Menu

Fashion Observed


Trend observations with a sociological eye from afar...

by Darryl S. Warren  

Follow  on Twitter:         @FashionObserved
              on Instagram:   @fashion_observed_ 
              on Facebook:      /FashionObserved
              on Pinterest:      /FashionObserved

Frontier Living

Our complexity reflected in fashion, we have a multitude of trend aspects to examine as we see how they fit into our lifestyle. The more successful and publicized designers have proven to mix their craft, attention to fit and choice of materials along with a key ingredient that guarantees them exposure in more mainstream media coverage: relevance.

It’s not an easy feat, and this delicate sensitivity is what separates the wheat from the chaff. So while some designers might have great ideas, they do not have a more evolved sensibility when it comes to fabric. Or they do not produce clothes that present well on the runway, some self-sabotage if you will, be it in substandard fit or mediocre tailoring. Some just are not consistently relevant or individual enough, their voice really a decipherable chorus of other points of view. Even amongst the collections, a few designers were called out on this factor and failure to find their own voice could sink them.

The industry relies a lot on fast interpretation of the world and dissecting it into relevant interpretation and requires a degree of exploratory spirit. It also means taking risks to present some design ideas that may not seem relevant until time reveals growing popularity of an idea. It’s an admirable gamble; sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t, but that is what being adventurous is all about.

This venturesome spirit was how the USA came in to being. It was a frightening yet exciting time, full of fear and promise. One moves forward because there is nothing left when remaining where you are seems like a spiritual or even cultural dead end. Fraught with danger, the potential of payoff in aspirations overrides those hesitations and thus we go forth.

We faced that pioneer spirit at the turn of the century and we had similar emotions after World War ii when the Cold war started. At the same time, we were facing new technology and a new youth culture looking to do things differently. The combination of moving forth towards a complicated future where trust was the only insulation amidst some real fears of the darker potential of this technology with a shadowy adversarial force touched the imaginations. The exploration of space was that generation’s version of exploring new frontiers, so it was no surprise to see westerns surge in popularity. The kinship of emotions found an odd link with a core that was familiar.

So again we are in a mix of all that is frightening at the cusp of hope where our knowledge is looking to defy the fear with the declaration of moving forward, if only because we are resilient beings and this is what we do. And as entertainment has latched onto such pioneering spirit in television (Terra Nova and in a lighter vein Pan-Am)  and in film (Cowboys and Aliens) we find other areas touching on this through references in the rawer source: frontier days.  It has enough connection to the more Anglo connections of Victorian and Edwardian but refers to something more of the public can connect with, which is survival. The economic situation and global dissent has affirmed that many are in that mode, yet we as a society boldly move forward, our hope propelling us.

There were some slivers of this pioneer reference. It came in the use of a familiar textile more associated with the outdoors and the country by Marc Jacobs and Threeasfour (gingham); the dash of cowboy fringe at Moschino; the “westward ho” aura of pieces like the leathers and the long denim skirt from Balmain; the prairie settler looks of some dresses by Valentino; and even a vague southwest patterning at J.W. Anderson. Few were the sources, but they were noticed.

Sub-references can have a short life or a long one depending on how in-tune they are with the public. That the public is holding firm on progress and new territory, be it physical in the commercialization of space travel and talk of colonizing the moon or in the exploration of new ways of being a society as well open dialogue on the need for a better way to be a society, we are certainly anything but defeated. And while unsure of exactly where to go, we certainly are ready to go and be somewhere new and that is towards new frontiers, be it as complex as our way of being or as esoteric as our personal costume. There is new territory to explore. What else do we have to lose?

Go Back

Post a Comment
Created using the new Bravenet Siteblocks builder. (Report Abuse)