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 Overseas
Newtonian apple and even the Mendelian vodka, so dear to Russian hearts, is
nothing to compare with true red innovations that turned the world inside out. The
point is great discoveries in the fashion world.
A small
story on how a man and a female failed to share a square of cloth
No one
innovation is famous if it does not go with the name of the inventor. This
story rose in the sixties of the past century. Mary Quaint, daffy but quite pragmatic
American lady loved looking at girls strolling along the streets. London ladies
were at ease to expose their knees and Mary did not hesitate to duplicate their
careless dressing and she took what she saw on the street and turned it into
the irreverent, youthful, trim look called Mod. This time was also famous for
the first skirt as short as overknee by Andre Courreges, the designer from
France. Once there were even shots to define which one first made women and
other people happy. However, improvised battle of scissors was vain. It seems
that pioneers were courage ladies of fashion from Chelsea.
Then the
concepts and idea of women's sexuality experienced sea changes. The accents
were paid below the waist, they changed their step, yet a woman became more
independent, determined and individual in spite of the obvious simplicity.
Moreover, it seems that the ideal woman of sixties did not sit at all, and you
try to sit down if you wear such a narrow band of fabric! Dashing ladies need
not to sit. That was the time of young, vigorous and always progressing
generation.
And just by
the seventies skirts «crawled» downward and formed very boring «midi» skirts at
the breakdown of the decade. Luckily, the American society opposed to such an
impudent incursion of cloth into newly won terrains to happily «intake» a new
pill from Mrs. Quaint - «hot pants», that is combination of shorts and skirt
adopted from the street casual fashion under the old tradition.
However,
the classic style of mini-skirt was sitting tight and was becoming shorter and
shorter by time. Recently it was acknowledged as the main fashion-icon of
England, by the totals of the Internet site «Icons».
History
facts on the high thing
The real
men's wardrobe garment is concerned here, namely shoes on high heels. Do not
consider this as a practical joke but only the statement of fact. Throughout
the millennium history of the Earth development men managed to experience
higher positions than women.
And the
Egyptians became the pioneers in this technique to stay elevated over the
ground. And these people were not pharaohs but quite the reverse. The Egyptian peasants
used to wear high-heeled shoes to ease walking on the loose ground they
cultivated. And in XII century heels helped the Mongolians to remain sitting on
the saddle while riding. And afterward
the Europeans followed them.
The Sun
King Louis XIV was famous for his love to decorate himself, the royal person,
and could not help neglecting such an object that is very comfortable to hide
his height, approximately 5'5, that therewith gives him more majesty and
stature. In addition, no one but him was allowed to wear shoes with heels of
red color.
It is
believed that the genius Leonardo da Vinci had his finger in this pie as well
who had no special liking for women, indeed. However, this wizard went ahead
the time again, and his invention got current only more than two centuries
later.
When ladies
finally realized advantages and style of hopping off, the chase of inches
triggered. Yet, in the end of XVII century
so high heels were in vogue that poor women could walk only by the help of
sticks. Around the century XVIII the heel height reached 10 to 12 cm but the average shoe
size was not larger than 32 (U.K. size 3), thus women were still on their
tip-toe. The French Revolution at one with doctors and philosophers cut the
fashionmongers down to sizes; nevertheless the progress in industry reaved them
from earth to high heavens.
What is
marked, the XX century became the real breakthrough in the shoe making sphere. After so much popular spike invented by
Salvatore Ferragamo, women felt opportune to conquer the whole world. Christian
Louboutin, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga and, sure enough, the legend Manolo Blahnik,
all but a sexual fetish of all women on the Earth, here they are - the best
friends of new-day couture. And how come it is in vogue? Only because some kind
of farmers found that uncomfortable to ridge. Can you imagine that?!
Class
struggle
We all know
that customary outfit extremely comfortable but assigned for a particular class
of employees, won at fashionable stages and found its niche in haute couture. And
it's a real story of Cinderella.
It was XVI
century when this bluestocking fell into vogue at the fancy Olympus. Then India
initiated exporting of cloths from cotton fabric made and in indigo color dyed.
The outfit was quite popular with sailors who used to cut too long trouser legs
to math their height.
First good
jeans came up in Genoa to be as work cloth for the same sailors. Yet, in the
year 1853 the legendary and recognizable Levi Strauss with the previous plain
name Leob that time which, however, did not prevent him from turning the
fashion world upside down, started wholesale trade with jeans attire.
The mode to
wear jeans was adopted by cowboys and later on by military men taking heart
from the example of sailors and workers, and they wore jeans off duty. Wrangler and Lee initiated bid for the market
share at the time.
The youth
showed off in the fiftieth, though. As the youth wear jeans attain aura of
sexuality and rebel character. Then they symbolize adolescent shouts of protest
and riot without any obvious excuses. Several schools in America banned the
manner to wear jeans for lessons, nevertheless the jeans pandemic is not
feasible to stop. Jeans look is popularized by movie celebrities as James Dean,
Marlon Brando and the King Elvis himself. That was such a temptation nobody
could resist.
In the
period of sixtieth jeans get larger in width, they are decorated with
applications and appear careless and untidy enough, and the time of hippy comes.
The
dreamboat of the average Soviet citizen was jeans. Jeans were scarcely
available for ordinary people, and only can be acquired by backstairs influence
for a fortune paid to black marketer. In a while jeans became not only
prerogative of the wealthy people but for middlebrows as well.
Since 80s
jeans fell to the status of trend garment. And couturiers finally paid their
attention to jeans. In the year 1986 people all over the world enjoyed debut of
stone-washed denim and since that time designer did whatever they liked with
the traditional blue denim. It is squeezed, washed, rubbed, dyed, torn, decorated
with embroidery and combined with other fabric. Denim fluctuates on the edge of
fashion preferences, high either low it is unavoidably included in every
collections and, surely, in every wardrobe.
Undressing
with erotic elements
Once female
nakedness was hidden under the mammoth skin, later on under brocade and velvet,
the weaker sex has tried all their best to strip themselves again. Bulgy and
uncomfortable undergarment hardly managed to match every now and then open
shoulders and décolleté line and rapidly shortening skirts. Yet, women go
active day by day. Tennis, riding and, sure enough, swimming, all this stuff... The
history of bathing costumes was fairly boring until bikini appears. Not long
ago these 4 triangles of cloth celebrated seventy-year anniversary however since
that time nobody created another way to look almost naked and appear properly.
A good
start was initiated by Louis Reard, Swiss engineer-designer by vocation, at the
same time heir of the linen boutique in Paris. Once he observed women at the
beaches trying to roll up bathing dress edges to expose more body to the sun.
And it took him only 70 cm
cloth to hide what it should be hidden.
The name of
this revolutionary invention was generously granted to Louis by the American
government that 4 days after the presentation of this new product in the
Molinar swimming pool dated July 5, 1946, triggered first testing of nuclear
weapon in peacetime at the Pacific atoll named Bikini, in Micronesia.
At first
bikini seemed to be too provocative, yet churches in Italy and Spain forbade
this garment, but as always Hollywood relived. Such stunning beauties like Brigitte
Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren actively advocated such an outspoken
attire. And under their girdle the society gave up. Motivated to look though a
bit like movie stars, girls wore those little and cute triangles. However, it
happened only in the early 50s.
Since that
time bikini is in vogue and great popularity and from the seventieth it has
been shortened in size getting more and more open and provocative.
Pants
stolen!
The main
breakthrough of women in the course of emancipation is that they won the right
to wear a traditional men's garment, - pants. How bravely the feminists struggled for this
particular symbol of men's power! However poor American ladies did not realize
that women wore pants long before Christ. Ancient Chinese women were supposed
to wear pants under the kimono in the 6th millennium B.C.
Though, the
origin and evolution of pants is customarily associated with riding. To make riding more comfortable and with the
purpose to saddle and dismount, the nomadic tribes invented the prototype of
modern trousers approximately three thousand years ago. And gradually trousers
from baggy and shapeless ‘parachutes' turned into something like what we are
used to observe today, and moved to wardrobes of aristocrats. The length and
width of trousers changed year by year, century to century but ladies were
still far away from wearing pants.
And only in
XX century the pants as the garment of women cloth was mentioned. And Coco
Chanel, besides her innumerable merits, made the pants popular among ladies as
well as the element of women wear. And again, stars had their hands in it.
Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn, who greatly loved their pictures in
pants, for good and all approved the right of women for this garment.
Since that
time there are endless discussions are held to solve whether women in trousers
are feminine like, and whether men in skirts look manly; the skirts for men are
regularly plugged by the fashion hooligans like Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne
Westwood; yet, if the women are really comfortable wearing pants or it is just
a trick to stay on the same level with men. But the fact says that women
steadily popularized this traditionally men's wear and they are not willing to
lose this right. Thus, men just have to accept it and follow their example. And
finally, a skirt is also very comfortable garment, though.
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