Does real style have anything to do with trends?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
In a recent WSJ article, "What's Out: The Fashion Trend" Christina Binkley supplies lots of supportive evidence that the "trend" is no longer what the public follows. "Everything is in style" says David Wolf of the Doneger Group consultants. The "must-have" is construed as a marketing pitch "The trench coat has been "in" for the past five years, and will be hot next year, too. Indeed, it's a safe bet that next month we'll see every possible length of skirt, width of pant and cut of blouse walk the runways-sometimes all in the same show.Rather than fuss about skirt lengths or the season's silhouette, people now dress the way they see themselves, choosing looks that flatter their bodies and fit their lifestyles."
True in part--certainly if you're conjuring the "runway". But there are trends going on, and for sometime now for sure--especially with the young. Case in point--the legging or skinny jean tucked into boots. Uggs are everywhere! How about long, shawl-like sweaters?
"There was a time when luxury retailers Stanley Marcus and Andrew Goodman, of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, determined what women would buy each season. That was back when nerds weren't cool and, for some reason, a lady's coat had to be longer than her skirt. Women who wanted to be fashionable bought the fashions whether they wanted to wear miniskirts or not. Though fashions changed, the primacy of trends didn't: Until just a few years ago, no self-respecting teenager would have been caught in the wrong denim wash. Part of the fun of watching old movies was seeing the funny old fashions. Now, most old film fashions look pretty current to me, from Katharine Hepburn's swishy man-tailored pants in 1940's "Philadelphia Story" to those skinny ski-lodge capris in 1963's "The Pink Panther."
"Trends are diluted," says Doris Raymond, owner of the Los Angeles vintage store The Way We Wore. That's because designers have in the past two decades "referenced every possible fashion period for inspiration."
So with no boundaries are we at the Ground Zero of style?
And like all such declarations--one better read between the lines. The trend has frequently led folks astray but not as badly letting "all hell to break loose". Does anything and everything truly "go"? I wish people did "dress to flatter their bodies" and saw themselves accurately (most don't). A "must-have" should be a trench, as should be a great cashmere sweater or white blouse-- but not necessarily "the it-bag" in gold. The public needs direction and this article makes some correct observations ( i.e. "Most of us dress with our social groups or professions, rather than fashion trends, using clothes to flash messages about who we are.") but not all correct--and seems to come to imply that the public is better off.
Are they? Then these are times that seperate those that have what it takes to create their own style (but well!) from the rest.
Challenging times for retailers, designers and us of course.
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