Author: jenna-wallis
Better Fashion Through History or A Millenium of Dressing Your Body
November 3, 2006I’m short. Quite short. And I’m curvy. Quite curvy. For years I looked through “dress-to-your-shape-articles” hoping to find something that addressed my size, but to no avail. I’m short and small boned, but petite style suggestions look ridiculous with my bustline. None of the canned advice squibs suggested what I should do about my narrow, sloping shoulders, and a magazine that I shall call Spogue clearly used “curvy” as a euphemism for “plus-sized,” which, unless we are using a catwalk weight system, I am not.
I know I’m not the only one with this problem, and one day, when my best friend and I tried on clothes in a store full of vintage inspired fashion, a solution came to me. Practically all the clothes from to the forties era looked great on me, while my friend absolutely owned a Victorian era top. I realized, that my friend, with her long neck, small bust, defined waist, and generous backside fit the description of the ideal Victorian body type to a tee, whilst I matched up to the short, curvy hourglass ideal of the 1940s.
Almost every body type you can imagine has, at some point, been idealized in Western culture. Whether you’re tall and skinny, short and skinny, tall and curvy, plus sized, athletically built, etc., if you look hard enough, you can find a section of history where your body type was the ideal. Women in Western civilization have been restraining, plumping, slimming, padding, and binding various parts of their bodies to conform to the ideal bodies of their day for millennia.
From corsets, to diets, to bustles, to the push-up bra, women have struggled to mold their bodies into a template set by the style of the times. The corollary to this is that designers frequently make clothing based on whatever body type happens to be “in” during their lifetimes. Trying to fit into fashionable clothes made for another body type can be a hideously embarrassing experience. Just think of a curvy or full-figured girl in a 1920s style flapper dress, or a stick-skinny, flat chested woman in a 1950s-style pin-up halter dress. Trust me, it’s not a pretty picture.
There is an important learning to be drawn from this: When you find an era in fashion history where your specific body type was the ideal, the clothing of that time will be optimally designed for your body type. I understand that the clothes themselves won’t do anything but make you look like an actor in a period drama (especially when looking at fashion eras from more than 100 years ago), but the underlying design principles can still be applied to today’s fashions.
What follows is by no means a complete list of eras and body types (that would take a book.), but rather, some examples to show you the range of body types that have been fashionable throughout history and ways to apply those principles to modern fashion.
Rubenesque
Let’s take the Rubenesque woman, so-named because she is portrayed in the 17th century paintings of Peter Paul Rubens. This was an era which celebrated ample flesh on both men and women. Fashion only existed for the very wealthy, who used their clothing to display their wealth (just as fashion has been used as a status symbol throughout history).
Now, onto the fashion tips we can derive from the fashion era depicted in these paintings, lest you think I’m advising you here to walk around with a giant ruff of fabric around your neck a la Queen Elizabeth I. The structure and attention paid to the waist jumps out from the figures on the canvases. Not a single one of the paintings shows the flowing, tent-like garment that the modern fashion world has deemed acceptable for the plus-sized woman.
One especially useful technique is demonstrated in the painting #2: wearing a light-colored outfit beneath a darker overlayer. This can be accomplished in modern fashion by wearing a light colored dress or pant suit underneath a blazer or a duster that buttons at the waist. The V of lighter fabric above and below the jacket accentuates the curves of your body while providing definition for your waist.
The second thing…er things…that just pop out at me are the breasts. For women who fall in to the Rubenesque category, a good portion of your pounds have found 
their way to your bustline. Don’t be afraid to show them off with a square neckline. Notice that Ruben’s own wife (picture # 1 above) had no problem displaying her assets.
Going back to the theme of structure, look back at the detailing in the Rubens paintings. There are several ways you can achieve this same sort of structure in your clothing, without resorting to corsets (although there is a reason Torrid has so many corset-topped dresses).
Use clothing that has a defined waist, be it with a ribbon, a wrap top, or a sash. For those with narrow shoulders, use tops with a bit of extra fabric to balance out your top and your bottom. Although it’s not so obvious from this selection of paintings, most of the dresses of this day had some sort of embroidery around the neckline to draw attention where it belonged–to the face. You can get the same effect using bold necklaces or tops with detail around the neckline.
Further study of the period can no doubt reveal other fashion clues, so explore on your own. There are several digital museums of Rubens’ work on the internet, and many of them have zooming capabilities that allow you to focus on detail work. (Scroll to the bottom of the page for additional resources).
Regency
The next fashion Era we’ll explore is Regency England. The period from 1795-1825 is the time in which Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is set. However, as you’ll see, despite her talent, Keira Knightly is not the most accurate body type to play the movie role of Elizabeth Bennet. 
The Regency body type was a very natural one: generally not very tall, gently rounded curves, a high, small bustline, and a fairly slender neck. Since the emphasis in Regency style was on the natural body, many body types can wear Regency style. Take note that the Regency body is not stick-skinny (no jutting clavicles here). The bottom half of the body was not expressly defined, although generous curves in the rear would help to keep a skirt’s fullness. The woman who embodied this style was Empress Josephine Bonaparte. In fact, the empire style waistline is so named because Josephine made it popular throughout Bonaparte’s empire.
This style of clothing is wonderful for those who could be called pear-shaped. Sloping shoulders were prevalent, and as a consequence, shoulder lines start very far from the neck. The simple lines and the delicate detailing all help keep the dress from wearing you, as opposed to you wearing it. If you are a larger or bigger boned version of the Regency body type, you can afford to make the detailing a little bolder.
Frequently, the fabric would be either vertically striped (picture #8) or have a piece of attached fabric that fell straight to the floor (picture #7); this served to 
elongate the body, and the fabric added a sense of movement. To create a modern-day Regency look that is truly unique, you could use either a belt or a scarf to create an empire waist over a garment, then tuck a longer scarf into it allowing it to drape toward the floor. This treatment would look truly dramatic against a black empire-waist dress- using either a black belt or black scarf for the waist and a long colored scarf to drape down. (If someone is brave enough to do this, please send pictures, I can’t really do empire waists well.)
One of my favorite items of clothing from the Regency period is the pelisse (picture # 9). This was a long, usually calf-length, coat worn over the dress. It’s buttoned just underneath the bust. The best modern equivalent for this is probably be an empire waist sweater coat, something I think fills a niche for dress-up/dress-down warmth, while the empire waist provides a simple, yet flattering shape . 
Toward the middle of the Regency era, artists and clothing designers became fascinated with the ideals and styles of ancient Greece, thus draping became important to the aesthetic of the time. This draping very much suits the soft curves of the Regency body type, and many modern clothes reflect the same Grecian influence. Summing up the Regency fashion guidelines: simplicity of line and detail, empire waists, vertical lines, and draping.
Gibson Girl/Flapper 
At the turn of the 19th century and the late 1920s, the female body type took a new direction. A taller, more athletic form became appealing, epitomized in two distinct ideals.
The Gibson Girl was a tall, slender hourglass with broad shoulders, toned through activities such as bicycling, golf and tennis. On the other hand, the Flapper was thin (presumably from doing those energetic dances), flat-chested, narrow-hipped, and youthful looking. In a very general way, these two ideals represent the curvy and the straight athletic body types. Gibson girls wore crisp shirts, usually in a pale color, tucked into long dark skirts, which cinched at the waist to emphasize the hourglass shape.
Having a Gibson Girl body type means that you can wear the top-heavy volume that has been so popular on the runways of 2006. Just make sure you cinch the waist tightly (if you’ve got it, you might as well show it off). Think of something like that “orchid” outfit Daniel Vosovic designed in last year’s Project Runway.
Classic button down shirts (of pretty much any color that suits your skin tone) tucked into pants or skirts that sit at your natural waist will also flatter your figure. You can wear obi-style sashes and scarves and big belts around your waist without fear of being cut in half, due to your height.
Those of you whose bodies skew toward the Flapper spectrum also have reason to smile. The clean, straight lines of classic Chanel were, quite literally, designed for your body type. Wearing clothes with a masculine silhouette was so popular that in France, the flapper style was called “garçonne” which roughly translated to “boy-girl”.
Things like straight-leg men’s trousers, suspenders, and shirts will flatter your athletic lines. Handkerchief hems above the knees were also popular. They were quite flattering to the athletic legs of the flapper girls, and are still available today. Dresses and skirts with handkerchief hems will flutter attractively as you stride down the sidewalk.
Sleeveless tank tops will showcase your arms, and you can wear dramatic V-necks without worrying about falling out (a la Tara Reid). Both of these body types and styles have extensive documentation both on and off the Internet, so get to searching.
If this article didn’t cover your body type, don’t worry; history is full of different ideals about the perfect female form. Odds are you can find a period in history where the ideal shape matches your own body type.
All of these periods have techniques and ideas that can be applied to your everyday fashion, and all you need to do is get onto Google and look. Designers are constantly drawing inspiration from the past, so there’s no reason you can’t do the same. Look at the underlying themes and shapes as opposed to actual detailing if you’re concerned about looking too “period.”
Books in the library and the links listed below are resources that can help get you started. If you don’t feel like being sedentary (or, like me, you’re afraid at some point your butt will fuse to your computer chair) you can go to an art museum and look at the pictures of the women from various eras. Find one whose body looks like yours, and go from there. You don’t even have to look for fashion clues, you can just look at them and think about a time when all women tried their hardest to look just like you. And if you are not of European descent, these same suggestions will work for you if you review the art history of your ancestral lands.
You can find more information at the following sites:
www.fashion-era.com
www.metmuseum.org/home.asp
www.guggenheimcollection.org/index.html
www.abcgallery.com/
These are only a starting point, ways to search are everywhere.
jenna-wallis
Better Fashion Through History or A Millenium of Dressing Your Body
November 1, 2006I’m short. Quite short. And I’m curvy. Quite curvy. For years I looked through “dress-to-your-shape-articles” hoping to find something that addressed my size, but to no avail. I’m short and small boned, but petite style suggestions look ridiculous with my bustline. None of the canned advice squibs suggested what I should do about my narrow, sloping shoulders, and a magazine that I shall call Spogue clearly used “curvy” as a euphemism for “plus-sized,” which, unless we are using a catwalk weight system, I am not.
I know I’m not the only one with this problem, and one day, when my best friend and I tried on clothes in a store full of vintage inspired fashion, a solution came to me. Practically all the clothes from to the forties era looked great on me, while my friend absolutely owned a Victorian era top. I realized, that my friend, with her long neck, small bust, defined waist, and generous backside fit the description of the ideal Victorian body type to a tee, whilst I matched up to the short, curvy hourglass ideal of the 1940s.
Almost every body type you can imagine has, at some point, been idealized in Western culture. Whether you’re tall and skinny, short and skinny, tall and curvy, plus sized, athletically built, etc., if you look hard enough, you can find a section of history where your body type was the ideal. Women in Western civilization have been restraining, plumping, slimming, padding, and binding various parts of their bodies to conform to the ideal bodies of their day for millennia.
From corsets, to diets, to bustles, to the push-up bra, women have struggled to mold their bodies into a template set by the style of the times. The corollary to this is that designers frequently make clothing based on whatever body type happens to be “in” during their lifetimes. Trying to fit into fashionable clothes made for another body type can be a hideously embarrassing experience. Just think of a curvy or full-figured girl in a 1920s style flapper dress, or a stick-skinny, flat chested woman in a 1950s-style pin-up halter dress. Trust me, it’s not a pretty picture.
There is an important learning to be drawn from this: When you find an era in fashion history where your specific body type was the ideal, the clothing of that time will be optimally designed for your body type. I understand that the clothes themselves won’t do anything but make you look like an actor in a period drama (especially when looking at fashion eras from more than 100 years ago), but the underlying design principles can still be applied to today’s fashions.
What follows is by no means a complete list of eras and body types (that would take a book.), but rather, some examples to show you the range of body types that have been fashionable throughout history and ways to apply those principles to modern fashion.
Rubenesque
Let’s take the Rubenesque woman, so-named because she is portrayed in the 17th century paintings of Peter Paul Rubens. This was an era which celebrated ample flesh on both men and women. Fashion only existed for the very wealthy, who used their clothing to display their wealth (just as fashion has been used as a status symbol throughout history).
Now, onto the fashion tips we can derive from the fashion era depicted in these paintings, lest you think I’m advising you here to walk around with a giant ruff of fabric around your neck a la Queen Elizabeth I. The structure and attention paid to the waist jumps out from the figures on the canvases. Not a single one of the paintings shows the flowing, tent-like garment that the modern fashion world has deemed acceptable for the plus-sized woman.
One especially useful technique is demonstrated in the painting #2: wearing a light-colored outfit beneath a darker overlayer. This can be accomplished in modern fashion by wearing a light colored dress or pant suit underneath a blazer or a duster that buttons at the waist. The V of lighter fabric above and below the jacket accentuates the curves of your body while providing definition for your waist.
The second thing…er things…that just pop out at me are the breasts. For women who fall in to the Rubenesque category, a good portion of your pounds have found 
their way to your bustline. Don’t be afraid to show them off with a square neckline. Notice that Ruben’s own wife (picture # 1 above) had no problem displaying her assets.
Going back to the theme of structure, look back at the detailing in the Rubens paintings. There are several ways you can achieve this same sort of structure in your clothing, without resorting to corsets (although there is a reason Torrid has so many corset-topped dresses).
Use clothing that has a defined waist, be it with a ribbon, a wrap top, or a sash. For those with narrow shoulders, use tops with a bit of extra fabric to balance out your top and your bottom. Although it’s not so obvious from this selection of paintings, most of the dresses of this day had some sort of embroidery around the neckline to draw attention where it belonged–to the face. You can get the same effect using bold necklaces or tops with detail around the neckline.
Further study of the period can no doubt reveal other fashion clues, so explore on your own. There are several digital museums of Rubens’ work on the internet, and many of them have zooming capabilities that allow you to focus on detail work. (Scroll to the bottom of the page for additional resources).
Regency
The next fashion Era we’ll explore is Regency England. The period from 1795-1825 is the time in which Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is set. However, as you’ll see, despite her talent, Keira Knightly is not the most accurate body type to play the movie role of Elizabeth Bennet. 
The Regency body type was a very natural one: generally not very tall, gently rounded curves, a high, small bustline, and a fairly slender neck. Since the emphasis in Regency style was on the natural body, many body types can wear Regency style. Take note that the Regency body is not stick-skinny (no jutting clavicles here). The bottom half of the body was not expressly defined, although generous curves in the rear would help to keep a skirt’s fullness. The woman who embodied this style was Empress Josephine Bonaparte. In fact, the empire style waistline is so named because Josephine made it popular throughout Bonaparte’s empire.
This style of clothing is wonderful for those who could be called pear-shaped. Sloping shoulders were prevalent, and as a consequence, shoulder lines start very far from the neck. The simple lines and the delicate detailing all help keep the dress from wearing you, as opposed to you wearing it. If you are a larger or bigger boned version of the Regency body type, you can afford to make the detailing a little bolder.
Frequently, the fabric would be either vertically striped (picture #8) or have a piece of attached fabric that fell straight to the floor (picture #7); this served to 
elongate the body, and the fabric added a sense of movement. To create a modern-day Regency look that is truly unique, you could use either a belt or a
scarf to create an empire waist over a garment, then tuck a longer scarf into it allowing it to drape toward the floor. This treatment would look truly dramatic against a black empire-waist dress- using either a black belt or black scarf for the waist and a long colored scarf to drape down. (If someone is brave enough to do this, please send pictures, I can’t really do empire waists well.)
One of my favorite items of clothing from the Regency period is the pelisse (picture # 9). This was a long, usually calf-length, coat worn over the dress. It’s buttoned just underneath the bust. The best modern equivalent for this is probably be an empire waist sweater coat, something I think fills a niche for dress-up/dress-down warmth, while the empire waist provides a simple, yet flattering shape . 
Toward the middle of the Regency era, artists and clothing designers became fascinated with the ideals and styles of ancient Greece, thus draping became important to the aesthetic of the time. This draping very much suits the soft curves of the Regency body type, and many modern clothes reflect the same Grecian influence. Summing up the Regency fashion guidelines: simplicity of line and detail, empire waists, vertical lines, and draping.
Gibson Girl/Flapper 
At the turn of the 19th century and the late 1920s, the female body type took a new direction. A taller, more athletic form became appealing, epitomized in two distinct ideals.
The Gibson Girl was a tall, slender hourglass with broad shoulders, toned through activities such as bicycling, golf and tennis. On the other hand, the Flapper was thin (presumably from doing those energetic dances), flat-chested, narrow-hipped, and youthful looking. In a very general way, these two ideals represent the curvy and the straight athletic body types. Gibson girls wore crisp shirts, usually in a pale color, tucked into long dark skirts, which cinched at the waist to emphasize the hourglass shape.
Having a Gibson Girl body type means that you can wear the top-heavy volume that has been so popular on the runways of 2006. Just make sure you cinch the waist tightly (if you’ve got it, you might as well show it off). Think of something like that “orchid” outfit Daniel Vosovic designed in last year’s Project Runway.
Classic button down shirts (of pretty much any color that suits your skin tone) tucked into pants or skirts that sit at your natural waist will also flatter your figure. You can wear obi-style sashes and scarves and big belts around your waist without fear of being cut in half, due to your height.
Those of you whose bodies skew toward the Flapper spectrum also have reason to smile. The clean, straight lines of classic Chanel were, quite literally, designed for your body type. Wearing clothes with a masculine silhouette was so popular that in France, the flapper style was called “garçonne” which roughly translated to “boy-girl”.
Things like straight-leg men’s trousers, suspenders, and shirts will flatter your athletic lines. Handkerchief hems above the knees were also popular. They were quite flattering to the athletic legs of the flapper girls, and are still available today. Dresses and skirts with handkerchief hems will flutter attractively as you stride down the sidewalk.
Sleeveless tank tops will showcase your arms, and you can wear dramatic V-necks without worrying about falling out (a la Tara Reid). Both of these body types and styles have extensive documentation both on and off the Internet, so get to searching.
If this article didn’t cover your body type, don’t worry; history is full of different ideals about the perfect female form. Odds are you can find a period in history where the ideal shape matches your own body type.
All of these periods have techniques and ideas that can be applied to your everyday fashion, and all you need to do is get onto Google and look. Designers are constantly drawing inspiration from the past, so there’s no reason you can’t do the same. Look at the underlying themes and shapes as opposed to actual detailing if you’re concerned about looking too “period.”
Books in the library and the links listed below are resources that can help get you started. If you don’t feel like being sedentary (or, like me, you’re afraid at some point your butt will fuse to your computer chair) you can go to an art museum and look at the pictures of the women from various eras. Find one whose body looks like yours, and go from there. You don’t even have to look for fashion clues, you can just look at them and think about a time when all women tried their hardest to look just like you. And if you are not of European descent, these same suggestions will work for you if you review the art history of your ancestral lands.
You can find more information at the following sites:
www.fashion-era.com
www.metmuseum.org/home.asp
www.guggenheimcollection.org/index.html
www.abcgallery.com/
These are only a starting point, ways to search are everywhere.
jenna-wallis
The Little Black Dress
July 11, 2006Ah, the little black dress, it has a whole list of books named after it, a yearly charity gala, a CD, and an entry in wikipedia 
. Type “Little Black Dress” into Google, and you’ll get more than 30,000,000 results. Its ubiquity is such that many refer to it by acronym, LBD. The little black dress is so pervasive that it has become a metaphor for chicness and appropriateness; an iPod is the little black dress of technology; Odds are you have one hanging somewhere in your closet. It’s the dress you pull out and pair with pearls or a scarf when you want to feel chic. It’s the dress you pair with a jacket and sensible pumps to go to the office. It’s the dress you wear with nothing but some killer stilettos when you want to feel irresistible. Coco Chanel Behind the famed Mr. Monkey, you can see both the sketch and a picture of Chanel’s Ford dress, the original Little Black Dress. Photos taken in Manchester, England at the Urbis.
This year marks its
80th birthday, since its creation by Coco Chanel in 1926. The “Ford” dress, as American Vogue later called it, gained its name because, like the Henry Ford’s cars, it was an instant craze, widely available and, like the Model T, it came in only one color, black. Previously, black had been a color worn only to signify mourning, but with the new Jazz age, Chanel’s black dress with its form-fitting sleekness became a symbol of liberation. The fabric of the Ford dress was a fashion revolution as well; previously jersey had only been used for lingerie. A famed designer, Paul Poiret, of the previous era, unable to come to terms with the simplicity and new use of the color black, is said to have asked Chanel, “For whom are you in mourning, Mademoiselle?” Chanel’s reply? “For you, Monsieur!” Women adored this dress, which was designed to flatter many different body types and not show stains. Some suggest that it also became popular amongst the new Hollywood crowd because, unlike the flapper dresses, which were similar in length, Chanel’s beadless, fringeless Ford dress didn’t clack on the microphones in the growing field of “talkie films.” 
Others claim Nettie Rosenstein, a New York based Jewish designer was the true inventor of the little black dress. Rosenstein would later design the famed “Mamie Pink” inaugural dress for Mrs. Eisenhower. However, as Rosenstein did not design under her own name until 1931, it seems unlikely that her claim predates Chanel’s. One thing that is certain is that Ms. Rosenstein certainly popularized the little black dress in the United States.
In the 1930s, Chanel’s great rival was Elsa Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli was known mainly for her fantastic, 
surrealist designs, and for the color “shocking pink,” which we know today as hot pink. But Schiaparelli, despite her flamboyant design style, was not immune to the lure of the LBD. One of Schiaparelli’s most famous clients, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, remarked that, “When the little black dress is right, there is nothing else to wear in its place.” However, Schiaparelli put her own creative stamp on the little black dress, in one case, designing a wrap version some forty years before Diane von Furstenberg. Even cartoons were in on the act; in the early Thirties, Betty Boop made a big splash in a little black dress so short you could see her garter. A handful of years later, her outfit would be so shocking that she would fall victim to the Production code censorship laws.
By the 1940s, the little black dress became popular due to the restrictions of the war. A sleeveless or short sleeved black sheath was both versatile and frugal in a time when the majority of fabric was directed toward the war effort. Many fashion magazines of the time recommended the little black dress as an excellent way to conserve fabric while remaining stylish. The narrow, shorter-length skirt of the classic little black dress tied in with the new minimalist aesthetic. This example of a 1940s little black dress comes from the Urbis. Note the pairing with a bolero jacket.
The little black dress really came into its own in the 1950s. In the postwar era, fabric restrictions had been lifted and as a result skirts became fuller. Many Hollywood designers featured the little black dress in their films, and during the fifties, where Hollywood went, fashion followed. No one can forget the little black dress from Sabrina, which,
although credited on the film to Edith Head, was in fact designed by Hubert de Givenchy, thus starting one of the most enduring and famous designer/actress relationships of all times. In fact it was on the basis of that little black dress (well . . . ok, the little black dress and that amazing ball gown) that Audrey Hepburn requested him on virtually every film in which she starred. Hepburn wasn’t the only starlet to sport the LBD; Marilyn Monroe gave the Little Black Dress more curves than a Formula One racecourse in such films as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Meanwhile, the emergence of “Cocktail Hour” and its subsequent attire practically begged for the not-too-formal, not-too-casual air of the LBD.
The dawn of the Sixties brought bar none, the most iconic little black dress of all time. No one will ever forget Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly in her sleeveless black sheath, chunky pearl necklace and oversized sunglasses, standing in front of Tiffany’s. Breakfast at Tiffany’s guaranteed both Audrey Hepburn’s and the LBD’s place in the unofficial Style Hall of Fame. Truman Capote, the author of the novel upon which the movie was based, also did his part for advancing the cause of the little black dress. In 1966, Capote threw his famous Black and White Ball, which many have called the Party of the Century. As the guests could only come attired in Black and White, the little black dress was the choice of attire for many of the women who attended. During this decade, Edie Sedgewick, star of Andy Warhol’s underground films, came to the public eye as the “it” girl of the mid-sixties. Frequently pictured in a simple little black dress, her style continues to influence trend-setters such as Sienna Miller today.
The Seventies were not kind to the little black dress. Day-glo colors, disco, and let’s face it, the fact that 
cocaine on black looked a little like dandruff forced the little black dress into the background of society. Odd were, however, that on any given night at Studio 54 you could find some woman in a form of the LBD, possibly with long, sweeping sleeves as a nod to disco style.
But by the 1980s, the LBD would come roaring back on the wings of power outfits and punk rock. The little black dress would straddle a huge cultural divide during this decade. On one hand, socialites were wearing Oscar de la Renta’s, Yves St. Laurents, and countless other designers high end interpretations of the LBD and discussing junk bonds; on the other, punk rockers sported ripped and torn versions of the LBD, adorned with handcuffs and safety pins, often fa
shioned from leather, lycra, PVC, or sometimes even garbage bags. 
Early in the Eighties, artists like Blondie wore versions of the LBD with asymmetrical necklines or interesting cutouts. For a prime example of the late eighties version of the punk/metal LBD, one has only to look at Kelly Bundy, wearing a black spandex dress with chunky silver jewelry and a black leather jacket on the show Married with Children. In the Mid-Eighties, a new voice for the little black dress would rise. Donna Karan would start her signature line. Seemingly a New York reincarnation of Chanel, Karan’s simplicity, elegance, and attention to the female figure would help make the little black dress the uniform of urban single women (and not-single women, too.) Her influence continued on into the 1990s, where the disparate trends of the Eighties began to merge in the world of fashion.
Notice the influence of the Punk movement in theuse of safety pins. During the 1990s, the edgy look of the punk/goth/metal subcultures had completely percolated into the world of high fashion. Skin was in, and “little” part of the LBD became as important as the “black dress.” Hemlines rose, necklines plunged, and ice-pick heels were worn, the better to show off those toned legs. Mariah Carey’s first CD featured the chanteuse in a form-fitting LBD (arguably the most tasteful outfit she ever wore.) A promotional poster for Friends featured the cast Perhaps the single most important series (fashion-wise) of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sex and the City did not discount the allure of the simple LBD with the men in black, and the women in little black dresses. Perhaps most telling is the cover of the first season of Sex and the City. The series, known for its ability to both track and set fashion chose to put its four actresses into little black dresses for the cover of the DVD. The little black dress ruled the Nineties, no doubt about it.
The little black dress stepped a little out of the spotlight during the first half of the new millennium. Designers were tired of black, black and more black, and the LBD was seen as a bit boring. Stars didn’t stop wearing it (I know I didn’t stop wearing it,) but the choice was frequently seen as “safe” as opposed to fashionable. Even though the LBD had drawn back from the cutting edge of fashion, it had entrenched itself even further in popular culture. In 2005, Jay Barrigar opened the Little Black Dress Shop [tag: http://www.littleblackdressshop.com/infoPage.php] in Toronto, Canada. That same year, Rosario Dawson starred in a short film, fittingly titled, “The Little Black Dress.” The LBD had moved into the background, but it was a comforting background for many women.
And now we live in the latest decade of the LBD, as sure of its appeal now as Chanel was eighty years ago. The very simplicity that made it so shocking back then is exactly what has allowed it to survive all the varying changes in fashion and trends. For Fall 2006, Zak Posen sent down his reinventions of the LBD. Many designers are working with the LBD in richer, textural fabrics like velvet and lace. However, these are just minor changes to tweak a classic; at its heart, the little black dress is a backdrop, a blank canvas. Its mood depends on the accessories you choose to pair with it. But always remember with a well-fitted, well-cut little black dress, the most important accessory will always be you.
Should you wish to explore the Urbis exhibit of the Little Black Dress, visit Mr. Monkey pictoral tour at http://www.houseoftheorangemonkey.co.uk/monkey/trips/trip88.htm.
For more information on Audrey Hepburn and her influence on fashion and film, try www.audrey1.com, a website I found most informative.
For those interested in finding out more about Elsa Schiaparelli, I suggest both http://www.fashion-era.com/stylish_thirties.htm and http://www.lifeinitaly.com/fashion/elsa-schiaparelli.asp.
If Nettie Rosenstein catches your interest, you can look here http://www.longlostperfume.com/denero.html or here http://www.cjh.org/education/essays.php?action=show&id=43.
All photos from the Urbis Exhibit courtesy of Rik Shepherd and Mr. Monkey
The Breakfast at Tiffany’s still courtesy of www.audrey1.com
jenna-wallis
Up and Coming: A Look at Louis Verdad’s Fall 2005 Collection from LA’s Fashion Week
September 15, 2005
LA’s fashion week is sort of the neglected stepchild of the fashion industry. New York and Milan hold the attention of the fashion editors worldwide, while Los Angeles becomes an optional visit. However, Louis Verdad has been steadily rising in the media spotlight ever since the world saw Madonna in his clothing during her infamous lip-smack with Britney at the 2003 MTV VMA awards. This year’s fall 2005 show was one of only two during all of fashion week attended by feared, career-making-or-breaking Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue.
Louis Verdad’s Fall 2005 line is inspired by the Mexican painter Frieda Kahlo’s paintings and unique sense of style. The models strut in elaborate flower-bedecked coifs that are familiar to anyone who’s seen Kahlo’s self-portraits. He pairs a sleek, taupe, pin-striped suit with a ruched gold top. Louis Verdad’s fall color scheme is decidedly edible. Berry and plum pants, shirts and jackets float down the runway on the bodies of haughty models with elaborate hairstyles. Burgundy leather, in the form of jackets and belts, creates a dramatic accent point against a chocolate colored jacket. And just in case you’re thirsty, cool turquoise and sapphire shirts and suits call to mind the most perfect of waters. For evening wear, while his chocolate holds its place, there is no doubt that black is back.
The silhouette is classic Verdad: a very curvy line as seen 
through menswear inspired clothing. Most of the tailored suits run down the catwalk are paired with ultra-feminine blouses. Many of his skirts carried his characteristic knee-length mermaid cut. Trust me when I say that those skirts could make a stick figure look like J. Lo. As with this summer’s styles, the cinched waist is still in evidence. His models paraded down the runway in a variety of wide leather belts. Blouse tops were given a waist by way of ribbon ties. Jackets are nipped at the waist and shrunken. As always, there is a very forties feel to the lines, with slightly padded shoulder and flared hems. His clothes always have a feature or an aspect that moves, whether it’s a subtle flounce at the bottom of a jacket or the billowing fabric of evening slacks.
Leather is a popular accessory material here, ranging from handbags to gloves to belts, but usually with a twist: alligator print, a clever buckle or the occasional line of studs. Purses were also larger, bringing back a more practical size than the itsy-bitsy pocketbooks of the past. The jewelry in this show is (as you might expect from a show inspired by Frieda Kahlo) chunky and colorful; opaque stones such as turquoise took the spotlight.
There is joy and there is sadness in loving an up and coming designer. You get the thrill of stepping outside the pack, being ahead of the game. You also get the agony of trying to find some place where you can actually buy the clothes you’ve drooled over for hours on the Internet. (Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything … much.) I’ve seen a few of his clothes at Neiman Marcus, but not with any 
regularity. If you happen to live in Los Angeles, you can find him hanging on the walls at Beige (7274 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036). For the rest of us, www.shoplastyle.com carries some good pieces; check out the stuff from previous seasons, which you can sometimes get on sale. If you’re desperate, just check around your local fashion boutiques (caveat: probably you only want to do this if you actually live in a large city.)
I found Louis Verdad in Houston at a tiny store called Flounce (1621 Westheimer Houston, TX 77006). If all else fails, you can at least join me in watching the runway show of clothes I can’t find anywhere over and over in some sort of masochistic cycle at www.mbfashionweek.com/fall2005/home.html.
jenna-wallis
