due to influx of various technologies and their associated fashion culture including the Television, MP3 players and other gadgets in our everyday lives transcending socioeconomic boundaries (Storey). To conclude, it is an undeniable fact that current fashion trends continue to be inspired by their predecessors in much the same way as disco fashion was an outgrowth of the punk just as trends followed by the majority get their cues from underground trends. Fashion makes history every time it changes. It is constantly shaped by various forces including celebrities, pop stars, political and economic events, climatic and various other factors. The ability to forecast fashion trends keeping in view the history continues to be a major challenge as well as a fascinating task for designers and other individuals alike. Works Cited: Breward, Christopher. Fashion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Jones, Jen. Fashion History: Looking Great Through the Ages. Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2007. Riello, Giorgio and Peter McNeil. The Fashion History Reader: Global Perspectives. New York: Routledge, 2010. Storey, John. Cultural theory and popular culture: an introduction. Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2006. Watson, Linda. 20th century fashion: 100 years of style by decade and designer: in association with Vogue. New York: Firefly Books, 2004. Read More