The search
Anna Sui S/S 2011
for something
REAL Fringes, crochet, dip dye (not only including garments but also hair) and an over all flair for anything 70’s. How come we all have secretly (or not so secretly) wished to be hippies the last couple of years? Of course, there’s no way of including everyone in my very broad generalization, but even the ones who didn’t surrender to the bohemian trend must at least have noticed it. When leather head bands, feather earrings and fur vests becomes a mainstream fashion it’s hard to ignore it. I’m neither criticizing nor questioning the trend (just so happen to wear my Minnetonka’s at the moment), my concern is simply why? Looking past fashion magazines, street style blogs and runways, to see what actually started the trend. How come it’s been going on for so long, and... Will it ever stop?
Janis Joplin
I think is was in the spring of 2007 (which means I was 16 at the time) when I bought a white t-shirt with a big, grey, peace-sign. I had also just become a vegetarian, thanks to the current care for the environmentcraze. A few months before I had also purchased a pair of low, black fringe boots, after seeing Nikki Reed in Lords of Dogtown. The movie, which was released in 2005, was what definitely set off my own love for the Californian, relaxed style of the 70’s.
D&G S/S 2012
back in fashion (what a foolish young girl I must’ve been). Maybe it was me who had changed, or maybe the bohemian trend of 2004 had tweaked into something more interesting and... Authentic, when it started to come back somewhere between 2006 and 2007. It evolved from single, 60’s- and 70’s-inspired items, into whole outfits that could’ve been seen during the Woodstock festival in ’69. Wavy hair, boot cut jeans and small, crochet vests and tank tops was no longer seen as vintage or retro in
Real [ril]: Genuine and authentic; not artificial or spurious
But, as it turned out, I wasn’t the only one with a new found love for high waisted jeans, Singoalla gypsy blouses and gold bangles. After experiencing a trend of ruffle skirts and wooden accessories in 2004, I wished that this kind of style would never get
Lords of Dogtown
Woodstock
the summers of 2010 and 2011, but as modern and trendy. So, what was the cause for this fashion to gain so much popularity? Why did it appeal to so many people? Of course, popular culture is always one of the factors, for example movies and music. Though, looking back I can’t remember that many films or songs with this kind of theme. It was rather a renaissance of 60’s and 70’s music. For example the Instant Karma album by Amnesty, (part of their Make Some Noise-campaign) with various musicians covering John Lennon songs. The album was released in 2007, and every major radio station was playing Green Day’s cover of Working Class Hero. This turn in music, as well as the new concern for the environment and the nature, could definitely be
two of the reasons this trend grew stronger. But I also feel that there’s something more to it. That the trend is also a reaction to the materialistic, consumption driven and plastic society in which most of the population of the western world lives in. A wish to take a step back. Modern technology is developing at a tremendous speed, changing the way we work, communicate and live our everyday life. Maybe we dream of a time, back in the days, when we weren’t interrupted by the signals of cell phones and
photography was an art form; not pictures of cats or someone’s lunch uploaded to Instagram. A time where music was created with actual instruments and not someone pressing ”play” just to turn on a record consisting of a digitally made bass and an auto-tuned voice. A time where everything seemed to be much more genuine. Maybe, the trend is a global visual protest against a world with decreasing justice and freedom. Where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. Where we are being more and more supervised both on the web and in real life. Maybe we want to go back to our roots, where a family was a whole community sharing and caring for each other, co-existing with the nature. But we can’t forget the fact that this is still a fashion, not only in attitudes and ideas, but most apparent
in the way we choose to dress. Obviously, not all the people sharing the fondness for this kind of style shares the same political or social views, or even cares about it for that matter. Fashion nowadays is used as a way to express personality, as well as creating an image. This trend, being more or less obvious in periods for over 5 years now, does not seem to end in our nearest future. Even though there’s a lot of inspiration from other eras, especially the 50’s and 90’s, we’re not ready to let go of the 70’s just yet. In the end, my only conclusion is that there’s a little hippie living in each one of us. Making us want to wear maxi skirt and dresses, braid our hair and dress our arms in rows of colorful fabric bracelets. But most of all, putting on a big, floppy hat and rounded aviator sunglasses, and hide from the cold and harshness of the world in which we are currently trapped.
- Mikaela K. Erson