1990s - The New Vintage

After an age of masculinity and extreme styles, the natural female form was needed again. Hair went from hair damaging perms to natural, wavy hair (although it usually took a lot of styling to make it look ‘natural’) that was made popular by the cast of the TV show Friends. 

The cast of Friends

Simple clothes such as tank tops or crop were worn and it became fashionable to see bra straps and naval piercings showing.  Jewellery was to the minimal and simple, unlike in the ‘80s and ‘natural’ looking make up was popular. Denim was the must have staple for everyone. From the grungy ripped jeans to the Brit-pop jackets, every clique had them.

Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell

Brit pop band Oasis

American power brands embraced these looks. Tommy Hilfiger was the king of street wear, especially after Snoop Dogg’s appearance wearing a Hilfiger jumper on Saturday night live (Hello Magazine, 2012). Calven Klien used shock advertisement and used sex to sell their products with the help of models Kate Moss and Mark Walberg; this was something completely new in the ‘90s and caused a bit of controversy. Sportswear giants such as Nike and Adidas became increasingly popular and worn as a status symbol by famous sports stars such as Michael Jordon who even had a brand of Nike trainers named after him. 

Snoop Dogg on Saturday Night Live

Controversial Calvin Klein campaign

1980s - The MTV generation

The age of Thatcherism and fast forwarding developments in technology gave birth to the Yuppie. The first brick shaped mobile telephone was made commercial in Japan in 1979 (phonehistory, n.d.) and the first home computer system was brought out by Amstrad in 1984 with the first PC in 1986 (Amstrad, 2008). To match this sophisticated technology, Yuppies sense of style was also sophisticated which meant designer suits for both men and women.

Amstrad Home Computer

Then you have the glam stars such as Madonna and the MTV generation when MTV was purely just music.
Both boys and girls had similar hair styles which were held up with masses of hairspray, both short and long styles. Less was a bore, so everything was made to stand out. Clothes were bright coloured, shoulders were accentuated to the max for a masculine style and jewellery was piled on.

Madonna

Front man from Twisted Sister

Leather was a staple piece for most cliques in the 80s. Rock’n’roll stemmed off into the sub-genres hair metal and heavy metal which included bands such as Bon Jovi, and Judas Priest. Even pop stars such as Michael Jackson wore heavy leathers. Studs, zips and fringes were popular features of leather garments at the time. 

Bon Jovi

Judas Priest

Michael Jackson

1970s - The Divas

As travelling abroad became more commercial and affordable in the ‘50s and ‘60s (Ron271, 2009), it meant that by the ‘70s people were more educated about the cultures and products from a vast range of countries, so cultural clothing came in to fashion. Kaftans, an Arabic style of robes were incredibly popular especially for the anti-Vietnam war hippies. Yves St Laurent made these loose fitting kaftans and Nehru jackets a mainstream style.

Yves St Laurent in a Kaftan

Nehru jackets

This travelling meant and new-found knowledge of other cultures led the ‘70s into ethnic fashion. Hand-made looking styles were in, from Spanish crochet shawls to Greek Macramé bikinis and bags to the traditional gypsy style cheesecloth tops with puffed sleeves and bell-shaped waist.

This disco fashion brought on the like of the bell-bottom or flared trousers for both men and women, made even more popular by the television show ‘Charlie’s Angels’. Platform shoes were all the range for both genders as well, but mainly for women. The sole could be as high as 4 inches, although 1 or 2 was the standard. Even so, a lot of accidents occurred due to these shoes. It was the first time dress codes were officially brought into clubs due to the huge difference between night and day wear, so it was important to get the dress code spot on to get in. John Travolta helped to make the body-clinging Lycra suites fashionable for night clubs and discos. 

Charlie's Angels in bell-bottom trousers and loosely permed hair

John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever in the classic disco look

1960s - The Teenagers

The teenage trend dominated the country after the baby boom, and with 70 million teenagers it would be hard to ignore their wants and needs when it came to music, fashion and lifestyle. London, California and New Look were the teenage capitols of the western world, with the rebellious mod vs rocker scene in London and the chilled out surfers of California and skaters of New York.

Swinging London would not have been complete without the sweater dress with the bright and bold matching block colours with tights. The whole of the ‘60s seemed very synthetic and surreal with the launch of the Barbie doll in 1959, the use of PVC in clothing and pop artists such as Andy Warhol, who helped develop the underground scene as he was the manager of The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Undergroud, 2002).

Fashion modal Twiggy helped made bold colours and sweater dresses so successful

Vintage Barbie Dolls

PVC raincoats

The Velvet Undergrounds with Andy Warhol (second from the left)

The ‘60s was a radical change in fashion. Skirts rose above the knee for the first time with the mini-skirt, founded by Mary Quant in 1966, that came up a whole 7-8 inches above the knee. Not only that but it was the first time in history that it was moral for women to wear trousers.

A Mary Quant design

Another major change in the ’60 is that black idols started to come through and racism was on the decrease as segregation became banned and the US passed the Voting Rights Act for Afro-Caribbean people in 1965 (BBC, 2012). Artists such as Diana Ross and Ray Charles are a couple of examples of idols in the black community in the ‘60s.

Diana Ross

Ray Charles

The Mods and Rockers were definitely the main two subcultures to rule Britain who had major rivalry issues which was proved by the Brighton beach riot in 1964 (BBC, 2012). Mods road scooters and were often associated with drugs, wearing skinny suits and overcoats while Rockers, evolving from the Teddy Boys, road motorbikes, wore leather and listened to rock music.

Mods

Rockers

Iconic picture from the "Battle of Brighton" as several mods gang up on a rocker

1950s - The baby boom

As the men returned to Britain after the war, a baby-boom was created which would affect future decades. It took a long time to pick up the pieces after the war as the social and economical impacts it created were huge. Tokens still had to be used for another decade as there was still a shortage of fabrics. People craved fashion though as they were deprived from it in the war, so stores sold affordable versions of the Paris Haute-Couture styles. Marks and Spencer were the best at providing this in Britain as they were considered the best value for money.

1950s US clothing token 

Marks and Spencer Store in Plymouth 1950

After the masculine look of the war, femininity was craved, especially amongst men who wanted to take their roles back in society. The hour-glass and wasp-stung waists were in with the full, mid-calf skirts. This style was called the New Look which was made popular by Christian Dior; Hollywood idols such as Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn helped the feminine look by introducing new make-up styles such as eye-liner and coloured make-up (Luxe, 2008). 

Marylin Monroe and Audrey Hepburn both wore black eye-liner, eye-shadow, shaped eyebrows and plump lips. 

For the first time in history, casual daywear existed for men. The ‘50s was the birth of the true teenager starting off with Teddy Boys. This style consisted of greased back hair and long blazer style coats. The Teddy Boy look was made popular through Rock’n’Roll stars such as Elvis Presley and Tommy Steele who were deemed as youthful and rebellious role models.

A group of Teddy Boys 

Rock idols of the 1950s Tommy Steel and Elvis Presley were some of the first real fashion idols for young men

Christian Dior - 1940s-1950s

"My dream? To make women happier and more beautiful" - Christian Dior. 

(Vogue.com UK, 2012)

21st January 1905 - 23 October 1957

(Keenan, 1981)

Dior first had the idea of setting up his own fashion house in 1946, when he inspected an old friend’s dressmakers (Philippe et Gaston) but found it a hopeless case to work with, and in reality he wanted to create his own designs with no one looking over his shoulder; he could not stand the idea of working in someone else’s house again. Dior (2007) stated that he relied heavily on the predictions of fortune tellers, one of them told him: “Women are lucky for you, and through them you will achieve success. You will make a great deal of money out of them, and you will have to travel widely”. Who would have knew that this was about to come true? This was the start of the New Look.

The New Look

Keenan (1981) reveals that one of the inspirations of the New Look was the memories of how his mother dressed before she died in 1931, as she was very feminine and elegant which was the complete opposite of the masculine utility styles of the 1940s. His mother’s death also motivated him to explore his interest in architecture, which formed the basis of his interests in the structure of women’s clothing.

Dior's mother

An example of one of his collections which was influenced on his passion 

of architecture; the silhouette of this outfit represents the shape of the Eiffel Tower. 

Controversial Aspects of the New Look

The New Look fitted perfectly with the Government’s ideal direction for women’s independence, which was backwards despite their efforts in the war. Women were expected to go back to their old ways and become the stereotypical decorated house-wife once again. Dior’s feminine flower-shape silhouettes advertised this want from society as the wasp-stung waist was back in fashion. Dior himself commented on the complaints and threats that he received: “The New Look brought me heavy mail. Letters arrived by the thousands––mostly enthusiastic but some indignant. A garage owner from Los Angeles wrote and told me that he had sworn to "tear me apart" on his next visit to Paris. According to him, it was my fault that his wife looked like a stuffed doll of the time of the Civil War” (Enjoy Your Style, 2012).

Left: A Dior corset from the '50s; instead of dangering women's health, he attached ruffles to the hips to create the wasp-stung waist.

Right: A woman protesting against the feminine styles of Dior's dresses in front of Dior and his models

The economic side to his collections also made his work almost frowned upon. Even the most basic materials were hard to get after the war due to the economic downfall it lead to, yet Dior was able to get his hands on masses of luxurious fabrics to create his huge padded and ruffled skirts. Barely anyone could afford the new collections anyway as a lot of women still relied on coupons to buy their clothes with.  

The evening dress and the "Flower Woman" skirt used heavy and excessive amounts of material

1940s - The War

WW2 put a halt on the fashion world as many fashion houses closed down in Paris as the Nazis tried to control the haute couture and move it to Berlin until they realised how complex the connections of the fashion world were.

Shortages in fabrics and the long absence of men meant masculine military styles were in. Women would recycle their husbands’ old clothes into suits for themselves. This utility style was popular anyway due to the little amount of fabric needed and little need to use dyes as they were also short of supply; and the women needed suits to fill in for the men again in the factories when they went to war, not just to replace their jobs but in the factories that made the army's resources. 

Rationing clothes meant coupons were used to buy essentials and magazines gave tips to women to use these to help become efficient and economical. Knitting became popular, but the wool was usually made from old knitwear. The confiscation of natural fibres meant that silk tights were switched to leg make-up, nylon tights were also in short supply as nylon was used to make parachutes for soldiers. It was important for a woman to look her best in these times as it was a sign of patriotism and positive moral to do so. 

Left: A magazine article showing women how to make their own clothes and recycle them

Right: Women applying leg-make up as a substitute from tights