RE: menswear, I always love it when a modern piece references history. I love it in womenswear too, for purely aesthetic reasons, but in menswear it feels different - in part, I think, because hindsight makes a lot of it look feminine to our modern eyes (even though it wouldn't have been seen that way in its time). Whenever a man steps outside of the expected with a nod to the past in his wardrobe, he is - intentionally or not - making a comment about masculinity, and gender performance as a whole.
That's a really interesting observation regarding menswear and referencing the past. I just recently saw someone on IG talk about how Dries Van Noten seems to be pulling inspiration from his own womenswear collections and injecting it into his menswear. It works, and perhaps that has everything to do with opening up the discussion about masculinity and gender performance. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!
That's exactly I discussed with my husband. The elements from the women's collection put into the men's some year later. However, I don't see many men wearing those elements (the knitted elbow warmers e.g.) in real life....
For some reason I thought of Karl Lagerfeld as I was reading this, probably because he really did reference period dress a lot in his designs for Chanel and in how he dressed, especially when he entered his Hedi Slimane phase. And he seemed to look more "timeless/modern" as he did so, compared to the way he looked in his younger days. I always felt that quite a lot of his designs for Chanel have aged weirdly well, because of the way he mixed period elements like ruffs, panniers and headpieces. Even though they're very different from the designs of Yohji Yamamoto (and I vastly prefer the work of Yohji Yamamoto), they do seem to flit between past, present and future in a way that defies eras.
I've also recently thought a lot about what influences me and whether I can trace the sources of my inspiration; I think maybe it's motivated by a desire to feel a sense of control and agency in a time of confusion (for me at least). I have felt that in recent years, I seem to exist in two times at once - the present self, as well as the future self watching my present self. My future self is urging me to live in the moment, while my present self is really curious about where we're going from here. I'm kind of enjoying it!
I didn't watch most of the recent shows but as always, I found myself loving the Lemaire show.
That's really interesting about Karl Lagerfeld! I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I've never really been all that interested in the Chanel universe, so I'm not well-versed on Lagerfeld's work for the brand. But I always found his personal style intriguing, especially as he got older, as he seemed to borrow quite heavily from historical garments.
I can relate to feeling like you exist in two different timeframes. It's a peculiar back and forth, and I agree, quite enjoyable, if not terribly confusing at times!
I just watched the Lemaire show. It's always sublime, isn't it? I just love how effortless the looks are, it's like you're not watching "fashion" at all, but just beautiful and interesting-looking people wearing amazing clothes.
After I learnt that Coco Chanel was quite a terrible person, I sometimes wished I never paid attention to the Chanel universe, haha. I started following the shows because I thought the house codes were so ahead of its time back in the day (jerseys and tweed for women, a bag with shoulder straps, pockets and the simplicity of a LDB), but looking back, I think Karl Lagerfeld deserves a lot of credit for modernising it into a brand with something to say. Even though I have zero interest in wearing or emulating the aesthetics.
The Lemaire show! I'm still thinking about it, and how slowly and gently they've evolved their silhouettes and colour palette over the years. It's so lovely to see them take their time to fully realise what they want to show people.
Wow, Tiia, such a vast array of references and coincidences! I'll have to reread your piece to fully grasp it. I'll just say, I did love Dries' and Prada shows, I agree that the bath caps are kinda wrong, but the arm warmers are gonna sell like hotcakes.
I found myself chuckling at the arm warmers. Just line the sleeve properly instead, you know? I wonder if they'll actually manufacture those, and what the retail price will be.
I'm not entirely sure how much logic there is to grasp in this particular newsletter. :D My brain is a weird place! :D
Thought provoking as usual! Tiia, do you know when fashion starts recycling prior trends? My earliest memory of this is in the 90s when I remember living through a very specific 70s inspired bell bottom period. [I do wonder about my 501s in HS with black penny loafers in the 80s---was that 50s inspired?] As you can tell I suck at this but...here’s what I am getting at.....Since the 90s it seems many designers rely on being “inspired” by some past trend, sometimes their own. And so we keep looking back to 20s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and that little Y2K flirtation. My thinking is the Internet facilitates that at scale but it started in late 20th century. Am I wrong? I mean historically did they regurgitate looks from prior periods?
That's a good question! I'm not that well-versed in historical fashion that I'd be able to give a straight answer. My guess is that borrowing from other eras would have been much more subtle and definitely much, much slower, perhaps more like in the world of arts. Romanticism borrowed from medievalism, that type of thing. I'll have to look into it!
In modern fashion the base assumption is that trends come back around every 20-30 years or so. The 1990s borrowed from the 1970s, which borrowed from the 1940s, which borrowed from Art Nouveau. The 1980s borrowed from the 1950s, which borrowed from the 1920s and the 1930s.
This article has given me a lot to think about.
RE: menswear, I always love it when a modern piece references history. I love it in womenswear too, for purely aesthetic reasons, but in menswear it feels different - in part, I think, because hindsight makes a lot of it look feminine to our modern eyes (even though it wouldn't have been seen that way in its time). Whenever a man steps outside of the expected with a nod to the past in his wardrobe, he is - intentionally or not - making a comment about masculinity, and gender performance as a whole.
That's a really interesting observation regarding menswear and referencing the past. I just recently saw someone on IG talk about how Dries Van Noten seems to be pulling inspiration from his own womenswear collections and injecting it into his menswear. It works, and perhaps that has everything to do with opening up the discussion about masculinity and gender performance. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this!
That's exactly I discussed with my husband. The elements from the women's collection put into the men's some year later. However, I don't see many men wearing those elements (the knitted elbow warmers e.g.) in real life....
“what year is this?”
Exactly.
For some reason I thought of Karl Lagerfeld as I was reading this, probably because he really did reference period dress a lot in his designs for Chanel and in how he dressed, especially when he entered his Hedi Slimane phase. And he seemed to look more "timeless/modern" as he did so, compared to the way he looked in his younger days. I always felt that quite a lot of his designs for Chanel have aged weirdly well, because of the way he mixed period elements like ruffs, panniers and headpieces. Even though they're very different from the designs of Yohji Yamamoto (and I vastly prefer the work of Yohji Yamamoto), they do seem to flit between past, present and future in a way that defies eras.
I've also recently thought a lot about what influences me and whether I can trace the sources of my inspiration; I think maybe it's motivated by a desire to feel a sense of control and agency in a time of confusion (for me at least). I have felt that in recent years, I seem to exist in two times at once - the present self, as well as the future self watching my present self. My future self is urging me to live in the moment, while my present self is really curious about where we're going from here. I'm kind of enjoying it!
I didn't watch most of the recent shows but as always, I found myself loving the Lemaire show.
That's really interesting about Karl Lagerfeld! I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I've never really been all that interested in the Chanel universe, so I'm not well-versed on Lagerfeld's work for the brand. But I always found his personal style intriguing, especially as he got older, as he seemed to borrow quite heavily from historical garments.
I can relate to feeling like you exist in two different timeframes. It's a peculiar back and forth, and I agree, quite enjoyable, if not terribly confusing at times!
I just watched the Lemaire show. It's always sublime, isn't it? I just love how effortless the looks are, it's like you're not watching "fashion" at all, but just beautiful and interesting-looking people wearing amazing clothes.
After I learnt that Coco Chanel was quite a terrible person, I sometimes wished I never paid attention to the Chanel universe, haha. I started following the shows because I thought the house codes were so ahead of its time back in the day (jerseys and tweed for women, a bag with shoulder straps, pockets and the simplicity of a LDB), but looking back, I think Karl Lagerfeld deserves a lot of credit for modernising it into a brand with something to say. Even though I have zero interest in wearing or emulating the aesthetics.
The Lemaire show! I'm still thinking about it, and how slowly and gently they've evolved their silhouettes and colour palette over the years. It's so lovely to see them take their time to fully realise what they want to show people.
As always, you challenge me, Tiia. Thank you!
I'm at your service! 😄
There can still be agency if one has a very strong sense of self🙃
That's true. Easier said than done though!
Wow, Tiia, such a vast array of references and coincidences! I'll have to reread your piece to fully grasp it. I'll just say, I did love Dries' and Prada shows, I agree that the bath caps are kinda wrong, but the arm warmers are gonna sell like hotcakes.
I found myself chuckling at the arm warmers. Just line the sleeve properly instead, you know? I wonder if they'll actually manufacture those, and what the retail price will be.
I'm not entirely sure how much logic there is to grasp in this particular newsletter. :D My brain is a weird place! :D
Hahaahha, I kind of felt like I'd like to make a map to follow the whole set of references up, like a treasure hunt.
Sometimes we are participants in a Zeitgeist without our knowing…
Yes, and isn't it just so weird! Where's our agency in that?
Thought provoking as usual! Tiia, do you know when fashion starts recycling prior trends? My earliest memory of this is in the 90s when I remember living through a very specific 70s inspired bell bottom period. [I do wonder about my 501s in HS with black penny loafers in the 80s---was that 50s inspired?] As you can tell I suck at this but...here’s what I am getting at.....Since the 90s it seems many designers rely on being “inspired” by some past trend, sometimes their own. And so we keep looking back to 20s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and that little Y2K flirtation. My thinking is the Internet facilitates that at scale but it started in late 20th century. Am I wrong? I mean historically did they regurgitate looks from prior periods?
That's a good question! I'm not that well-versed in historical fashion that I'd be able to give a straight answer. My guess is that borrowing from other eras would have been much more subtle and definitely much, much slower, perhaps more like in the world of arts. Romanticism borrowed from medievalism, that type of thing. I'll have to look into it!
In modern fashion the base assumption is that trends come back around every 20-30 years or so. The 1990s borrowed from the 1970s, which borrowed from the 1940s, which borrowed from Art Nouveau. The 1980s borrowed from the 1950s, which borrowed from the 1920s and the 1930s.