Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Analyzing Jeans

The "modern" jean dates back to Levi Strauss in 1849, during the era of the California Gold Rush. In 1936, the red tab that identified jeans as the Levi's brand was created and by this time, there were other jean companies such as Wrangler vying for Levi’s success.[1] Below are two images of vintage Levi's from the 1960's. [2] The third image is a Wrangler jean's ad that complemented the Wrangler slogan "Cut by Cowboys for Cowboys".[3]    



The first designer jeans were Jordache jeans and were created in 1978.[4] 

Due to the immense popularity of Jordache, the 1980's brought about a craze for designer jeans. As more and more companies entered the designer jean market during this decade, designer jeans became a "proper category in the apparel industry".[5] One of the most popular brands of designer jeans of the 1980's was Calvin Klein. Klein made marketing history with his advertisements of a 15 year old Brooke Shields proclaiming "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins".[6] Though Klein was criticized for exploiting the sexuality of a teenage girl, Klein continued to create sexy jean ads, and his jeans became one of the most successful designer brands in history.    


Another designer jean company that became famous during the 1980's is Guess?. Guess also understood the marketing concept of making jeans "sexy" and employed one of the world's sexiest women, supermodel Claudio Shiffer, to promote the Guess? brand. 



Designer Jean companies of the 1980's not only tried to promote their brands as sexy and fashionable but also as "cool". The image below is an ad by 1980's designer jean brand Sasson featuring Canadian Rangers hockey player, Ron Duguay. (If you think this ad is really "sexy" and "cool", the commercial is even better- check it out on You Tube) 

OH, LA LA Sasson!  


Today, designer jeans are "all the rage" and with the demand for vintage clothing on the rise, some of the original designer brands such as Jordache and Gloria Vanderbilt are staging a comeback. The first image shows supermodel Heidi Klum as the recent spokesmodel for the new/old Jordache. The second image is a recent advertisement for Gloria Vanderbilt, portraying that idea that retro denim design is chic again.


Guess? is one 1980's designer jean brand that never exited the market. Guess? continued to try to portray itself as the "true" sexy designer jean throughout the 1990's using its original recipe for success: famous, beautiful women such as playboy playmate, Anna Nicole Smith, and supermodel Eva Herzigova. As designer jeans are more popular than ever, Guess? has a lot of competition in the 21st century. The most recent sexy blond celebrity chosen to be the face of Guess? is Paris Hylton. 


       



As designer jeans are such big business, many couture design houses such as Versace, Polo, and Armani also target the designer jeans market worldwide. Such companies are known for their impeccable style, intricate tailoring, and luxury brand names. While most consumers cannot afford the couture clothing of these designers, designer jeans are more affordable apparel items, thus allowing more consumers the ability to wear a luxury designer brand name. The first image is a Versace Jeans ad. The second image is a Polo Jeans ad, and the third ad is for Armani Jeans. 


 
         


As the popularity of the designer jean continues to rise many new companies have entered the market. These high-end designer jean brands didn't come from "couture" houses, but still boast expensive price tags as they made a name for themselves solely for their great denim looks, fits and styles. These companies are the trendiest American designer jean companies of the 21st century and are popular amongst Hollywood celebrities and the younger "hipper market". Three examples include: True Religion, Seven For All Mankind, and Rock and Republic. All three of these companies were started in the early 2000's in Los Angeles, CA.



 

  
 
 
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Monday, October 19, 2009

Genealogy of the High Heel

It is believed that the first heels originated in Ancient Egypt around 3500 BC, as Egyptian murals and tombs display figures wearing wedge shaped shoes on the feet. The Egyptian upper classes most likely wore heels for ceremonial purposes and it is known that Egyptian butchers wore heels to keep from stepping in the blood and gore of slaughtered animals.[1]   

In Ancient Rome, platform heels with wood or cork soles (called kothorni) were worn by actors to portray social status. It is also believed that Roman prostitutes wore heels to indicate their profession. During the Middle Ages, men and women wore wooden heels called pattens that attached to their shoes to keep them from walking in mud, dirt and street debris.[2]

Wearing high heels for fashion's sake is first credited to the short-statured Catherine de Medici, who married the Duke of Orleans, and later became the King of France. Catherine not only wore heels as a way to compete with the Duke's taller, cherished mistress, but also as a way to impress the nation of France. French aristocrats were enamored with Catherine's heels and by 1560, both French men and women of the noble classes were wearing heels. Due to the popularity of heels amongst the higher classes, people who had "authority or wealth" were regarded as being "well-heeled".[3]

The first image below is of Catherine de Medici (1519-1589). The second image is of King Louis XIV (1638-1715), who wore intricate heels up to 5 inches in height. Louis XIV ordered that only nobility could wear red heels, and no one could wear heels higher than his own. [4] 


With the French Revolution, came the end of the high and well-heeled society, until the Victorian era when heels made a "come-back". Early 20th century heels once again became lower, thicker and more practical, and luxury materials were scarce due to two World Wars and the Great Depression. However, in the 1950's the advent of the "stiletto", credited to Christian Dior and Roger Vivier, brought about the revival of the high heel.[5]

The images above are two creations by Roger Viver and Christian Dior.

With the rise of the feminist movement and the hippie culture, the high popularity of the stiletto shoe was replaced by the popularity of the platform, as heels dropped and thickened once again. However, as the feminist movement waned in popularity during the 1980's, stilettos were once again all the rage, and designers such as Manolo Blahnik filled the catwalks with high heels. Today, high heels have taken on newer, greater heights, from stilettos to platforms, to the heel-less heel. Below are some designs from Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, and the heel-less boot worn by Victoria Beckham, created by Antonio Berardi. 

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

Compilation of Historical Styles

"In the history of Western costume, the two main historical styles are classical and medieval. Classical refers to the styles corresponding with the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. In the case of medieval, this refers to the styles of garments that originated in the Northern part of Europe during the Middle Ages (3rd to 13th centuries)."[1]

This first image is a picture of a Tanagra terracotta artifact from Amathus, Cyprus dating back to 300-250 BC. "Tanagra figures have small heads and lean bodies which are tightly draped. This figure of a woman [displays classic Greek dress as she] wears a chiton (tunic) with a himation (cloak) draped tightly across her body and right shoulder, covering her arm."[2]

The above image is a photograph by Thomas Eakins displaying classical Greek dress from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ca. 1883. [3] Classical Greek and Roman style of dress included loose, flowing silhouettes and draped garments.

The second main historical style of Western dress is that of the medieval. The medieval style of dress commenced in the Middle Ages when the body became viewed as a "symbol of sin". Medieval style of dress is best evidenced by "long and fitted sleeves, high necklines, sober colors and stiff tailoring."[4] The first image shows typical medieval dress for women.  

Headdresses for women were an important part of medieval dress. The image below displays the popular wimple, or cloth that covered the head, neck and chin. Wimples were used primarily by married women in medieval times as it was considered improper for a married woman to show her hair.     

In post-Renaissance history, elements of classical and/or medieval style of dress can be seen in every fashion. "They are the simple, most visited and interpreted historical styles still relevant to designers as inspiration or as part of their thematic concepts."[5]

The above image is an example of classical revival in dress: a "Delphos" gown designed by artist Mariano Fortuny in 1907. "The finely pleated silk gown represented the classic, ideal form. . . The 'Delphos' gown was worn in the early twentieth century by some of the most avant-garde women in Europe and America. Fortuny was to repeat it, with only subtle variations, over the next forty years. . . [Fortuny's] work combined the ideals of the Aesthetic Movement and Modernism."[6]

Classical revival is currently the predominant fashion style this season and for Spring 2010. Below is a Karl Lagerfeld interpretation of the classic draped style. 


In “righteous eras”, such as the Victorian period with its emphasis on female purity, medieval revival dress (or some interpretation of it) comes back into fashion. Below is an image of a Victorian bride from the popular Harper’s Bazaar Magazine for women, ca 1875.      

The last two images are medieval revival inspired designs from Sebastian Pons' Fall 2004 RTW collection.



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