Pick A Decade

Yesterday's post about costume design got me thinking-- if I had to choose a decade that I would like to have lived and experienced in terms of fashion, which would it be?  Would I prefer the cumbersome, yet ornate dresses of the 18th Century as in Milena Canonero's designs for the film, Marie Antoinette?

18th Century dress at the Metropolitan Museum (left) / me on Halloween as Marie Antoinette

Probably not.  I don't know if I could deal with the corsets!  Maybe I would like to be an independent, modern girl of the 1920s...

dress: Jeanne Lanvin, 1927

Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1926

Photo Credit: guardian.co.uk

Nah, I couldn't handle prohibition!  A girl has the right to enjoy a glass of wine or two, doesn't she?  I think I would prefer the Hollywood glamour of the 1930's and 1940's.  Famous costume designer Adrian could be my personal stylist!

  

Designer, Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930's

Mainbocher, 1936

Photo Credit: by Man Ray from the book Couture by Caroline Rennolds Milbank

Or, I could get groovy in the 1960's by wearing some Andre Courreges.  Yeah, baby!  Maybe I could even put the "grrrr" in swinger.  Take that Austin Powers!

Pierre Cardin, 1968

Photo Credit: AP/Worldwide Photos

1960's aluminum tunic, Paco Rabanne

Well, I missed all of those time periods and I grew up in the fabulous 80's.  Lucky me!

Thierry Mulger (left) and Claude Montana (right), circa 1987

both pictures from my personal archives (i.e. ripped out of Vogue)

Get Some Courrèges

Continuing my theme from the other day, Fashion Repeats, I thought I would head back to the 60's -- not on some psychedelic acid trip or anything, but back to the fashion archives. Fashion trends usually repeat every 25 years or so, which is why we have seen the resurgence of the 1980's over the past few seasons. Since I'm a child of this decade, I don't find what I see in magazines, stores and on the runways right now to be as tragic as others. Since I liked a lot of the styles and wore the clothes before, it makes sense that I would like them again as long as the pieces look current. A modernized version of a 1980's style, if you will.

 a very modern looking Courrèges leather jacket from the 1960's

Claude Montana, circa 1988 (left) & Balenciaga, Spring 2010 (right)

Considering that fashion tends to recycle approximately every 25 years, it is also logical that I find the styles of the 1960's to be visually appealing. I've always been drawn to strong shapes and geometric styling and this has manifested into my personal design aesthetic. As a young, budding designer, I was not only influenced by designers of the 80's (i.e. Montana, Mugler, Ferre), but also of the 60's.

Some of my favorite 1960's fashions are the creations of André Courrèges. Courrèges is a French designer known for his ultra-modern style. Born March 9, 1923 in the Pyrenees, Courrèges traveled to Paris at age 25 and worked briefly at a fashion design house (Geanne Lafaurie) before going to work with Spanish designer, Cristobal Balenciaga.

Courrèges, 1965 (Left)

(Right) Me in 1988 in my pathetic attempt to make a similar jacket style (I didn't even know how to sew back then!)  I'm subjecting myself to this embarrassing photo for the good of this post!

Courrèges eventually started his own collection, introducing space-age clothes. His designs were angular and he used shapes such as the square, trapezoid and triangle to create strong, futuristic and minimalistic pieces. The designer said that he built his dresses rather than designed them. Bright colors, plastic materials, synthetic fabrics and bold black and white patterns were rigidly constructed into unique styles that became Andre’s signature look.

Courrèges collage