The Second World War created many radical changes in the
fashion industry. After the War, Paris's reputation as the global
center of fashion began to crumble and off-the-peg and
mass-manufactured fashions became increasingly popular. A new youth
style emerged in the Fifties, changing the focus of fashion
forever. As the installation of central heating became more
widespread the age of minimum-care garments began and lighter
textiles and, eventually, synthetics, were introduced.
In the West, the traditional divide that had always existed between
high society and workers came to be considered simply
unjustifiable. In particular, a new young generation wanted to reap
the benefits of a booming consumer society. Privilege became less
blatantly advertised than in the past and differences were more
glossed over. As the ancient European hierarchies were overturned,
the external marks of distinction faded with them. By the time the
first rockets were launched into space, Europe was more than ready
to adopt a quality ready-to-wear garment on American lines,
something to occupy the middle ground between off-the-peg and
couture. The need was all the more pressing because increases in
overheads and raw material costs were beginning to relegate
handmade fashion to the sidelines. Meanwhile, rapidly developing
new technologies made it easier and easier to manufacture an
ever-improving high-quality product.
Faced with the threat of a factory-made fashion-based product,
Parisian haute couture mounted its defenses, but to little effect.
It could not stop fashion leaking out onto the streets. In these
years when the old world was taking its final bow, the changes in
fashion were one of the most visible manifestations of the general
shake-up in society. Before long, whole categories of women
hitherto restricted to inferior substitutes to haute couture would
enjoy a greatly enlarged freedom of choice. Dealing in far larger
quantities, production cycles were longer than those of couture
workshops, which meant that stylists planning their lines for the
twice-yearly collections had to try to guess more than a year in
advance what their customers would want. A new power was afoot,
that of the street, constituting a further threat to the
dictatorship of the masters of couture.
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posted by Fashion Women @ 1:44 AM
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In the 1930s, as the public began to feel the
effects of the Great Depression, many designers found that crises
are not the time for experimentation. Fashion became more
compromising, aspiring to preserve feminism's victories while
rediscovering a subtle and reassuring elegance and sophistication.
Women's fashions moved away from the brash, daring style of the
Twenties towards a more romantic, feminine silhouette. The waist
was restored to its proper position, hemlines dropped, there was
renewed appreciation of the bust, and backless evening gowns and
soft, slim-fitting day dresses became popular. The female body was
remodeled to a more neo-classical shape and slim, toned, and
athletic bodies came into vogue. The fashion for outdoor activities
stimulated couturiers to manufacture what would nowadays be called
sportswear. The term 'ready-to-wear' was not yet widely used, but
the boutiques already described such clothes as being 'for
sport'.
Two of the most prominent and influential fashion designers of the
1930s were Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet. Elsa
Schiaparelli showed her first collection in 1929 and was
immediately hailed by the press as 'one of the rare innovators' of
the day. With her exciting and inventive designs, Schiaparelli did
not so much revolutionize fashion as shatter its foundations. The
first pullover she displayed in her windows created a sensation: it
was knitted in black with a trompe-l'oeil white bow. She
consistently turned out breathtaking collections thereafter.
Schiaparelli was a close friend of Christian Berard, Jean Cocteau,
and Salvador Dalí, who designed embroidery motifs for her and
supplied inspiration for models like the desk suit with drawers for
pockets, the shoe-shaped hat, and the silk dress painted with flies
and the one bearing a picture of a large lobster. All of Paris
thronged to her salon at 21 Place Vendôme as collection succeeded
collection.
Madeleine Vionnet found her inspiration in ancient statues,
creating timeless and beautiful gowns that would not look out of
place on a Greek frieze. Queen of the bias cut (cutting diagonally
across the fabric's lengthwise threads), she produced evening
dresses that fitted the body without excessive elaboration or
dissimulation, employing a flowing and elegant line. Her perfect
draping of chiffon, silk, and Moroccan crepe created a marvelously
poised and sensual effect. The unparalleled success of Vionnet's
cuts guaranteed her reputation right up until her retirement in
1939.
Mainbocher, the first American designer to live and work in Paris,
was also influential, with his plain yet supremely elegant designs,
often employing the bias cut pioneered by Vionnet. The luxury goods
manufacturer Hermès started selling handmade printed silk square
scarves in early '30s, and also popularized the zip and many other
practical innovations. Toward the end of the decade, women's
fashions took on a somewhat more imposing and broad-shouldered
silhouette, possibly influenced by Elsa Schiaparelli. Men's
fashions continued the informal, practical trend that had dominated
since the end of the First World War.
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posted by Fashion Women @ 1:30 AM
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Between the
Wars
The period between the two World Wars, often considered to be the
Golden Age of French fashion, was one of great change and
reformation. Carriages were replaced by cars, princes and
princesses lost their crowns, and haute couture found new clients
in the ranks of film actresses, American heiresses, and the wives
and daughters of wealthy industrialists.
1920s
Soon after the First World War, a radical change came about in
fashion. Bouffant coiffures gave way to short bobs, dresses with
long trains gave way to above-the-knee pinafores. Corsets were
abandoned and women borrowed their clothes from the male wardrobe
and chose to dress like boys. Although, at first, many couturiers
were reluctant to adopt the new androgynous style, they embraced
them wholeheartedly from around 1925. A bustless, waistless
silhouette emerged and aggressive dressing-down was mitigated by
feather boas, embroidery, and showy accessories The flapper style
(known to the French as the 'garçonne' look) became very popular
among young women. The cloche hat was widely-worn and sportswear
became popular with both men and women during the decade, with
designers like Jean Patou and Coco Chanel popularizing the sporty
and athletic look.
The great couturière Coco Chanel was a major figure in fashion at
the time, as much for her magnetic personality as for her chic and
progressive designs. Chanel helped popularize the bob hairstyle,
the little black dress, and the use of jersey knit for women's
clothing and also elevated the status of both costume jewelry and
knitwear.
Two other prominent French designers of the 1920s were Jeanne
Lanvin and Jean Patou. Jeanne Lanvin, who began her career in
fashion as a milliner, made such beautiful outfits for her young
daughter Marguerite that people started to ask for copies, and
Lanvin was soon making dresses for their mothers. Lanvin's name
appears in the fashion yearbook from about 1901 onwards. However,
it was in the 1920s that she reached the peak of her popularity and
success. The Lanvin style embraced the look of the time, with its
skillful use of complex trimmings, dazzling embroideries, and
beaded decorations in light, clear, floral colors that eventually
became a Lanvin trademark. By 1925 Lanvin produced many different
products, including sportswear, furs, lingerie, men's fashion, and
interior designs. Her global approach to fashion foreshadowed the
schemes that all the large contemporary fashion houses would later
adopt in their efforts to diversify.
The style of Jean Patou was never mainstream, but full of
originality and characterized by a studied simplicity which was to
win him fame, particularly in the American markets. Many of his
garments, with their clean lines, geometric and Cubist motifs, and
mixture of luxury and practicality, were designed to satisfy the
new vogue for the outdoor life, and bore a remarkable similarity to
modern sportswear.The most famous advocate of his style was Suzanne
Lenglen, the legendary tennis champion.
In menswear there was a growing mood of informality, among the
Americans especially, which was mirrored in fashions that
emphasized youthfulness and relaxation. In the past, there was a
special outfit for every event in the well-dressed gentleman's day,
but young men in the Twenties, no longer afraid to show their
youthfulness, began to wear the same soft wool suit all day long.
Short suit jackets replaced the old long jackets of the past which
were now only worn for formal occasions. Men had a variety of sport
clothes available to them, including sweaters and short pants,
commonly known as knickers. For evening wear a short tuxedo was
more fashionable than the tail-coat, which was now seen as somewhat
old-fashioned. The London cut, with its slim lines, loose-fitting
sleeves, and padded shoulders, perfected by the English tailor
Scholte, was very popular.
Fair Isle patterns became very popular for both sexes. Heels, at
the time, were often over two inches high and Coco Chanel helped
popularize the two-tone shoe, one of her trademarks. Salvatore
Ferragamo and André Perugia were two of the most influential and
respected designers in footwear. Many stars of the silent films had
a significant impact on fashion during the 1920s, perhaps most
notably Louise Brooks, Gloria Swanson, and Colleen Moore. The
lighthearted, forward-looking fashions of the 1920s gradually came
to halt after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and succumbed to a
more conservative style.
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posted by Fashion Women @ 1:18 AM
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