History and Fashion

If you look back into history, really back into history, you will find interesting styles – hairstyles, dressing styles and concepts. What is even more interesting is to see why people dressed the way they did. There were rules, hierarchies, obnoxious beliefs and interesting stories. History is a very interesting topic. It is so fascinating to know how people lived in olden times. And just think of it, there was a time when there were kings-queens, not a world of normal, working adults. How did the queens live? They wore elaborate dresses and actually had helpers help them sit and stand because their dresses were so heavy. What did the Kings do whole day? Address courts and fight on horses? How did man survive when he did not have a safe place to live and had to wander through forests having experimental food and fighting for life every day? How did he really invent shoes?

For me, all of it is really fascinating. And magical, to some extent.

We can trace back clothing and accessories way back to 3100 BC to Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. Ancient Greek, Rome, Early and Late Middle Ages, Northern Renaissance – all of these eras are superbly charming. Clothing gets richer, more elaborate and ornate.

But guess what, history repeats. And how! Designers have taken inspiration regularly from olden time’s art and costumes. Some influences are blatant, while some are subtle. I like both of them. For my first assignment in the History of Fashion class, I was allotted Medieval Ages (300 – 1500 BC); so the costumes are not ornate. Just interesting.

Here are the old pictures and their modern day influences.

Wimple: A garment worn around the neck and chin, and which usually covers the head.

Portrait of a Young Woman in a Pinned Hat (1435) painted by Rogier van der Weyden

Modern day wimple. Shot by Mario Testino for Vogue UK Sept 2011

Bliaut: a women’s and also a men’s overgarment worn from the eleventh to the thirteenth century in Western Europe, featuring voluminous skirts and horizontal puckering or pleating across a snugly fitted under bust abdomen. The sleeves fit closely from the shoulder to approximately the elbow, and then widen from the elbow to drape to floor- or nearly floor-length.

Terence’s Comedies, St. Albans Abbey, mid 12th century, Folio 10 recto

Gareth Pugh Sprint 2013. May not be a perfect adaptation of the original concept but I just loved the ruffles and fall on this outfit!

Hennin: A headdress in the shape of a cone or “steeple”, or truncated cone worn in the late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility.

Philosophy Presenting the Seven Liberal Arts to Boethius (Paris, French, about 1460 – 1470) attributed to Coëtivy Master, in the Consolation of Philosophy

Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2013/2014, Paris

Houppelande: An outer garment, with a long, full body and flaring sleeves, that was worn by both men and women in Europe in the late Middle Ages.

A panel painting, part of Ghent Altarpiece, Belgium

Dance Maestro Astad Deboo showcasing ‘Jade’ by Monica and Karishma at Lakme Fashion Week India 2014

Segmentae: Square or round decorative medallions that were placed in different areas of the tunic for decoration.

Mosaic of Archangel Michael from Church of Santa Maria dell Ammiraglio, Palermo, Italy

Anuj Sharma’s ‘Button Masala’ at Lakme Fashion Week India 2014

Clavi: Vertical stripes which decorate the front and back of a tunic.

A historic piece in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

    

Chanel Pre-Fall 2011

And I can just go on and on. There are so many beautiful costumes and their modern day designs that it is really inspiring. Check out pictures of Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2013 collection on this lovely blog. Their collection, also inspired by medieval times, is mesmerizing. All their models look like Princesses.

If History, Art and Fashion interest you, check out Byzantine, Italian Renaissance, Medieval Times, Ancient Greek and Roman Empires costumes. You will be surprised with what you find.

This post features on Blogadda’s Spicy Saturday’s Picks (4th Oct ‘14)

Step Dance On Runway

I recently posted an interesting video on my Facebook page. It was Rick Owen’s Spring 2014 collection fashion show from Sept 2013. Interestingly, his models weren’t slim, tall and fair. They were black and had real bodies. They did not do the regular catwalk. They were not required to look pretty. They had their faces angry and gritty. They bared their teeth and looked ferocious while they performed the step-dance. Their energy was violent. It is indeed a captivating video.

Stepping is an old form of dance that originated in Africa. It is an aggressive dance in which the dancer’s entire body is used to create rhythms through footsteps and hand clapping. This dance is usually performed in groups.

African tribal men used this dance to attract and impress women. Their step-dance involved rolling their eyes and baring their teeth. More aggressiveness was considered more attractive.

Step-dance was very popular in American Universities amongst African-American students. Today, there are stepping dance groups and competitions.

The point of all this is that fashion picks up lot of things from history. History repeats itself. We see how trends of sixties and seventies keep coming back; how vintage is totally in suddenly. If you go back and look at how people dressed in 3000 BC in various dynasties, you will see familiar designs. Many of today’s styles have been picked up from there.

Rick Owen’s Spring 2014 sportswear collection is called ‘Vicious’. His way of presenting his collection through vicious step-dance has been very innovative and made everyone sit up and watch.

You MUST watch the video. It is spectacular.

We were shown this video in our History of Fashion class.