1990-2000

The 90's fashion colour palette was a lot less colourful than the vibrant 1980's. What was known as the grunge fashion was a popular trend. This unisex look was all about long straight hair, old baggy plaid shirts, denim, chokers and hiking boots(Dr martins. This was due to rock bands such as Nirvana that wore the grunge look frequently to their gigs. SO therefor the grunge look was very much for young people.Most women over 30 did not approve of this fashion trend.

 

As a young person myself I constantly see grunge fashion among
 youngsters, especially as music gigs and big hiking boots have come back to be popular trend, such as Dr Martins and Timberland. I often view grunge fashion as relaxed but has that certain coolness to it. However it also has that unfriendly feel to it, as there is little bright colours and having a rugged appearance.

Television shows like Friends and Fresh Prince of Bel Air influenced fashion in the 90's, as these shows were watched by millions of people all around the world, so trends of certain characters appearances were trending. For example in Friends "Rachel Green" became a popular icon in fashion and a trend called "the Rachel haircut" came about. Television had its impacts, however fashion had its own icons that are known as supermodels. Kate Moss is probably one of the worlds most known models and her fame came about in the 90's when she modeled for popular designers like Calvin Klein and appeared on the front cover of the biggest fashion magazines such as Vogue. 




Events such like the Oscars was a way designers showed of their luxurious garments. These designers influences high street fashion as the red carpet showcased the top trends. The high end designers benefited greatly with events like these. Everybody loves watching the Oscars and big events like that. Its a chance to see your favorite celebrity in the dress or suit they decided to wear and it inspires occasion wear, such as prom parties. This is what brought glamour to the 90's, separating from the rugged grunge trend. 


Pop music became very popular in the 90's and brought with it young artists and bands like Britney Spears and the Spicegirls. All in which played a big part in influences young girls to dress like them. The crop top was one of these iconic trends that young girls wore because artists like Britney wore it. Crop tops were also common due to the navel piercings that became a trend for women. 

Some say the 90's was a terrible decade for fashion. I see some point of what they mean as it looks quite plain in terms of colour and shape compared with the other decades, like the 80's that was full of bold colours and fun designs. It seemed like people didn't put so much effort into their outfits, this relating to the grunge trend, giving the effect of looking jaded. I disagree on this as although it may have seemed like a dull decade for fashion, I like how the colours are less in your face, unlike the 80's. For once fashion looks comfortable and relaxed. There may not be any powerful inspiration behind the clothes of the 90's, however I just love the freedom and the practicality. 

1980-1990

A common word to describe fashion in the 1980's was "Big". this was due to the neon colours, oversize clothes, padded shoulders and big hair. this decade certainly featured the traits of materialism. 
women got inspired by the power suit as they were becoming more active in the business world, many powerful and popular women wore shoulder pads including princess Diana. Wearing the power suit was almost like a confident boost for women in the workplace, showing that they could do the same job as a man. A very clever idea I think, but in terms of fashion I don't agree with it, its too bulky and not very flattering. The music industry also  influenced fashion like the past few decades. Developing technology had its influences in fashion as well. A well known TV channel called MTV, which was used for enhancing the music industry, however this also made impact on fashion as young teens could see the current trends among their favorite music artists.




Music artists such as Madonna and Micheal Jackson had their own unique style in fashion, in which people followed and trends grew. trends such as rara skirts and continuation of punk rock. Music videos enhanced the popularity of this and increased the trends world wide. Music and celebrities were not the only influences in fashion as the film industry grew bigger as well and created movies that impacted fashion. This included many dance themed movies, such as Dirty Dancing, Fame and Footloose. The 80's were known for the craze of sports and looking sporty was a well known trend. With the leg warmers, leggings and headband, a classic 80's sporty look or what it was known to be called "the fitness boom". 




In conclusion the fashion in the 1980's was very much known for its colour, fitness boom and of course the power suit. i personality wouldn't say the 1980's was my favorite era in terms of fashion, however it still played a major part in history itself. very bold and neon colours gets a bit too much sometimes! But I love the energy it vibes, you could say the whole style of the 1980's is against the norm today. 

Cyndi Lauper 1980

1970-1980

By the 1970's women were more independent, some women had jobs and they wore what they wanted to wear that day. Holidays abroad was also becoming more popular as package holidays were offered and more people had disposable income. Therefore this widened fashion in Britain. 
Short skirts were replaced by long, loose A-line dresses (maxi) that came just above the floor length, although the mini was still worn. They were printed with flower power patterns in feminine fabric. This related to the hippies, that continued from the sixties into the seventies as a known trend. Hippies preached love, freedom and peace. They took the issue with racial inequality, sexual discrimination, and civil rights. Hippies did this by protesting. 

Primary photograph

Primary photograph

Other trends in the seventies included trousers, in particular, flares, loon pants and bell bottoms. Blue jeans were no longer the attire for the working class, and denim was worn by nearly everyone. The 1970's was the decade when fashion for unisex blossomed, men and women started to wear clothes that were gender natural and sometimes couple were seen wearing the same outfit.


One of my favorite trends from the seventies would be the jumpsuit. Full of bright colours, shimmer and sequins. It highlighted the body's assets. These days you would have to be very brave and confident to wear such a jumpsuit but that's what i loved about seventies fashion. The freedom and passion was shown on the clothes.

Look how striking this jumpsuit is by Aussie Clark, an iconic designer in the seventies. This garment just screams the seventies, the bold print and vivid colours with the long fringing. Its certainly a design that would make heads turn, but that's what i love about the seventies.

Again like the sixties, the seventies still inspires fashion today. Currently in 2015, the trends are all about the 1970's fashion, especially the flower power aspect. 

1960-1970

There were many changes in Fashion in the 1960's. You can clearly see these changed if you look back throughout the past decades. Bold print and bright colours were introduced. There were multiple choices of designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Biba, Givenchy,Pierre Cardin, Mary Quant and many more. The Fashion industry started to grow bigger and new trends started the glam rock sixties. 

Fashion became a lot more open, the youth were now very important in the fashion industry not just the mature and wealthy. Designer Mary Quant is famous for producing the skimming mini skirt that set 6 or 7 inches above the knee. This trend took off for young people, partly because it was so different and the youth and young adults tended to wear is, due to how controversial it was. Women were showing a lot more skin, the fashionable trend of knee high boots that provided a glove-like-fit, covered up the leg up the knee. A very sexy look. 

Mary Quant's mini skirt. Also know as the Chelsea look

Music influenced fashion as rock and pop became popular in 1960'S Britain, therefor it began fashion and music were linked. More people began to develop their own individual sense of style. The sixties is often known for introducing the hippie look and some still like that style today. 

The most famous female fashion icon in the 1960's would have to be the model Twiggy. Twiggy became the face of fashion from 1966, at the young age of 16. she grow into a international supermodel and many young women desired to look like her and to have her sense of style, with her boyish haircut and striking eye lashes. What i admire about twiggy is how even she had retired from modeling she still shows an interest in the fashion industry, since 2005, twiggy has been acting as the face of Marks&Spencer in their advertising campaigns.

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent had a major impact in fashion from the 1960's to the present day. He dominated 1960 and 70's fashion because he revolutionized the female wardrobe by popularizing women's trousers, and raised the status to ready-to-wear clothes. 
Yves started off his career in fashion by working for the legendary Christian Dior, in which he was employed as an assistant. He eventually became Dior's creative head at the young age of 21. One of his famous creations was his first solo collection, the Trapeze. This dress was A-line shape and short and swung from narrow shoulders.

Another classic by Yves Saint Laurent were the "Mondrian" colour-block dresses created in 1965, inspired by the painting and the Pop-Art collection. this was Yves first successful creation from him own brand, as he got replaced at Dior whilst he was in the army for a short time in 1960. The "Mondrian" dresses really made his brand stand out as everyone loved this new, exciting idea. i personally love this dress, its bold and dramatic. When you look at it you automatically think 1960's! 

Other famous signature Yves Saint Laurent pieces include the jumpsuit, the sheer blouse and the smoking suit. 

1950-1960

The 1950's fashion changed dramatically. I think this is due to the post war effect. As 1940's fashion  was very minimalist with not much glamour until the last few years of the decade. Make up returned, with it being bolder. Dresses and skirts had full skirts and tiny waists, influenced by Christian Dior. Not forgetting of course, the beautiful evening dresses that brought back the elegance and glamour in fashion. The excitement of the 1950's really brought fashion to a new era. i can really notice the changes since the 1940's, especially in mid 1950's where clothes got more colourful and sexier. The most popular fashion houses were not the only influence in the new style however.

primary sourced image from the V&A museum 

Hollywood had it influences in fashion, mainly because of the famous actresses such as, Audrey Hepburn,and Marilyn Monroe that had portrayed their own personal style. Women of the 1950's wanted to look glamorous like them. These particular actresses are known for their impact in fashion, they had very different styles. Hepburn was known for her grace and class, however Monroe was a major sex symbol, showing off her curvaceous figure and wearing red lipstick, she was a very glamours lady "your clothes should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to show you're a lady"Marilyn Monroe. Nevertheless both actresses still influence woman fashion today.














































Teenagers were also getting more independent with dressing. younger people under 18 started to use fashion as a way of self-expressing. this encouraged them to get part time jobs to buy new clothes. Teenagers became influenced by film,television, magazines and famous people. This was the beginning to media impacting on young people. Trends started to occur for different age groups. 




I love this era, its so colourful and glamorous. It shows the development of fashion and people starting expressing themselves in fashion. 1950's style is still influences fashion today and will continue to because of its elegance, class and those beautiful full skirts coming from the waist. Its odd to think how much has changed in fashion in just 50 years, the 1900 were completely different compared with the 1950's fashion.

1940-1950

World War II Fashion

In the decade on 1940 the second world war began, and like the first world war, it cause massive impact on women's fashion. 
Most of the big time fashion houses closed and designing new clothes stood still for at.There wasn't any real design from 1939 to 1945 and people were cutting up dresses from the past. using a slogan "make do and mend" to encourage this. Many people also wore uniforms and working clothes. women still cared about their appearance though. A scarf was worn around the head for protection from the machines, women tended to work in factories helping out in the war.the shortage or tights meant women drew lines down their legs with a eye pencil, representing the line at the back of tights. Day dresses with these pretend tights became the norm in  1940's British fashion. the day dresses were influenced from america as the war brought men over from america to Britain and therefore shared their culture. These dresses were short (most came to the knee, others higher)and very practical, this meant it was easy to move around in and dance. dancing which was very much needed in bleak times. I like how the little day dress brought a lift back into that terrible time, I love the colours and the style of the dress, its simple yet flattering. 

The New Look 

two years after the second world war ended, french designer Christian Dior introduced the New Look. The silhouette he defined had had its beginnings in the late 1930's, but during the war its development was put on hold until countries started showing again in 1944. Before and during the war a square-shouldered and boxy utility suit, which saved on fabrics during rationing. The New Look collection launched in February 1947, included rounded or sloped shoulders; a tiny, nipped-in waist (achieved via a short corset and other undergarments); padded and rounded hips; and a very full skirt with heavy pleating. extra fabric and a petticoat helped create the skirt's fullness. This return to extravagance and the femininity of the past was perplexing to some, but others found it refreshing and alluring. 

1930-1940

In 1929 the wall street crashed causing what was known to be the great depression, this made buying clothes a rare thing. women tended to make more clothes and buy new clothes every few months. 

Women's fashion became more conservative than the "Roaring Twenties", however the feminine look came back into fashion in the 1930's, with clothes returning to the natural waistline, skirts being longer and womanly curves were shown, not being hidden. It was also the decade that introduced bra cup sizing!

More sophisticated looks were introduced thanks to the influence of Hollywood movies. Fabrics like silk and rayon were used most in this decade,however in the mid 1930s nylon was developed and started to replace silk, mainly for stockings. Colours also changed muted colours and prints (abstract and geometric). the skirts became lower, as the hemlines often sat mid-calf length for daytime wear. These skirts tended to drape from the waistline but for evening wear skirts would be ankle or floor-length hemlines. the sleeves were sometimes puffed but could be seen with other aesthetic design such as ruffles or flounces. Necklines were lower than the last decade, with the most common styles being v-neck and crossover with ruffles, lace and scallop edges. Fur was also a key characteristic in women's fashion in 1930s, this linking to the glamorous and elegant lifestyle of Hollywood movies.

towards the end of the 1930s, the second world war started. this effected fashion, bringing the trends of the decade to a close and the new decade,1940s to be entirely different. 

i think the 1930s fashion really does show the sophistication in women because some of the clothes were so elegant. silk evening dresses draping down to the floor, contrasting with the animal fur. putting fur onto any piece of attire would have given the impression of wealth. 

Coco Chanel

Chanel was created none other than coco Chanel or Gabrielle Chanel. one of the most inspirational women that has worked in the fashion industry. From a rough start in life as an orphan , Gabrielle developed her business to be a massive success, making her have that iconic status.  Coco founded Chanel, one of the most famous and recognized fashion company in the world. 1910 was the year coco opened her shop in pairs and from then her designed developed to being completely original garments, such as the little black dress in 1926 and the iconic tweet jacket .Chanel's womenswear fashion developed into more simplistic designs compared to the past era. coco had a boyish figure herself, therefore taking inspiration from masculine attire. Coco Chanel transformed the female silhouette, shortening the dresses, revealing ankles, freed the waist by eliminating corsets, revived jersey, cut hair and bronzed her skin. Her designs were more practical, meaning they were comfortable and easy for women to wear. "Enabling women to move, to not feel like they are in a costume" Coco Chanel. she adopted the elegance, movement, minimalism and straight cut into her tweet suit that ultimately changed fashion forever.



Chanel introduced suits in jersey and tweed, shift chemisis, costume jewellery, wide bottom trousers and of course the little black dress. But what Chanel was highly known for was the promotion of the white, black and grey colour palette, which she acquired the taste since she was a child in the abbey of Aubanzine. "These women I'm bloody going to dress them in black" Coco Chanel.
and the key to coco's success.
Coco Chanel was such an inspirational women and had a major impact on fashion. Nearly half a century after the death of Gabrielle, yet the style of Chanel still endures. It makes me think, without these iconic designers like Coco Chanel, we all might still be in these huge dresses with tight uncomfortable corsets. Thank goodness for Chanel.