FASHION SUITE 900: MILTARY INFLUENCES ON FASHION

Many designers are moving in on the trendy military inspired clothing for his or her collections.  Some of these designers include Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, and Dolce & Gabbana.  For years, military inspired clothing appeared to only have masculine style elements but now many designers are going in the direction of incorporating military fashion garments with more femininity.  Designers are using khaki and olive colors, camouflage, aviator jackets and double-breasted coats to make up their military inspired pieces. 

 

To show how military fashion has been an inspiration for designers, I wanted to show my favorite military inspired collection from Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2006 RTW. Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce definitely showed what military fashion was all about in this collection. War conceptualized this collection as a theme with its military color pallet and strong detailed appearance of a Napoleonic military uniform.  Military tailcoats, tight knickers, jodhpurs, and high riding boots were all essential in making this magnificent military inspired collection. I loved how the skirts were applied with the jackets to give it a feminine silhouette. I love the military inspired fashion and I know that designers will continue to design with it in mind for the future.  

 

FASHION SUITE 800: THE FABULOUS FIFTIES FASHION REVAMPED

Distinction Magazine Cover- Summer 1953

During the fabulous fifties American citizens started to live again and so did fashion! The 1950’s brought on a huge variety of original and exceptional styles that had a feminine and fun twist.  Some of the most admired trends from the 1950’s include fitted blouses, knee length skirts, wide shoulders, and slimmer waists. A new young designer by the name of Lena Hoscheck from Australia did an awesome job with bringing back fashion from the 1950’s in her Spring/Summer 2011 collection at Berlin Fashion Week.  

Her fashion is this collection consisted of floral prints, poofy knee length skirts paired with flirty tops, pencil skirts, and A-line skirts.  Hoscheck was able to mimic the fashion from the 1950’s effortlessly as all the pieces within this collection relate to the 1950’s and have something related to the fabulous 50’s.  To complete the look of the inspired collection, the models wore ruby red lipstick, black eyeliner makeup, and cute eye wear that complete the overall look of the 50’s.  Here are a few of the designs that were shown during the recent fashion show for Lena Hoscheck.  This collection is simply amazing, fun, and chic! 

FASHION SUITE 700: SKINNY LEG JEANS...PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

The most popular style of jeans today is the skinny leg.  Tight jeans were popular back in the 80’s and 90’s with the high waists and tapered leg for women jeans.  Tight jeans were popular also during the 80’s for women and even men.  There were no boundaries when it came to colors on jeans.   The acid wash jeans and bright colors were a huge success in the 80’s. Now the skinny leg jeans are most popular in dark denim and are made with stretch material as they were not back in the 80’s.  I believe that the hip hop culture has also adopted the look for the younger generation of wearing skinny jeans which has caused a new height in popularity.

THE FUTURE...The look of fashion for the future with jeans can go in any direction.  Jeans have such a wide variety of styles, colors, and fit that it seems that styles of jeans revolve around from the past.  The hottest new style for the future will still be a sexy fitting jean for women and back to relaxed, baggy, jeans for men. I am sure that skinny jeans will stick around for many years to come and designers will experiment with different textiles and cuts to continue to be versatile.

FASHION SUITE 600: THE GLAMOROUS THIRTIES ERA REVAMPED

 While the era of the 1930's has become a huge inspiration for designers today, the fashion still provides a sample of today's fashion as well as the past.  Once again the famous John Galliano has done it again with remixing his amazing ideas for fashion and pulling inspiration from the historical foundation.  Galliano's collection from 2008 Ready to Wear proves that he is an awesome designer that demonstrates character and charisma.  These designs reflect on the "old glam" and also poor out his own creative style.  Galliano borrowed many ideas that reflect on the 1930's such as the large oversized ruffles, veils, bias cut dresses, and every piece carried such a romantic touch. John Galliano's Spring RTW 2008 collection combines many elements from 1920's-1930's that scream old Hollywood glamour is back!

FASHION SUITE 500: HISTORICAL DRAPED & TAILORED GARMENTS

Fashion comes from all over the world and over the years the methods of how garments are made vary.  The most popular techniques that have been utilized for centuries is draping and tailoring of garments.  Here are few examples of historical draping and tailoring from different cultures.

The Roman Toga was a dress robe from the Romans made of thick wool cloth. Togas were worn by draping and wrapping the wool cloth around the body and sometimes worn over a tunic.  The wool would extend out to approximately twenty feet.  

 

In India, women wore Saris that could be worn in various draping styles.  The Sari has one plain end and one decorative end. It originated from the men's dhoti which is one of the oldest versions of  draped garment in India.  The Sari is six yards in length and it gathers in the front and slightly falls over the shoulder.

French designer Madeleine Vionnet in 1912 became known for the dramatic draping and it became her trademark in the 20th century in Europe.  She was considered a pioneer of modern draping and used her technique to create amazing garments. 

During the 18th century, tailored clothing was designed and made specifically for those who could afford them. Tailored clothing were well-cut and measured to fit a particular person.  The suit includes a long tail coat with ruffled shirt and trousers.

 This tailored suit was designed during the 1960's by an American designer named Bill Blass.

The name given to this garment is called Livery.  It was worn by the male servant during the earlier part of the Georgian period.  It was worn as formal wear that included a frock coat, breeches, white stockings and pumps.