INTRO CO MARY QUAN WESTWOOD F
OCO CHANEL NT VIVIENNE FASHION TODAY
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In light of the Me Too movement, the demand for equal pay and the growing number of female politicians, a woman’s role in politics has become increasingly significant. And while grassroots activism and bold statements have always been essential to feminism, fashion also plays a part in shattering gender boundaries. Fashion is what has best defined cultures throughout history. Clothes have been created and used for centuries and have been influenced by the changes in society. It can reveal many things about the identity of people. Each change in style is in relation to historical context. Many artists and designers started to facilitate the changes brought on to the mass by the Great War and Machine Age. People began to develop a different way of thinking. A new wave of inventors and innovators had arrived and long gone were the days when art and design were confined to a particular box with a particular set of rules. People began to think away from tradition and reject the standardized way. The new generation of artists started to accommodate this sudden change in culture. It is amazing to see how the different events in history have influenced and changed the way people have dressed throughout time. Some of the most popular fashions are classic, they can stand the test of time and hardly ever “go out of style”, only experiencing minor changes to keep up with the trends. Other clothing items could be considered a “fad” or style that is only popular for a short season and then never worn again. Often certain fashion trends are dependent on the tastes of particular groups of people or cliques and are usually associated with social status or cultural preferences like the type of music a person likes. Fashion can also be influenced by world events such as war or the economy. For example, during World War II, people were only
allowed a certain amount of fabric so they were forced to create simple outfits that were practical enough for wartime duties. From the 1920s to the 1990s, popular fashions reflected the mood of each decade and showcased changes in society as the styles of clothing and accessories evolved with the times. Fashion has always responded to what is going on in the world, whether that be art, music, design, technology, politics or historical moments. Designers are inspired by these subjects and so they comment through their work. Women take leading creative and business-focused roles, often combined. It is important for younger generations to see female role models and their progression in order to liken themselves to what they see and what they could achieve. Fashion is often used as a platform for debate in society for both social and political campaigns. It’s a great way to communicate to women from all walks of life. Changing economic, political and social pressures throughout history have impacted the way human beings live their daily lives. One of the many basic areas affected by these historical changes is the area of the wardrobe. The way a person dresses has traditionally shown his or her social status, occupation, and even political views. Political and social pressure particularly influence the clothing styles favored by women. In what way, however, does the average wardrobe reflect the cultural considerations of the time, and what can the prevailing fashions of bygone eras reveal about the pressures of those days? Specifically, what do the frequent and drastic style shifts throughout the late 1800’s reveal about the nature of society during World War I. It seems that during the 20th-century, fashion started progressing faster than ever before. In a period from 1900 to 1999 – which is just 100 years, fashion has gone through great transformations. The 1900s were known as a period of ‘’Belle Époque’’. Women started living more independent lifestyles, so the fashion in demand was rather practical. However, they still stuck to the elaborate, upholstered style of the 19th century. The 1900s were the time when the first tailored suit for women was created. It was based on male suit, and soon it became favorite garment among women. World War I brought big changes to fashion, but they were rather a necessity than a caprice. As more women were forced to work the demand for more comfortable clothes was higher. Dark and monochrome colors became the norm due to the stressful times in wich many died. Skirts became significantly shorter by the time of 1915s. First, they were raised above ankles and then even higher.
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The period between two world wars is considered the golden age of French fashion. It was the period of great change and reformation in women’s fashion. And yet, throughout history, women have continually fallen subject to various rules and regulations that dictate what we ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ put on our bodies. In fact, men telling women what to wear has been going on for thousands and thousands of years. If objects such as clothes did not reform to coincide with the shift in culture, the advocacy for change would have been so subtle. Since the heyday of the hand-span waists in the mid-19th century, the corset has represented a visual shorthand for “woman.” Indeed, it cannot be divorced from the idealization of women’s bodies, and the politics surrounding them. There is no question of the sexuality of the corset, emphasizing the breasts and hips, and hence underscoring the stereotypically fecund female physique. For many, the reduction of the waist persistently reflects a reductive view of femininity, limited to a va-va-voom outline. Women’s role in society was not active or functional but rather very ‘sitting pretty’ and the corsets reflect this trend. Corsets were often made of whale bones and steel caging for the ultimate squeeze effect. Since they were difficult to launder, women wore thin underdresses made of material like cotton underneath their corset to avoid rusting the steel. Although they weren’t running marathons in these, apparently the sweat factor was quite high and a significant issue.
Fast forward to the 1950s fashion was a reaction to the end of World War II. Flirty, feminine fashion that used excessive amounts of flowy fabric came into style. These styles showed off women’s shapes in a way that a military uniform never did, & they sought to distance women from men again. Now that the crisis was over, women were expected to leave the workforce & be content being wives & mothers. Women rose to the occasion just a decade earlier when their country needed them the most, and now there were many attempts to put women back “where they belonged.� At home, women set about the day cooking, cleaning and tending the children. Their housewife dresses was a full-skirted swing dress in simple cotton solids, small prints, checks, plaid, and thin stripes. The shirtwaist dress was the most popular design that buttoned up the full length of the front or just the bodice. They usually have short to 3/4 length sleeves, large pockets, a collar, and thin matching fabric belt. A light petticoat was worn underneath to provide fullness and an apron on top to keep her dress clean. Their shoes were usually flats but on TV a housewife wore heels.
At a glance they convey more to the critical feminine eye than could reams on reams of minute description. But what is not so apparent are the conditions that are responsible for the popularity of the modern, tightly clinging gowns; for while fashion the practical side still adheres to forms acceptable to the up-to-date woman, it is constant and persistent in its search for novelty and variety. Where a hundred years ago, and even more pronouncedly fifty years ago, the wide, flaring, elaborately colored skirts were so dearly beloved of the feminine heart, today the smooth and simple forms, the clinging and elastic, graceful ideas are applied in skirt, blouse, bolero and other waist forms. Simplicity of outline is the rule. Women’s fashion has evolved so much. The freedom of females today is that we can all be like these women from the past who made our the path we can freely walk on and have all the freedom of the world to be who we are and express it through fashion. The moral of the story is that we have a long history of pushing the boundaries in fashion as a means of pushing harder-to-move societal boundaries, including gender rules and norms around decorum and social conduct. Whether we’re aware of it or not, fashion is always reflecting our values right back at us. The tendency to see it as superficial does this fact such a grave injustice. Fashion is a mirror for what a society thinks and feels, for what it values and respects. Today, fashion choices are limitless. Each individual has a personal choice and preference and the freedom of that decision is empowering for men and women. What you wear is a message to the world about your own taste, style and identity. It is important to feel comfortable and happy in what you are wearing to instil confidence. Designers cannot create empowerment through design alone; it is how they can make a woman feel in a garment, the emotional connection to dressing is what empowers us.
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O C
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O C O
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Being a woman in the early nineteen-hundreds was not always the easiest. Coco Chanel chose to change this, and it started with her abolition of the corset. She wanted to inspire women to be women, and to allow them to live comfortably and freely. Through the use of her fashion and accessories, she inspired and uplifted women. This spirit of the free woman still lives today in all of Chanel’s vintage and current lines. We will constantly be inspired by her.
Born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France, her early years were anything but glamorous. After her mother’s death, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was put in an orphanage by her father, who worked as a peddler. She was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew, a skill that would lead her to her life’s work. At the age of 18, Chanel left the abbey orphanage for Notre Dame Finishing School in Moulins as a charity student. Together, Chanel and her aunt began working as seamstress and tailor assistants, meeting men, visiting concert halls and even performing cabaret. Apparently Gabrielle got her nickname Coco from one or two of the songs she regularly performed: “Qui qu’a vu Coco?” and “Ko Ko Rik Ko”, an allusion to the French word “cocotte,” meaning “kept woman.” In her early twenties, she came to the conclusion that the main thing in life was money. She became involved with Etienne Balsan in 1905. Coco Chanel hung around his neck. In her eyes, he was the real man, who had money and was able to spend it easily. Having settled in his castle, she took full advantage of her new life. She slept until noon, drinking coffee with milk and reading cheap novels. Balsan helped her start a millinery business in Paris. Later, Coco Chanel met with a friend of Balsan Captain, Arthur Edward, an English polo player with a straight black hair and a dull complexion who would later replace Balsan as her boyfriend. In 1910, Chanel became a licensed hat maker and started selling hats in her boutique named Chanel Modes on 21 Rue Cambon. The street became famous throughout the world and had been linked to her name for half a century. In 1913, Coco opened her boutique in Deauville that quickly attracted regular clients. As her fashion-conscious customers fled Paris at the start of the war, Chanel’s boutiques flourished. Chanel’s uncluttered styles, with their boxy lines and shortened skirts, were freeing them for the practical activities made necessary by the war.
Elements of these early designs became hallmarks of the Chanel look. Chanel took great pride as a woman in designing for other women, and by 1919, at the age of thirty-two, she enjoyed huge success, with clients around the world. Then soon after, she relocated her couture house in Paris to 31 rue Cambon, which remains the center of operations for the House of Chanel today.
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As one of the only female designers of her time, Chanel’s iconic looks were influenced by what she herself wanted to wear. Rather than following in the footsteps of her male predecessors, who had a tendency to cater to their own fantasies of femininity, the French provocateur forged her own original path. After the First World War, the rich avoided wearing precious jewelry for fear of looking unpatriotic. They optioned for costume jewelry and proclaimed their independence by wearing fakes as opposed to being kept by a man. Not only motivated by practical concerns, Chanel was determined to overhaul what fashion meant for women. Casting off the rich colours that were the pinnacle of style before the war, she unleashed black from its funereal status and placed it at the centre of her design aesthetic. Throughout the ‘20s, Chanel’s social, sexual and professional progress continued, and her eminence grew to the status of legend. Now she wanted to create a scent that could describe the new, modern woman she epitomised. By 1921, Chanel introduced her brand’s first perfume, the iconic “Chanel No. 5.” Created by French parfumier Ernest Beaux. Chanel’s fame continued to grow throughout the 1930s, as Hollywood courted her services and she nearly became the wife of one of the richest men in Europe, the Duke of Westminster. When she didn’t, her explanation was, “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel.” Chanel’s confidence, some say arrogance, was hard won. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
18 A staple in any women’s wardrobe is the which first appeared as an illustration in American Vogue in 1926. Vogue editors christened the ‘Ford’ dress after the era’s classic black car, asserting that the chic, long-sleeved design in unlined crèpe de chine would “become sort of a uniform for all women of taste.” And weren’t they right. It’s hard to imagine a world without black as a foolproof outfit colour of choice. The innovative dress was a radical update for the modern women, revolutionary for both its striking silhouette and dark tone. This is because during Victorian times, black had been associated with mourning. Before Chanel, the fashionable colours of reds, green and electric blues that her peers dressed in made the designer “feel ill.” For Coco, black was the epitome of simple elegance and always one to subvert tradition, she was the key proponent in making black a colour that could be worn from day to day. Throughout subsequent seasons, this is a classic piece of twentieth-century. Its almost universal popularity has made it a fashion basic.
The little black flapper dress, which was straight and loose, was often decorated with tassels and has now become an icon in its own right. For these women, the LBD marked a significant moment of liberation: they were free from the restrictive, traditional clothing of the century before.
dropping waistlines to hips and shortening the hems of skirts and dresses. was the epitome of flapper girl style. An American entertainer who became famous in France for her acting, singing, dancing and costumes.
It can be said that this wardrobe staple was inspired by flapper culture, which took over before the 1920s. Their appearance was a response to the changing environment around them. Their fashion was influenced by the war, jazz music and so much more. Many looked down upon them, not knowing their true meaning and everything that they stood for. Some people even consider Flappers as the start of feminism and are considered the first generation of independent American women. Flappers loved jazz music and it turned them into “new women”. They embodied the modern spirit that this era created and propelled it further. The early jazz music was wild and exciting dance music, which was reflected in the fashion. Music spoke to the flappers’ free spirit and desire to change societal norms. Through fashion, flappers expressed their emotions. Flappers adopted the “garconne” or little boy look. This style deemphasized the mature female form by flattening the chest,
Her drop-waist dress allowed her to dance without constriction. The flattened chest and lower waistline emphasized the masculine look. and the boxy silhouette dismissed the curves in her figure. This was the complete opposite of the corset which was to accentuate the chest and waist. With long, bulky dresses and restrictive girdles becoming as untrendy as the 1980s Dynasty dresses of today, many ladies took
on a “less is more” ideal when it came to style. But some women pushed the envelope a little further than intended, producing some sinfully wonderful and downright wicked outfits. One of them was Baker herself. She was best known for her risqué approach to fashion when performing almost nude. While she had many memorable acts and starring movie roles, one of her most famous and scandalous costumes was the banana dress. In a performance called “La Folie du Jour” Baker danced wearing little more than a skirt made of 16 bananas. In a decade during which women were by and large still wrapping their minds around ditching corsets, stepping out in a couple of bananas and bare breasts was a total shocker.
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She became an overnight sensation: Thousands of dolls in banana skirts were sold all over Europe; beauty editors advised women to rub walnut oil on their faces to darken their skin like Baker’s; postcards featuring Baker with a glossy, slicked-down hairstyle in her famous banana skirt with jewelry strategically placed over naked breasts, were widely distributed. But beyond her beauty, enthusiasm and charisma, she radically redefined notions of race and gender through style and performance in a way that continues to echo throughout fashion and music today.
The skirt hemlines of flappers fashion began to rise in 1913 when skirts stopped just above the ankles. By 1918, hemlines had risen to just below calf length and for the next several years showed variations of a few inches one way or another. However, it was Baker who seized the opportunity. She wore a miniskirt nearly 40 years before the word “miniskirt” had been coined. As with many of the trends Baker launched into popularity, she was far ahead of her time. She remains one of the most influential characters in history, whether it be in the worlds of comedy, dance, social activism or, most definitely, fashion. Baker was a muse to famous artists and designers like Picasso and Dior, and her fashion inspiration is still felt today.
Similiar to the LBD, not many fashion items have withstood the test of time quite like a The iconic two-piece set, would not only live on to become a symbol of fashion, but represent the liberated woman. Worn by international fashion figures including Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, Brigitte Bardot, and Barbara Walters, the Chanel suit has become a representation of sophistication and a permanent staple for the storied brand.
Known for mixing traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity, Chanel took inspiration from the sportswear and menswear that her then-boyfriend, the Duke of Westminster, would wear. Chanel herself would even reportedly wear her lovers’ clothes, because she believed menswear to be more comfortable than pre-war women’s fashion of the time. Chanel wanted women to exude elegance while allowing them to move freely. Inspired by sportswear, the iconic course tweed fabric used in the detailed crafting of Chanel suits was initially not considered a glamorous textile. Tweed was primarily manufactured in Scottish twill mills, where Chanel discovered the true diversity of the fabric. Chanel’s classic suit catered to the principles of First Wave Feminists during the early 20th century. Her opinions and wise words inspire confidence in those who learn about her even today. She is proof that a luxurious history is not needed to be someone. She is proof that being yourself can lead to success. She founded the basics of today’s women’s clothes and attitudes towards themselves. Coco Chanel lived her dreams of becoming someone rather than something. Her leadership is permanent. The one and only Coco Chanel made it okay for females to be unique. There’s no doubt that Coco Chanel influenced the fashion world in a way that won’t ever be forgotten. Chanel is still extremely popular today and is considered one of the most revered style icons to ever be born. Her sophisticated outfits with an air of simplicity, paired with great accessories, made people think differently about fashion and taught women how to dress themselves in a flattering and elegant way. Chanel also believed in comfort; one of her most well known quotes is: “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”
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A M
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Inventive, opinionated and commercially minded Mary Quant was the most iconic fashion designer of the 1960s. A design and retail pioneer, she popularised super-high hemlines and other irreverent looks that were critical to the development of the ‘Swinging Sixties’ scene. Looking back at her influence, it’s clear Quant’s impact was far greater than just bringing miniskirts and hot pants into the mainstream — her impact on the fashion industry and society as a whole really can’t be understated.
Mary Quant was born and brought up in Blackheath, London, the daughter of two Welsh schoolteachers. Following her parents’ refusal to let her attend a fashion course, Quant studied illustration at Goldsmiths where she met her future husband, an aristocrat named Alexander Plunket Greene. She then graduated in 1953 with a diploma in art education, and began an apprenticeship at a high-end milliner, Erik of Brook Street. In 1955, Plunket Greene purchased Markham House on the King’s Road in Chelsea, London, an area which was frequented by the ‘Chelsea Set’, a group of young artists, film directors and socialites interested in exploring new ways of living and dressing. Quant, Plunket Greene and a friend, lawyer-turnedphotographer Archie McNair, opened a restaurant (Alexander’s) in the basement of the new building, and a boutique called Bazaar on the ground floor. The different strengths of each partner contributed to their long term success; while working together on all aspects – Quant concentrated on design, Plunket Greene had the entrepreneurial and marketing skills, and McNair brought legal and business sense to the brand. Quant initially stocked the shop with outfits she could source on the wholesale market, exploiting the opportunity to offer a new take on women’s style. But she soon became frustrated with the clothes available. Encouraged by the success of what Quant described as a pair of ‘mad’ lounge pyjamas that she had designed for Bazaar’s opening. The design featured in Harper’s Bazaar magazine and was later purchased by an American manufacturer. She later decided to start stocking the boutique with her own original designs. Quant was a self-taught designer, attending evening classes on cutting and adjusting mass-market printed patterns to achieve the looks she was after. Once technically proficient, she initiated a hand-tomouth production cycle: the day’s sales at Bazaar paid for the cloth that was then made up overnight into new stock for the following day. This cottage
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industry approach meant that the rails at Bazaar were continually refreshed with short runs of new designs, satisfying the customers’ hunger for fresh, unique looks at competitive prices.
From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, Bazaar was one of very few shops in London that offered an alternative to the ‘mature’ styles produced by other high-fashion designers. It also offered a radically different shopping experience than the couturiers, department stores and chain stores that made up the mainstream fashion market. At Bazaar, loud music, free drinks, witty window displays and extended opening hours created a ‘scene’ that often kept going late into the evening. Young women travelled to Bazaar to enjoy shopping for ‘something different’ in a much less formal environment. Quant’s clothes struck a particular chord with young women who, like the designer, were children of austerity who wanted to enjoy life a bit more than the generation before them. Her style was playful and fun; she riffed on the tweed suits her customer’s mother wanted her to wear by raising hemlines and making everything a whole lot more youthful. Unlike many of the more traditional fashion houses, Quant wasn’t catering for the old elite, but instead, she encapsulated exactly what it was like to be a young woman in the 1960s. As a female professional excelling in a male-dominated industry to this day, where many of the major fashion designers are men, she was an inspiration for a new generation of working women. She revolutionised fashion and caused a ‘youthquake’ with her miniskirts and use of bold patterns. Quant was a breath of fresh air in the fashion industry. This was a time when Paris was seen as the fashion capital of the world, with an emphasis on haute couture and uber-expensive garments. These clothes were beautiful but wholly unattainable for most women. Not only did Quant manage to shift more of the world’s focus on London, but she also worked hard to bring fashion to a wider group of people.
36 Although Quant is most famously associated with the miniskirt, she is also known for popularising in the late ‘60s. She has claimed that the provocative hot pants “sold faster than they could make them.� The bloomerstyle shorts fought against the male gaze, allowing women to reclaim fashion as an art form of self-representation. In an effort to give her clients what they asked for, Quant designed a style of shorts synonymous with the times that had a maximum inseam of about two inches. Better known as hotpants, the name for the style was coined by a fashion trade publication in 1970 when used as a generic term to refer to different styles and price points of the popular new trend. By promoting these and other fun fashions she encouraged young people to dress to please themselves and to treat fashion as a game.
Quant is often credited with inventing the decade’s most iconic look: the miniskirt. There is no conclusive evidence to say who first took hemlines a daringly long way north of the knee (French couturier André Courrèges is another possibility). Despite that, extremely short skirts and shift dresses became Quant’s trademark and were popularised by the era’s most high-profile model, , whose willowy figure helped turn super-short hemlines into a trend. Dame Lesley Lawson was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during the swinging sixties in London. Twiggy was initially known for her thin build (thus her nickname) and the androgynous appearance considered to result from her big eyes, long eyelashes, long legs and short hair. Her androgynous look became famous and shocked the public eye in a positive way. She was different from the other girls and was recognized by everyone. Her working-class roots and cockney accent contrasted refreshingly with the image projected by other girls who had dominated the modelling profession Twiggy was more than just a magazine maven: She was a trendsetter, a daring dresser and an icon in her own right. The bold-faced model said “Whether you’re thin, fat, small, dark, blond, redhead, you wanna
be something else. I wanted a fairy godmother to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. I had no boobs, no hips, and I wanted it desperately.” What she wanted was all around her: fuller-figure models with names nobody remembers, many of them middle-class or uppercrust older girls biding their time before landing husbands. Lacking any of that, what Twiggy had was extreme youth, a thirst for fashion and triple-layered false eyelashes that fed her right into the decade’s social revolution alongside the Beatles and pop art. Twiggy became virtually synonymous with Mary Quant’s youthful brand designs during the Sixties, in particular this pink a-line dress from 1966.
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Her slim frame was perfect for the styles that the sixties brought forward, such as cute A-Line dresses that tended to hide any sign of curves or shape.
Incomparably scandalous for the time, the mini quickly made its way onto magazine covers and in nearly every advertising campaign of the latter part of the decade.
With Twiggy’s frame, it was inevitable that she would foray into styles that were unflattering to the general population.
Twiggy’s knock-knees and spindly legs emphasised Mary’s hemlines. Mary’s continued celebration of youth culture was mirrored in Twiggy’s exaggerated childlike image; in her brief career as a model from 1966 to 1970 (before she turned to acting and singing), she came to define the Quant look. It was working closely with Twiggy modelling the skirt that really made women all over want to take the mini skirts for a test drive. Twiggy was at the forefront of women’s liberation in the sixties, often not wearing a bra or garters, and showing off those long legs in a perilously short skirt. Her look was perfect for emerging unisex trends and ever-rising hemlines. Her style was daring for its time, and stood out with a variety of unique looks.
One look that Twiggy pulled off well was the ribbed sweater look, which added a little bit of shape to her boyish frame. The ribbed sweaters were often paired with funnel necks and mocknecks pulled up past the chin for effect. She worked closely with Quant and her fashion collaborations, seen in dresses and skirts that hit at around six or seven inches above the knees.
Some of these styles are mainstays in the fashion world today, making her reminiscent of the late 1960’s. She was also part of the movement that embraced a more liberated fashion sense. Bras were ditched in place of slight camisoles, garters were disposed for stockings, and panties even became more rare. “The Chelsea Look” was made popular by Mary Quant, the designer, but it was modeled by Twiggy, the icon.
Modern fashion owes a great deal to the trailblazing 1960s designer Mary Quant. From skinny-rib sweaters, to coloured tights and ‘onesies’, these round-up of the signature Quant looks which revolutionised the way we dress, proving there was more to Mary than just miniskirts. She pushed towards an increasingly androgynous look, playfully challenging established gender norms. Exuberant, innovative and often very cheeky, her designs were the product of a moment when society’s views of gender were changing. If women could have more control over what was happening inside them, with the introduction of the contraceptive pill, it followed that they should have more choice over what they looked like on the outside. Quant capitalised on this mood with clothes that were bursting with colour and sass. Short skirts freed up women’s legs so they could run for the bus at full pelt, PVC rain-coats made even the wettest day less grim, and tights the colour of garish costume-jewellery turned legs into statement pieces. The twinsets, circle-skirts and pearls that mothers preferred were cast aside for simple, bright, thigh-skimming designs that borrowed from the boys with their waistcoats, zips and tailoring. Despite her success, Quant insists that they didn’t realize that what they were creating was pioneering: “We were simply busy relishing all the opportunities and embracing all the results before rushing on to the next challenge!” Mary Quant may not have created the youth-driven revolution in 1960s London, but she did outfit it. As cultural focus shifted to the hedonism of a younger generation, Quant was changing the trajectory of fashion. And she did it all without any education in the industry.
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E V I V
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D O O W
Vivienne Westwood, the ace designer from Britain, is known for her punk designs. Punk was as much a youthful reaction against the older generations, which was considered oppressive and outdated, as a product of the newly recognized and influential youth culture. Creative and entrepreneurial people, such as Westwood, often contribute to an aesthetic that brings a subcultural style to the forefront of fashion.
Vivienne Westwood was born in a village in Derbyshire in 1941, as the daughter of a factory worker and cotton weaver. In 1958, her family moved to Harrow, Middlesex, and Westwood took a jewellery and silversmith course at the University of Westminster, then known as the Harrow Art School, but left after one term, saying: “I didn’t know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world”. She moved to London with her family as a teenager where she trained as a primary school teacher. Having split up with her first husband, it was meeting and later working with art student Malcolm McLaren (born in London in 1946) that gave Westwood a focus for her restless idealism, as well as the opportunity to harness a natural flair for dressmaking. Rejecting the hippie ethos that was fashionable towards the end of the 1960s, Westwood and McLaren created clothes that referenced youth culture’s recent past, selling rock’n’roll fashion in a shop unit at 430 King’s Road in Chelsea. In the early seventies, they orchestrated a stylistic revolution, a backlash against the flared denim and wide lapels that dominated the sixties. Chelsea was experiencing surging growth, quickly transforming into an artist enclave. Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and all four Beatles counted themselves as locals. Boutiques sprouted up everywhere. Their store, through its many iterations, cemented an unprecedented relationship between music, fashion and counter-culture, shaping generations of fashion designers who followed. Their small shop at 430 Kings Road became the cornerstone of the most monumental shift in youth culture since the advent of Rock ‘N Roll itself. The store began in the back of Paradise Garage, a small outpost in London’s Chelsea district. And while Westwood and McLaren certainly did not invent punk, no one commoditized and marketed the movement as successfully. Soon enough, Paradise Garage shut down and by 1971 the couple took over the area. Expanding on their brand of romanticizing the 1950s, they named
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the space into Let It Rock. With the expansion, Westwood, who was still perfecting her sewing, began to sell reinterpreted renditions of Teddy Boy fashion. The style, which harkened back to postWWII England, mainly composed of flamboyantly colored zoot suits, drainpipe pants and thick sole creepers. By 1972 the designer’s interests had turned to biker clothing, zips and leather. The shop was re-branded with a skull and crossbones and renamed Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die. Westwood and McLaren began to design t-shirts with provocative messages leading to their prosecution under the obscenity laws; their reaction was to re-brand the shop once again and produce even more hard core images. By 1974 the shop had been renamed Sex, a shop ‘unlike anything else going on in England at the time’ with the slogan ‘rubberwear for the office’.
In 1976 the Sex Pistol’s God Save the Queen, managed by McLaren, went to number one and was refused air time by the BBC. The shop reopened as Seditionaires transforming the straps and zips of obscure sexual fetishism into fashion and inspiring a D.I.Y. aesthetic. The media called it ‘Punk Rock’. In 1977 SEX was renamed Seditionaries, but punk power began to wane. The collapse of the Sex Pistols and the absorption of Punk into the mainstream left Westwood disenchanted. In 1980 Seditionaries became Worlds End and when McLaren wanted to vacate it, Westwood held onto it. More crucially, for the first time she began designing her own clothes with what became known as the Pirates collection. This collection, her first to be presented on a catwalk, in 1981, was to prove a turning point, not only because it announced her interest in historicism, but also because within two years she would form her own company without Malcolm McLaren. By 1984, the couple separated, with McLaren focusing on music management and Westwood switching lanes from street to high fashion. As her career turned respectable, she was also drawn toward beauty.
50 A great example of her style is the iconic t-shirt. The artist and anarchist Jamie Reid created the wildly subversive images of Queen Elizabeth for the Sex Pistols’s record sleeve, deconstructing Cecil Beaton’s portrait of Her Majesty, and the depiction quickly found its way onto a Vivienne Westwood t-shirt. They shut the Queen’s mouth with a safety pin (an iconic accessory for Punks) and covered her eyes with swastikas. Westwood transferred the controversial image of punk into the world of fashion. Her main focus was on breaking taboos and capturing the atmosphere of riot and danger. The punk lady used Nazi symbols as well as sexual references in her designs and played with gender stereotypes. Vivienne also liked to use traditional British elements: Union Jack, Scottish tartans, and images of monarchs.
The Pistols’s John Lydon later explained: “You don’t write a song like ‘God Save the Queen’ because you hate the English race, you write a song like that because you love them, and you’re fed up with them being mistreated.” The lyrics, with its rage against the machine, its dark anguish, was so powerful that you not only wanted to sing it, to chant it, but you also literally wanted to wear it on your chest.
elements of Punk, New Romantic and even Glam and New Wave. Its inspiration was still as fresh and rebellious as Punk but was darker and included more wide ranging sources of inspiration like horror movies, fetish, gothic literature and even mythology.
Fran Lebowitz may have opined, “people don’t want to listen to you, what makes you think they want to hear from your sweater?” but when you rocked your Westwood Sex Pistols tee, you didn’t give a fuck if people wanted to hear it or not. , a friend of the Sex Pistols, found major commercial success with her band, Siouxsie and the Banshees. Sioux’s punk goth style gave her a unique image and created a strong identity for her band. From her beginnings within the world of Punk, and as part of the of the ‘Bromley Contingent’, which was also an unpopular label, Sioux was a pioneer of the emerging new Gothic style, which in the beginning was basically Punk with a dark twist, all taking place in the infamous night club, The Batcave. Opening in 1982 within the Gargoyle club, in Soho, London it would go on to foster one of the most resilient subcultural aesthetics, with Sioux’s look being one of the most influential. This emerging scene was a bricolage merging
She became the icon of Goth girls everywhere, a mantle she didn’t accept or relish, but nonetheless Siouxsie Sioux is synonymous with goth style, even being referred to as the ‘godmother of Goth’. When considering Sioux’s style you must consider Goth and Punk subcultures respectively. A hugely innovative time period for fashion, this was an era when individuals, more so than ever before, were breaking down old style barriers and
reconstructing out of the shards something new and original. The great sartorial influencers like Vivienne Westwood, Sioux embodied that DIY Punk spirit of raw, customised ensembles but given a bit of a dark makeover. Sioux’s proto-goth look, like punk, played with gender roles (or more appropriately, stereotypes), combining, layering boxy, oversized cuts of traditionally masculine clothes like men’s jackets with contrasting ultra feminine stockings and tight fighting skirts and dresses with fishnets and over the knee boots, leather jackets and bondage gear, and accessorising with studded leather chokers and silver jewellery, favouring religious or mythological iconography like Ankhs and crucifixes.
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Along with her clothes, you can’t really talk about Siouxsie Sioux or Goth in general without talking about hair; ultimately the idea here is, the bigger the better. She was known for her jet-black hair, it was in pretty typical Punk and Goth style: backcombed within an inch of its life. Divorced from the style’s roots in the fashion provocateurs of the 1980s, today’s perennial goth, sitting at your bus stop, looking awkward on the beach can be easy to dismiss. But before the term ‘goth’ was even used, the movement’s beginnings are intriguing and complex. In its original form, goth style was as much about startling individualism as belonging to a clique of your own: something encapsulated by Sioux’s exotic make-up, bejewelled gloves and nipple-baring fetish gear.
Sioux’s vamp style became the original Goth look, but sadly, these traditional looks would most often go overlooked in the more modern Gothic styles. Her vamp style became the first Goth uniform, but regrettably, this traditional style gets lost in the shuffle when compared to the modern goth aesthetic. While for the subculture of Goth to fully develop it’s understandable that it would strive to distinguish itself from Punk, Siouxsie Sioux’s look will always be a significant moment within that development, and she will always be seen as the ‘godmother of goth.’
This bondage suit in black cotton was designed by Westwood and McLaren for their Spring/Summer collection in 1976. It consists of a genderless matching two-piece jacket and trousers. The trousers have a zippered seam under the crotch and a detachable black towelling ‘bum flap’ and ‘hobble’ straps. The outfit borrows some elements from army combat gear, the motorcyclist’s Belstaff and fetish wear, and was the archetypal Punk outfit popularised by bands like the Sex Pistols.
Westwood will always be known for her part in the creation of punk. In the 30-plus years since her split from partner and collaborator Malcolm McLaren, she has forged a rebel aesthetic that is truly her own. She has said that she has ”constantly tried to provoke people into thinking afresh and for themselves, to escape their inhibitions and programming.” Her trademark mix of provocation and respect for tradition is captured in key pieces, from edgy printed T-shirts to sumptuously elegant ballgowns. While there are many fashion designers in Britain that have created something of a cult following among their fans, there’s only one Great British brand known for designing their very own genre: Punk. For people across the UK, and even the globe, Vivienne Westwood is more than just an insight into incredible branding, she’s the embodiment of British fashion. The name behind one of the most infamous labels in the world, Vivienne Westwood has flown the flag for Britain across a universe of style-based, and political adversity. With a distinctive personality, and an unmistakable character that resonates in everything she does, Vivienne Westwood has become the British staple of iconic, premium design. She is responsible for delivering new-wave fashion and modern punk into the streets of England. Today, the Vivienne Westwood brand is a perfect example of what can be accomplished with an indisputable purpose, a strong set of values, and a world-changing image. It’s impossible to argue with the fact that Vivienne Westwood is a British fashion legacy.
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Not every fashion trend is worth paying attention to. Indeed, most are fleeting moments that generate little momentum before fizzling out, making room for the next batch of style. Some, however, are genuinely interesting and have the potential to change the way we dress forever. Androgynous fashion would continue into the 1990s, but a unique feature of styles at end of the century was a seemingly direct parallel of the previous century’s end. Where women of the 1900s strolled about in flowing skirts that grazed the floor, women at the end of the twentieth century and beyond bared every inch of skin they could without violating public indecency laws. Such trends continued into the twenty-first century in varying degrees, some mild and some more extreme than the rest. Two trends worth noting in this most recent era are the trend of transparency in several different garments, most notably blouses, skirts and the large presence of studs decorating everything from shoes to headbands to jean shorts. Artist Danielle Licea noted that studs are the closest thing women will get to possessing armor to protect themselves in a world so plagued with violence. On the other hand, transparent clothing that displays colorful bandeaus or simply a woman’s bra under the garment can either be interpreted as objectifying women, or it could be seen as embracing women’s sexuality and a move toward a healthier stance toward body positivity. Though it is fascinating to watch how fashion reacts to the social climate surrounding it, it is perhaps far too early to pass judgment on the greater influence fashion while said fashions are still alive and strong. Perhaps it is time to return to and question that old adage once more: clothes make the man, they say. While it is true that men’s fashion held a level of importance amongst society, its significance pales in
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comparison to that of women’s fashion, which altered so radically and much more frequently than men’s clothing. Women’s fashion has constantly fluctuated between practicality and vanity. It has taken on many forms, many meanings and has been received with mixed feelings by their contemporaries. It has been used as a tool to conform to the societal mold as much as it has been used to challenge and break it, resulting in a colorful history that is still and will continue to change as long as fashion remains a fundamental extension of one’s identity.
Quite simply, unisex clothes are garments that are designed without a specific gender in mind. Throughout time, society has dictated that men should dress in one way and women in another, it often starts in school, trousers and blue are for boys, skirts and pink for girls, but unisex fashion does away with all this. For some, it represents more than just clothing. It’s already very hard to break the metaphorical walls and create equality in the times we live in. Unisex clothing is a small but effective way to roll out a line of conversation towards a broader dialogue about equality. It’s a natural progression in a world where, thankfully, there’s more acceptance of gender fluidity
Take for example pants. From the early bloomers to today’s modern suits, pants have provided women with a huge sense of freedom. A few decades before this time period, there were so many women who had defied norms by wearing pants. Women were still punished for wearing pants in certain settings. Although pants were becoming more acceptable as casual attire, it still wasn’t acceptable for the average woman to wear them as an everyday wardrobe staple. There were times where the zip of a trouser or the flash of a thigh could cause quite the push back, causing society to panic every time women decided to define for themselves what it meant to be female. Pants had become a symbol of freedom that women hadn’t had before and they were finally becoming more acceptable for women to wear. Today, nearly all cultures and religions are accepting of women wearing pants, save a few, but it’s taken a while to get here. Practically, they allowed for increased mobility and functionality. Symbolically, pants can be seen as the material manifestation of women’s desires to have different lives during times when they were greatly oppressed. Pants are wardrobe staples for both men and women, worn in private and public spaces. But with that being said, pants especially pantsuits remain deeply connected to masculinity. Pants alone can’t and didn’t give women greater lives, but their associations with masculine authority encouraged many women to make changes. Despite women wearing pants for decades at this point, they still maintain this idea of power, of independence, control over
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someone’s body. It can still be viewed as a very feminist statement to this day. While women have spent decades if not centuries batting away the narrow definition of what is expected of them, the clothes they wore helped make their intentions know. What causes society to panic isn’t different hemlines, but rather women defining for themselves what it means to be a woman. So the power of dress was an important tool that influenced their standing in society, helping them towards less oppressive gender norms with every snap, zip, and fasten. Many consumers, especially fashion and socially-conscious Millennial and Gen Z-ers, are using their outdoor voices to draw light to the importance of gendered clothing, and designers are beginning to listen. While the world is in constant, progressive metamorphosis, it comes as no surprise that the industry is undergoing an identity-check. While some creatives are completely on board with the genderless fashion movement, other powerhouses remain hesitant to adapt to the issue. Inconsideration for gender is the steam in the engine of the fashion locomotive; it is what will power fashion in its new direction. While this is definite progress, the genderless fashion movement is founded less on the idea of making clothing without any gender, and centers more on the concept of ending the rigid ideas surrounding who should wear what.
At the end of the day, people will wear what appeals to them, whether or not it be commonly marketed to their identity. It is critical that fashion leaders understand, that an active change is made to accommodate this. The issue does not exist in the clothing itself, it is the rigid concept of who should be wearing it. Today, the fashion revolution wrought by the women’s movement seems complete. Women dress to please themselves, for their work, their life, the weather, and, most of all, to express their own inner beauty and sexuality. The truly well organized women have worked out a sort of “uniform” way of putting themselves together attractively but efficiently. For one woman it might be sweaters, shirts and skirts, a dress, pants plus a few sensational looks for evening. Very few women buy one thing to wear for just one occasion; that is considered conspicuous consumption. We all should be able to wear what we feel comfortable in and unfortunately for many, the choice of only two styles of clothing, male or female isn’t enough, and it doesn’t fully represent the world we inhabit. Unisex bridges the gap somewhat, and it’s provoked an interesting conversation in terms of people feeling more at ease in what they wear. How clothes fit is highly subjective: one woman’s ‘cropped’ is another woman’s ‘too short’. for some, the question of whether unisex clothing works boils down to whether it fits their preference or not.
When you think about it, in the course of human history, 100 years isn’t a particularly long time. But in the course of fashion history, it’s the difference between trying to get around in a bone-cinching girdle and ankle-length skirt, and the Nike leggings and Vans sneakers you might be wearing at this very moment. In the intervening years, there have been major shifts in technology, politics, culture, social norms and fashion has reflected that in its ever-changing cycle of trends. From the sky high platforms of the ‘70s to the high-waisted bikinis of the ‘40s, we see plenty of the most popular looks of decades past serving as inspiration for designers today. Maybe it’s not a house dress that captures your lifestyle at all, but a pair of linen culottes or worn-in vintage jeans. We are so fortunate to live in a time where we have more agency over what feels stylish and right. You will likely find your fashion soulmates out there somewhere, whether in an independent brand or in an online community. Whatever you love to wear has likely been in style at some point in history and will be back in style again in the future. The cyclical nature of fashion is one of its most compelling qualities, and we look forward to tracing those trends as we consider the evolution of our collective values. Sometimes, to see how far you’ve come, you have to take a glance in the rearview mirror. Often we think of the mainstream fashion industry in terms of its negative impacts on individuals and the environment, but we also want to acknowledge the opportunities we have as modern consumers to make informed and thoughtful choices. These opportunities have come about after many years of advocacy, struggle and hard work from revolutionary thinkers and designers in the fashion industry, as well as consumers who demand more. So in conclusion...
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Whether we’re aware of it or not, fashion is always reflecting our values right back at us. Fashion is a mirror for what a society thinks and feels. Styles inevitably changes but its inherent power has always been exactly the same. In this exhibition we celebrate the ladies who left their mark on the fashion industry while shedding new light on the questions raised by dress codes and taboos.