FashBlog.com

Today as I dressed I did the unexpected: after donning a black and beige, oriental print top, I reached for red slacks instead of the usual beige ones that I’ve always paired with that shirt. I don’t know what came over me. I attribute it to twenty-first century fashion style, meaning, it simply doesn’t matter; in fact, disconnect is good. That led to my next musing-how would we describe this decade’s fashion mindset? I’m not talking individual styles, but overall attitude. Would you say carefree or “thoughtfully mismatched”? How about planned dishevelment? Is there any phrase to sum up what makes this year any different from last, or from five years ago when it comes to clothing and accessories?

Personally, I don’t think so.

So then I started thinking about how the decades past did seem to have a certain image of their own, all fairly distinct and memorable. When I see pictures of women in the 1920’s, the words that come to mind include “glamour, parties, and wild”, although how much of that is actual clothing and how much is the whole flapper/talking picture/bootleg period, I’m not sure. But long necklaces, short skirts, and red lips seem to spell “fun” loud and clear. (Then again, since I wasn’t around then, what do I know?)

I’m not too sure about the 40’s and 50’s, regardless of the war effort, I tend to consider words like conservative, feminine and elegant, probably in line with the longer hems, tons of details in jewelry and accessories, and the whole image of domestic goddesses and femme fatales in movies of that time.

Not being active in the 60’s when it came to fashion, I can still only relate to pictures, television and movies, but I would venture to say that I’d use the words “psychedelic, avant garde and flowery”. The whole hippie look, with flowers in girl’s hair and wide bell bottoms, colored glasses and the like paved the way to where we are today. You have to wonder where we’d be without the fashions of the 60’s, just like the music of the 60’s…

When it comes to the 70’s, I don’t remember much, being still young then. But, I do recollect outrageous outfits worn by celebrities Elton John and David Bowie, sweater sets by Mary Tyler Moore, and clothes that, for the most part, simply weren’t that attractive. In my humble opinion, that decade doesn’t seem to have much of a theme, at least not to me. I can’t come up with one word that I think could cover it well.

Now, the 80’s evoke images of Dynasty and Dallas gals wearing wide, shoulder padding, big hats, and occasionally big hair. I would call the era sexy and athletic, considering the new push to work out gear and the whole disco wardrobe of shiny, slit dresses topped by lots of lip gloss, combined with Madonna’s influence of little gloves and heavy jewelry resting against lacy bustiers.

Did I sleep through the 90’s? I have difficulty establishing its identity; do you? Maybe because I was busy being a new mom I was out of the loop, but I can only say that it seemed to encompass “dressing down”, when not pursuing a preppie look. I wouldn’t claim it to be girly, motherly, sporty or anything specific, so you can help me out here.

That leads us to the new millennium, where we have body art, face piercing, and more choices than one can shake a stick at, encompassing a lot from the last 50 years. In view of that, where do you think we’ll be in the next decade?

We’ve all seen movies of the future, where people dress alike in the same unisex, one-piece outfits that seem to be comfy as all get out. Is that just a creative director’s image of what the future will hold, or does anyone else see us dressing so similarly? I for one can’t. As long as people have choices, there will be a wide range of applications and just as much refusal to comply with others’ fashion standards.

That’s good. Without that creativity we’d still be wearing what we wore at the turn of the last century…5 layers including petticoats and a bustle, and who needs that?