Trends change with kaleidoscopic speed. Fashionable things become outmoded faster than we bring them from the store to the closet. Collections are updated every two weeks, and each one embodies some new micro-trend. Who can catch up with this waterfall of fashionable ideas? And why?
If you are not the editor of a fashion publication or a buyer of a big department store or a leading blogger, if fashion is not your specialty, then the researching of all trends is merely possible. Not even speaking of bringing them all to life. The head can blow off from all these breakneck details: what form of heels is trendy in this season and of what color should be the glass in sunglasses, according to the latest resolutions of fashionable gurus.
And when you realize that it is impossible and unnecessary to keep it all in one head because there are many more interesting and necessary things in life; when you realize that it is impossible to cope with all these whims of fashion offers, then, there is a huge temptation to neglect fashion or to pretend that it does not exist.
“Fashion is transient, style is eternal” ‒ have you ever heard such an expression? There is some truth in it, but only a bit of it. Firstly, this expression often covers up the indifference to fashion of those, who really have no style. They still like to talk about “timeless classics” and “perfect things outside of time and out of fashion”. In reality, they do not wear anything that could be eternal, and they do not create any style of their own.
And secondly, even real fashion icons, women with extraordinary taste and sense of style are always devoted to their historical era, its aesthetics and tastes. So, often they do not follow the trends but set new ones. Even for them, it is impossible to jump out of the pants of their time and its visual tendencies. And the “eternal” things that supposedly should be out of time, in fact, all the same, at different times look differently and people wear them differently.
Look, what comes first to mind when it comes to the “timeless classic out of time”? Of course, a little black dress! This is the most famous, the most textbook, and the reference example of immortal elegance. But the truth is that for 90 years of its triumphal procession around the shops and cabinets of fashionistas all over the world, the little black dress has also changed. And even more changed how and with what you can wear it!
On the left, there is the original source ‒ a little black dress of 1928, from the author of little black dresses ‒ Coco Chanel. The dress is, without a doubt, beautiful, you can willingly wear it today. But then the hat, who wears such hats now? A variety of jewelry: earrings in the ears, and a necklace around the neck, and also wide bracelets on the hands over the sleeves ‒ this is certainly superfluous, considering the modern fashion. Tight black stockings could be put on now, but they would instantly change the image of the evening-festive style to the level of the ordinary working day. Needless to say about the cult image of Audrey Hepburn in the center. A magnificent dress for an evening occasion would be appropriate even now, but it is impossible to imagine such a hairstyle now, even with a diadem ‒ even for the stars on the Red carpet. Nobody wears such gloves and such jewelry now. You can copy this image only for a theme party. And on the right photo, we see how a little black dress can look today. Please note, even the shoes are somewhat similar to those on the photo of the 20s of the last century. But for the festive occasion, they are now put on the bare legs! Fragile jewelry on an open neck and a thin bracelet on a bare hand, a relaxed, simple hairstyle are the signs of the times. Exactly these trends that make the image modern and relevant.
Another perfect couple ‒ immortal and supposedly always relevant ‒ white shirt and jeans. We will not delve into the fact that shirts and jeans are also different. Consider the basic, simple, classical models that would never lose relevance.
On the left is an icon of feminine and seductive style ‒ Marilyn Monroe. As we see, even she did not deny herself these “male” ensembles, and at that time, it was rather revolutionary. But jeans still remained clothes for leisure, for outdoor recreation. Therefore, we see Marilyn’s comfortable functional shoes ‒ and, at the same time, a dense make-up with a rich lipstick and perfect like a glue-greased hairstyle. Now such hairstyles, similar to a wig, are not even worn at solemn events, not talking about the walk outdoors. In the center, we also see the icon of its time ‒ Princess Diana. In her era, jeans were also the outfit “for convenience”, so she had comfortable loafers on her legs. Her image could be almost modern but for the haircut which became outdated. Also, if it were not for the length of the jeans. Pants, open ankles and fragile, feminine shoes in combination with rough jeans are pursed ‒ this is a sign of modernity. And again, unconstrained as if untidy hair. All these we see in the last photo.
And another classic thing that is considered one of the main fashionable inventions in the women’s fashion of the 20th century is the wrap dress. Since Diana von Furstenberg invented these dresses in the early 70s, women all over the world love and wear them.
But look at how the dress itself has changed, and everything around it for forty years. On the left ‒ the wrap dress of the 70s, on the right – the dresses that Diana von Furstenberg released in 2014. How complex were the prints on the dresses, how natural became the hairstyles! And even shoes are something similar to what was on the model in the 70s, but I swear you wouldn’t confuse 70-year-old shoes with modern ones.
All this stuff, details, and it may seem that it is noticeable only to the trained eye of a specialist. But, do you know what the trick of non-verbal information is? The fact is that it is read and understood even by those, who have not heard the words “non-verbal information” in their lives. When a woman is dressed unfashionably, when hairstyles of the model of the past decade are outdated, people notice this. They may not be able to articulate exactly what is wrong. But no one sees in such a woman an icon of style that is dressed in timeless classics. People see a woman, a little stuck in the aesthetics of the past and a little smell of mothballs.
And it would be more understandable if women of mature age suffered from such a fashionable “development lag”. But it is often possible to see how young women in some strange way imitate the fashion preferences of their mothers and look as if in the 90s they were already dancing at discos, and not riding in strollers. Do you want to add yourself some years ‒ do not follow the trends, dress in “your own style” from head to toe without regard to modernity.
Do you want to look stylish and at ease? Wear a modern hairstyle and add to the basic things, to the “timeless classics”, at least one trend detail. It can be not only something from clothes but also a bag, shoes, glasses or fashionable decoration. In the field of accessories, there are also eternal models, and there are eccentric and fleeting trends. Therefore, it is here that you can “play in fashion” and because of this, you can always look relevant, even in classic jeans and white shirts.
Maya Tulchynska, fashion blogger
More of this author Доступно та просто про моду та стиль та http://cloche.club/