Knowing About Fashion

Chapter 2

FASHION

By Mary Wolfe

STYLE

A particular design, shape, or types of apparel item

Styles come

and go

Mini skirt

Bell bottoms

Polo Shirt

Poodle Skirt

Bermuda ShortsCountry or “Annie Hall Look”

FASHION

The display of currently popular style of clothing

Most accepted and up-to-date

Continual process of change

Fad

Temporary passing fashion

Usually out of the ordinary

APPAREL

All men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing

A garment is a specific piece.

SILHOUETTE

The shape of clothing styles

The general direction a silhouette takes shows a fashion trend

High Fashion High Style

Latest and newest fashions

By Laura Rauch, AP

Actress Reese Witherspoon arrives at the Academy Awards Sunday.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/oscar2002/2002-03-26-knockoffs.htm

Jennifer Garner's vintage Valentino is

one of the likely candidates for Oscar dress "interpreters."

Avant-garde

Most daring and wild designs

Too far out to be considered fashion

Draws attention to the wearer

http://www.ellenlawlor.com/id25.html

Classic

Continues to be popular even though fashion changes

Always acceptable

Garment Fit

Fitted to the shape of the body

Draped to hang over the body

Tailored garments are sewn to fit the body

Composites are a combination lf draped and tailored

Haute Couture

“Finest dressmaking” in French

High fashion industry, where the designer creates the original, individually designed fashion

Expensive with limited numbers

Exclusive label of the designer

May be exclusively designed for a certain person

Made to Order or Custom Order

Not designed for the person, but made to fit a certain person

May order from a runway or after seeing a sample or sketch

Copies

Look like the haute courtier garments

Are produced in quantities

May be sold in high end department stores

Lower quality of construction and fabrics

Knock-offs

Lower priced copies of the garments

Results from fashion piracy

Ready to Wear

Mass produced the factories

Standard sizes

Manufacturing companies label

The Stores

Retail sells to customers

Wholesale sells to the trade

Overruns are the garments left at the end of the season that have not sold

Irregulars and seconds may have flaws

Prices

High-priced designers get much attention, but account for only a tiny % of the clothing sold

1/3 of all sales go to the moderate priced market

2/3 of all sales go to the lowest priced market

Fashion Cycle

Periodic return of specific styles or general shapes

1. New style created2. It is introduced to the public3. Adopted by fashion leaders4. It is worn by many people5. Discarded for a newer style

Can last several months or several years

Fashion silhouettes of the past

3 specific silhouettes would become popular every 100 years

The bell 1740’s and again in the 1840’sBack fullness in the 1780’s and again in the 1880’sTubular in the 1820’s and again in the 1920’s

Social, Economic, and Political Influences

Fashion has always reflected the social conditions, current events, technology, popular entertainment, peoples values and attitudes.

Historically people dressed according to their social class

Economic and Political Hard Times

Clothing usually gives a more serious, conservative image

During “good times,” clothing is brighter, more adventuresome, more fun

Hemline Index

As hemlines rose, the stock market rose (1920’s and 1960’s)People’s moods are affected by the way they dressDuring WW II, the government restricted the amount of fabric to be used for civilian clothing, so styles became tighter, with no cuffs, and skimpy seam allowances