STREET TRENDS

It's interesting to see that All these street trends were derived from the common man's disgust with the powers that be. With that being said, maybe we need another uprising in order to see some innovation!!

ZOOT SUITS

ABOVE: TODD LYNN-SP 2009-ZOOT SUIT INSPIRED LOOK ON FAR LEFT


ABOVE: stefano-pilati-for-ysl


ABOVE: zoot suits From the set of "Malcolm X" 1992


Were characteristically worn and popularized by African Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Italian Americans, and Filipino Americans during the late 1930s and 1940s. Very similar to the Edwardian and Teddy Boy looks, Zoot suits were brightly colored and very roomy in fit. The suit trousers were high waisted with pleated fronts and pegged legs. The jacket was a long coat with wide lapels, and wide, largely padded shoulders. Most of the time, the zoot suit was worn with a felted fedora with a feather. They also wore pointy French style shoes with a watch chain hanging from the pocket on the side of the suit, very similar to the chain wallets seen most often in Punk attire.

TEDDY BOY

ABOVE:UK -1-1-81-HARD ROCK CAFE-Cliff RICHARD

Teddy Boys’s style was was bred in England from a new generation that rejected clothes worn by their parents. From around 1949 this was expressed as a liking for Edwardian style velvet trimmed skirted coats and specific accessories. "This fashion is thought to have really originated when 500 Jamaicans arrived in Tilbury in 1948 on board the ex troop ship "Empire Windrush" in response to the UK's government plea to the Caribbean for workers. They wore Zoot suits and the Edwardian look is thought to have been an adaptation of the suit the Jamaicans were seen wearing about the East End towns."

http://www.fashion-era.com/1950s/1950s_4_teenagers_teddy_boys.htm

ABOVE PICS:

HEART BLAZER: topshop-spring 09 RTW, DUCK'S ARSE: teddy boy hair,

Far right: Luba tweed coat

BEATNIK

ABOVE: beatnik-bjohnson-Fall 2008


ABOVE: beatnik-bjohnson-Fall 2008

ABOVE: the Parisian Beat scene in Funny Face (1957)

Beatniks were a group of poets and writers that looked for spirituality in many things including Eastern spirituality and drugs. They were open to many things and are often coined with the look of fitted bottoms, turtlenecks and berets.

"Members of the “beat” movement in the United States in the 1950s. Beatniks frequently rejected middle-class American values, customs, and tastes in favor of radical politics and exotic jazz, art, and literature. The movement was often classified as bohemian. The poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist Jack Kerouac are examples of beatnik authors.

• “Daddy-O” (a term of address); “Cool, man, cool”; and “strictly dullsville” are examples of slang expressions used by beatniks or by people trying to sound like beatniks."

http://www.answers.com/topic/beatnik

MODS

ABOVE: Lacoste, Spring 2009
ABOVE: Mod Fashion, Balenciaga, September 2008

ABOVE: lacoste-sp 09

ABOVE: mod look-hand made dress by Designer Joseph Hu AND authentic Russian Hat.(2009)



Mods were categorized by their incredible ablity to dress stylishly. This, however, still proved to be their mode of alienation from conventional society. This trend of the 60's began with British teenagers who were neat, sophisticated, and fancy. They mostly wore bright colors, pop art influenced attire, miniskirts, boots, and bell bottomed trousers.

HIPPIES

ABOVE: Early-Hippie-Irving-Penn-1967

ABOVE: Matthew Williamson (far left), Diane von Furstenberg (center), Anna Sui (right).

Sp 09

ABOVE: Woodstock-Mural-Alain-Bertrand

Hippies are by and far, the most talked about and celebrated era of fashion and living. These group of young Americans were spawned from the increasing distaste with the U.S involvement in the Vietnam War. Hippies were mainly white teenagers and young adults yet still shared the common hatred towards what they thought were traditional middle class values. They embraced Eastern religions, particularly Buddhism. Many hippies also saw hallucinogenic drugs, such as marijuana and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), as the key to escaping the ties of society and expanding their individual consciousness. Hippies were notorious for being nude and barefoot. But when they were clothed they wore moccassins, suede, bell bottoms, tie-dye and went for the naturally "unkept" look.

DISCO

When I think of Diso, I think of bright lights and glamour. This era of style was marked by a style of dance and music that was born in the mid 1970's. Many artists such as Donna Summer and Bee Gees are notorious in this era of repetitive lyrics and electronic sounds.
This was definitely the PARTY era, and many people indulged in drugs such as cocaine while partying ALL night. Shiny things were essential to wear, as well as big hair like afros and large curls. Platforms reigned during this era as well!

Pics: Green dress:balmain-sp 2009, pink shoes:Christian Louboutin Very Galaxy platforms at net-a-portercom-peep toe pumps, free people-mini-skirt-2009-$98. maison-martin-margiela-disco-shoes-fall 2009-2010

PUNK

ABOVE: balmain-sp-2009


ABOVE:punk-fashion-berlin-year unknown

ABOVE:lolita-fashion-and-punk-japanese woman in tokyo, 9-2008
ABOVE: balmain-sp-2009



Another ode to conventionalism. Punk went hand-in-hand with heavy metal and serious rock music. This era began in the 1970's and has been so commercialized that I wonder if Punks dress conventionally to no longer fit in. Vivienne Westwood can be considered one of the mother's of Punk dress, her designs brought awareness and life to this ever growing fashion trend.

HIP HOP

ABOVE: RAPPER, T.I-on-B.E.T-rip-the-runway-performance-2009



ABOVE: sweetface BY JENNIFER LOPEZ-fall 2005

ABOVE: ON THE SET OF THE MOVIE "krushgroove3"-1984-ll cool j

ABOVE: Hip Hop attire in the late 1980's/early 1990's

Some say it’s an attitude, others say, it’s all in the outfit. The truth is, Hip Hop attire continues to be redefines about every decade since it’s emergence. This may be the only street trend that was not meant to offend or rebel against. Hip Hop began as a celebration of music as well as taste. It began with African American youth in the 1980’s with the emergence of rap and the art of break dancing. The clothes worn to break dance were usually very loose and bright and expressive. Many t-shirts were worn during this time that expressed pride in black heritage. “African-inspired clothing also enjoyed a surge of popularity. Kente cloth from Ghana appeared in almost every type of apparel, and red, yellow, black and green were the colors du jour. When Run-D.M.C. hit the scene, so did a look that would, at least in part, be emulated for years: black leather jackets and pants, black fedoras or Kangol hats, large, chunky chains and, of course, Adidas. Eventually, these leather "suits" made way for nylon and cotton tracksuits, still adorned with heavy jewelry. The ensemble was often topped with a Kangol or baseball cap and bottomed with a pair of designer athletic shoes (Adidas made way for Nike). Hats, and even entire outfits, were worn backward (remember the Kriss Kross video "Jump"?). Basketball jerseys were worn over t-shirts with jeans so baggy that they pooled in a puddle of fabric stopped only by the open, unlaced top of a Timberland or Lugz boot.” Today Hip Hop is largely in the expense of designer labels. As the 1990s came to a close, oversized was still the size of choice, be it denim or cargo pants. The gangsta style of wearing pants so low that underwear shows persists today. Reportedly, the practice comes from prisons, where belts aren't allowed due to potentially lethal uses [source: CNN]. Kangol hats remain, as do baseball caps. Joining them is the do-rag, reportedly another prison-wear influence.

“Gangsta-inspired clothing wasn't the only 90s hip-hop staple. Designer labels, such as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, filled closets from the East to the West Coast. The label-heavy trend remains today. Some of the more prominent brands on the shopping list include: Baby Phat, Carhartt, Converse, Dickies, Ecko and Ecko Red, Fubu, G-unit, Lacoste, Phat Farm, Reebok, Rocawear, Sean John, and Von Dutch.”

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hip-hop7.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_fashion

GEEKS ARE CHIC

I’ve seen many shirts with women proudly proclaiming their love for Nerds recently. But it doesn’t end with the outward profession of Love of the Geeks. Fashion is taking a turn for the “point-dexter” in us all. Glasses are being worn with and without the lenses. Suspenders are the hottest accessory, and preppy looks are on the rise.
It’s an awkward glamour that only nerds can appreciate!




America Ferrera on the NY set of the TV series Ugly Betty

Kanye West, musician/producer/songwriter/performer, 2009



Both looks below from Fall 2009, Tracy Reese

Inspiration from Art

Like many forms of expression, Designers get their inspiration from other artistic styles, especially historic art movements. Here I will highlight 6 important and influential art movements and pair inspired designers with the periods of artistic genius.

Grafitti Art Movement

in 2001, the design director Marc Jacobs of Louis Vuitton took great pains to convince its managers receiving his idea of innovating classic monogram pattern

This was a movement which achieved an enormous amount of success in New York in the 1980s. It was named after the spray-can vandalism common in most cities and most associated with the New York subway system.

The two most successful figures of this movement were Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. The New York art scene embraced Graffiti Art, with several galleries specialising in the genre and a Museum of American Graffiti opening in 1989.

The genre was big business with artists in the field selling their work for huge amounts.

Futurist Movement

Far left is 1st Season Project Runway winner,
Jay McCarrol, 2009, showing an inspired Futurist piece.

Next right is Severini-Danseuse, Articulee

An Italian avant-garde art movement that took speed, technology and modernity as its inspiration, Futurism portrayed the dynamic character of 20th century life, glorified war and the machine age, and favoured the growth of Fascism.
The movement was at its strongest from 1909, when Filippo Marinetti's first manifesto of Futurism appeared, until the end of World War One. Futurism was unique in that it was a
self-invented art movement.
The idea of Futurism came first, followed by a fanfare of publicity; it was only afterwards that artists could find a means to express it.

Folk Art KEY DATES:1909-1944

Anna Sui inspired Folk art Collection, Spring 2009
Phillip Lim folk art inspired collection, Spring 2009

Works of a culturally homogeneous people without formal training, generally according to regional traditions and involving crafts. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic.

Harlem renaissance KEY DATES: 1920-1930s

The September 2009 issue of Vanity Fair demonstrates the epic styles men and women wore during the 1920’s Harlem Renaissance.


HARLEM RENAISSANCE From 1920 until about 1930 an outburst of creative activity among African-Americans occurred in all fields of art. Beginning as a series of literary discussions in the lower Manhattan (Greenwich Village) and upper Manhattan (Harlem) sections of New York City, this African-American cultural movement became known as "The New Negro Movement" and later as the Harlem Renaissance. the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage.
One of the factors contributing to the rise of the Harlem Renaissance was the great migration of African-Americans to northern cities (such as New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.) between 1919 and 1926. In his influential book The New Negro (1925), Locke described the northward migration of blacks as "something like a spiritual emancipation." Black urban migration, combined with trends in American society as a whole toward experimentation during the 1920s, and the rise of radical black intellectuals — including Locke, Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), and W. E. B. Du Bois, editor of The Crisis magazine — all contributed to the particular styles and unprecedented success of black artists during the Harlem Renaissance period.

Cubism KEY DATES: 1908-1914

Maria Blaisse inspired pieces, September 2009
Top left, Vest custom made by Dazed & Confused by Gary Card; leggings by Maison Martin Margiela

Top Right, Jacket by Frankie Morello; leggings by Maison Martin Margiela

Bottom left, Top by Balenciaga by Nicholas Ghesquiere; skirt custom made for Dazed & Confused by Gary Card; leggings by Maison Martin Margiela

Bottom right, Jumpsuit by Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

Picasso inspired garments from the 2002 Yves St. Laurent runway show

Wendell Rodricks’ Spring/Summer 2010 collection, ‘The Cubist’, which showcased at the WIFW, has been inspired by the Cubist Movement of the 20th century, which began with the likes of Pablo Picasso and was later developed by Juan Gris and others.

The Cubists broke from centuries of tradition in their painting by rejecting the single viewpoint. Instead they used an analytical system in which three-dimensional subjects were fragmented and redefined from several different points of view simultaneously.

The movement was conceived as 'a new way of representing the world', and assimilated outside influences, such as African art, as well as new theories on the nature of reality, such as Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Baroque BAROQUE KEY DATES: 1600s

Caravaggio, The Young Bacchus


French Baroque wigs by Yuki Saito


Basso and Brooke, Fall 2009 Ready to Wear

Baroque Art emerged in Europe around 1600. Baroque Art is less complex, more realistic and more emotionally affecting than Mannerism.
This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church, the most important patron of the arts at that time, as a return to tradition and spirituality.
One of the great periods of art history, Baroque Art was developed by Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, and Gianlorenzo Bernini, among others. This was also the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Vermeer.

Suit yourself in a jumpsuit

The jumpsuit is one of the hottest trends that has resurfaced since last year Spring 08. Like most fashions it was bred of function and necessity initially and has been updated to offer not just comfort, but fashion forward style.
The function came into play as jumpsuits were made oversized to be worn over clothes as a protective covering so workers didn’t bring home dirt and grime.
This function of the jumpsuit is known as the coverall. The word “coverall” has been used to describe varied types of protective dress as early as the eighteenth century and is also interchangeable with the term “boilersuit”.
http://www.viewonfashion.com/article/119-2431/THE-JUMPSUIT
Above left is the 1913 Lee Union-alls specifically marketed for “Men who work to build America” This article is actually from a 1947 magazine ad.

The picture on the top right is one of an engineer’s combination boiler suit from the 1920’s