Asha Isabella August 13, 2009Fall 2009 is a chance for you to revel in your economic depression and give yourself a reason to play dress up in any decade but your own.
Applaud yourself for being trapped in the eighties for some strange reason, with lace trims, broad shoulders, floral prints, and the occasional unconventional color scheme. Let’s make this clear right now, fashionable eighties influence is not just about crazy neon colors thrown together to blind old people and children, nor is it about wearing oversized hoodies made of the swishy material people used to work out in. It is about implementing the essence of the jovial period where people were not afraid of second hand shops and shoulder pads, when they liked big skirts and oversized bows. Ladies were not afraid to pack on the pearls and mix them in with heavy chains and studs. Pretty little ballerina flats could be considered boring when girls were wearing their super chic dresses and skirts with Doc Martins, jazz shoes, over zealous pumps even. People were becoming aware of fabric choices, knowing what was flattering, what would move, more so, what would bring the effect of total fashionista dominance. Now, imagine all of that mixed in with the fact that we’re in the 21st Century, 2009, almost a decade into it. Do you remember what they were thinking in the eighties about 2009? Yes, flying cars, crazy alien-like body suits, metallic cuffs. Are you getting what I’m saying here? Take the essence of the eighties and mix it with a futuristic theme. Do a Balmain-like, eighties inspired shoulder in a bright metallic, a silver. Have fun with color choices and do it in a rich emerald green, a deep purple, a mustard yellow, a royal blue, a pink! Oh, the choices.
Now, let us not forget we faced some pretty harsh economic times in the eighties, too. What is there better to do when you are facing economic hardship than to partake in nostalgia? Fashion icons in the eighties were looking at some 50’s/60’s icons. The guys were putting on their bow ties, looking dapper in their blazers, and wearing their pants just as tight as their female counterparts. No one could get the image of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe out of their minds. Any of that sound familiar? Probably because you are experiencing that right now. How utterly flawless was Marilyn’s beauty and James Dean’s poise? Who did not love Audrey’s buoyancy or Brando’s simple sex appeal? Look back to the fifties and sixties. Watch some great films, take a trip to a doo wop concert and just live in that moment. Let their inspiration guide your fashion choices.
Now, as much as those lost pennies hurt our pockets, no one can forget the looming decade of depression. No matter how heavy people were being financial hit, the conspicuous consumption was out of the roof as people made attempts to keep their declining class status on a hush. This was one of the most fabulous fashion decades we have seen, ironically in contrast to the financial situation the country was dealing with. People were loosing life savings but out came the sequin and the dancing shoes, the fabulous hats and the over dramatic waist coats. Now does any of that sound familiar?Fall 2009 reeks with nostalgia. If you do not like the stench, that is unfortunate because our decade is lost, completely lost in the past. When people look back and remember the first decade of the twenty first century they will remember it as a time of nostalgia with no identification of its own besides the fact that we are absolutely capable of emulating every single decade fashion has seen and blending them together beautifully. That is a unique and original manifestation of its own. Whether we take our influence from Victorian England to a mere twenty years ago, this is your time to indulge in your favorite historical fashion moments. Do not shy away from the odd, creative impulses you are feeling or your heavy desire to shop vintage.
*dresses by Isabella Louis 2009
