StartingaClothingLine.com - News Edition: Good Old Fashion

Good Old Fashion
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SCL on 01/28/2009 17:42:00
 
Good Old Fashion
Looking at photographs of actress Audrey Hepburn or US first lady Jackie
Onassis, you can’t help but be struck by the fact that their clothes, hair and
make up looks as contemporary today as it did forty years ago. Really, nothing
seems old or tired about them. Fashion changes, but style remains the same. Some
things, such as turtleneck sweaters, suits, and the long black dress, probably
never disappear – though if you look back through the history of fashion
you’ll notice that fabric and cut can vary.
Now that prêt-à-porter has been around for a century, fashion designers can
look back and find inspiration in the classic looks. You may have noticed that
fashion collections are often based on a theme that evokes an earlier era. And,
while designers often drawn on 1920s glamour, 1950s Parisian chic, etc., even
60s hippy, 70s punk, and other, more recent fashions have some influence today.
(In the last few years 1970s rock band T-shirts are have been reproduced as hip
fashion items.) You can find out about the latest fashion trends at
StartingaClothingLine.com.
As you might imagine, it’s not unusual for designers to buy vintage clothing
as inspiration for their design. Some large design companies even store old
fabric swatches as part of a textiles ‘library’, which they can reference
when designing for a new collection. And there are even a few companies that
specialize in selling vintage fashion swatches.
Not surprisingly, vintage clothing is now cool for regular consumers as well.
And for young people, its especially cool if vintage is obviously mixed with
modern – such as a brand new pair of jeans with a vintage shirt or jacket. For
the more mature woman vintage might mean wearing a classic dress with
contemporary jewelry and shoes – or vice versa.
Not only are there countless stores selling only vintage clothing now, the
Vintage Fashion Guild was also established in 2002, and has members across the
globe, bringing retailers and consumers together. Visa also now sponsors an
annual ‘clothes swapping’ event, which, according to its website, is meant
“to encourage sustainable fashion through ethical swapping activity.” And
while we normally expect singers and actors to model for designers, the 2008
Visa event was cool enough for Lindsay Lohan promote it, posing for a
photo-shoot in only vintage clothing.
However, while young people may enjoy hunting through vintage clothing shops
that bring a whole mix of high and low fashion together, stores selling only
vintage designer clothes have also been around for some time. Like a good wine,
a great piece of clothing, with the right label, will be desirable a decade, or
even several decades after it was produced. But, best of all, for the consumer,
a vintage Channel or Dior dress is usually modestly priced in comparison to one
from the current season. There are exceptions to that, of course. The dress worn
by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s went for approximately
$800,000 a couple of years ago – but at that price, it’s probably not going
to be worn to too many cocktail parties.