1
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
UNIT I
History of Fashion Design
http://www.vintageblues.com/history4.htm
|| 1900 - 1910 || 1910 - 1920 || 1920 - 1930 || 1930 - 1940 || 1940 - 1950 || 1950 - 1960 || 1960 1970 || 1970-1980 || New! 1980-1990
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
2
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
The 80s was the decade of excess. Everything was bigger, and everyone
wanted more more more! More was better....wasn't it? Shoulder pads were
de riguer for both men and women, the more accessories the better. And hair;
well, again BIG was IT!
Before "Friends" ruled television, "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" gave
us a reason to tune in on Thursday nights; Gary Coleman asked Willis what
he was talking about and every girl wanted Don Johnson from Miami Vice
(not to mention, every guy wanted his outfits). The video revolution changed
everything as well. Coinciding with the new wave movement, music television
and MTV added a whole new dimension to music as an art form. The visuals
that these videos presented to their audiences was intoxicating and added to
their mystery, rather than dispelling it. The fashion, the make-up, the
narrative of videos made even the most insignificant of bands look largerthan-life and had the fashion world in a frenzy.
In between 1980 and 1990 were 10 years worth of great movies, bad movies,
good TV and bad TV sitcoms; and of course famous characters and infamous
fads (Rubik cube and Cabbage Patch dolls to name two). And lots of stuff you
could dance to.
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
3
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
Madonna ca. early 1980s
Madonna ca. 1982
The 80s music scene instantly brings to mind the decade's two icons: Michael
Jackson and Madonna, the Material Girl. Jackson had nine No. 1 singles in the
80s which totaled 31 weeks at the top spot. In addition to his solo hits “Rock
with you,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Way You Make Me Feel,” “Dirty Diana,”
“Bad,” and “Man in the Mirror,” Jackson topped the charts with his
collaborations on the “We Are the World” effort by USA for Africa and his
duet with former Beatle Paul McCartney on “Say, Say, Say.”
Adam Ant ca. mid 1980s
British pop group Banarama mid 1980s
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
4
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
Madonna was Michael Jackson’s female counterpart of the decade .Though
not able to boast as many No. 1 singles as Jackson - Madonna charted seven
No. 1s in the 80s, topping the charts overall for 15 weeks - her influence
changed a generation, and arguably, the music industry forever.
Madonna Louise Ciccone burst onto the scene clad in yards of lace, beads,
crosses and the infamous Boy Toy belt, singing about such taboos as virginity
and unwed mothers. She was like the Pied Piper of music for a gazillion
wannabes who bleached their hair, donned lace tops and wore short skirts
over capri pants. From her early dance hits like “Everybody,” Madonna
morphed into a soulful diva with “Live to Tell.” In between she bombarded
the public with a whirlwind of acting gigs, romances (note her marriage to
Sean Penn) and somehow implanted herself firmly in the hearts and
pocketbooks of American consumers. And her impact on fashion was
indisputable.
From her wildly teased and colored hair to the return of lace and fishnet
stockings, Madonna WAS The Material Girl and bragged about it to no end.
Her accessories were over the top chic, and girls around the world were
Madonna-wannabes even going so far as to add her trademark mole to their
cheeks.
MC Hammer and his big honkin pants
Mid 80s acid washed jeans ad
But Madonna's wasn't the only hairstyle that was copied. Hair styles of the
80s are the most diverse and humorous characteristics of this decade. In the
early 80s, the New Romantic fashions kicked off the decade with great hair
experimentation. For a while there seemed to be a competition to see who
could build the tallest hair, have the strangest angles, or see much plastic,
metal and mousse you could fit into your hair and still keep your head
upright.
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
5
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
Big hair is not unique to the 80s - the 60s had the beehive and the 70s had
the afro. What set the 80s hair styles apart was their diversity. The start of
the decade saw the extravagance of strange hair colours and cuts.
By 1984 the trends had settled and focused on one simple concept - volume.
More hair was better. Bananarama had some of best examples of 80s hair,
reflecting the fashions of the decade from cut style to volume.
The 'Hair Bands' of the 1980s applied this style in a big way, strongest
around 1987-88. Bands like Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard and Poison
truly epitomized the 'bigger is better' adage.
By 87-88, the 70s started to return and it was suddenly OK to have a retro
look. You provided it was bleached, dyed a bright color or spiked in an
unusual way with hair gel. The synthpop band Flock of Seagulls showed just
how unique this trend was.
Many accessories were available to assist with this process - you could tease
your hair and stick it up with mousse. Some mousse even contained glitter or
other sparkle pieces to give your hair 'extra interest and individuality'. If you
think shampoo stings, try getting glitter mousse in your eyes - a common
occurrence as some brands tended to flake.
Asymmetrical haircuts were the most popular around 1985-1988. Hair was
cut short beginning with the bangs and increasing in length around the head
until it came to somewhat of a diagonal point on the other side. Or the hair
was really short on one side and a longer length in back and on the other
side. (See England's popular band The Human League for a great example)
UK synthpop group The Human League
Legwarmers (shot from the movie Footloose)
And who could forget the mullet? Guys the world round wore a similar style
to the asymmetrical haircut, except that the top and sides were short (and
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
6
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
usually cut around the ears), then dropped off in the back to a longer 'shag'
style. Occasionally on the wilder new wave guys, this style was adapted so
that the wound or braided into a rat tail (even some wilder new wave chicks
daringly wore this style!)
In or around 1984, guys discovered the parachute pant. Parachute pants
were fairly tight nylon pants with zippered patch pockets, the usual 2 front +
2 back, plus one or two on each leg with zippered ankles. Rapper MC
Hammer took this pants style to the extreme with his loose, long crotch, and
ultra baggy pants in a wild range of materials and colors. Like the popular
harem pants, Hammer pants were worn by few but admired by many.
By 1987 both sexes were wearing the all important acid washed jeans. Acid
wash was a chemical processed denim that stripped the top layer of color off
to a white surface with the undertones of navy blue remaining in the jeans.
And not only jeans were acid washed; if you were truly fashionable, you also
had an acid washed denim jacket that matched said jeans.
While blue was the most popular color of acid wash, in the late 80s denim
manufacturers also experimented with styles and black (black and gold acid
wash was truly jaw dropping!)
More on 80s Music
New Wave's older siblings, Punk and Power Pop, surfaced during the latter
half of the 70's and helped ignite what was to become one of the biggest
musical explosions of the last 25 years, certainly in terms of creativity and
diversity. Disco and early electropop pioneers made their mark on new wave
as well. While disco revolutionized dance music, widespread backlash forced
it into the underground by the dawn of the eighties, leaving New Wave to
keep dance music afloat and the airwaves and club scene bristling with
unheard of energy.
New wave proved to be breathtaking in its scope - at the core of most new
wave was an infectious dance beat and energy galore. Mainstream artists like
Joe Jackson, and even David Bowie and The Kinks brushed the fringes of this
musical tapestry. Similar in style (and confusing to some) were the Synthpop
groups i.e. Depeche Mode, Human League, Soft Cell; and the New Romantics
Ultravox, Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet. New romanticism, however, never
managed much of an impression in the US; it remained very much a
European (and Canadian) movement. Despite the general inadequacy of
pigeonholing, there were the other requisite, defining styles from the era:
Goth (Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Cure), Ska/post punk (Madness, The
English Beat), Rockabilly (Dave Edmunds, Stray Cats, The Cramps), and
Power Pop (The Vapors, The Producers). And that's only scratching the
surface.
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
7
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
Australia enjoyed a brief and lively renaissance (at least from an American
perspective) ushered in by Men At Work in '82, who made it clear to the
world in their homeland homage "Down Under." INXS broke through this very
same year and maintained a huge following worldwide until the unfortunate
death of Michael Hutchence in the 90s. Many Aussie popular artists made the
big jump across the pond including Split Enz, Midnight Oil, Icehouse, Divinyls,
and Crowded House.
Band Flock of Seagulls
Fashion wasn't just influenced by the powers of MTV and music. Movies too
made a big splash in what we wore. Mega-popular movies such as Footloose,
Flashdance, and others had both girls and guys rushing out to their favorite
mall to copy their fashion favorite movie stars.
Leg warmers started with dancers of course, years before - and are still worn
by many today. But by around 1982 they began to make an appearance in
movie Flashdance. You could now pretend you were a dancer by wearing leg
warmers over the top of your jeans and showing your skills! Leg warmers
were no longer black either. Now they were speckled, fluoro and some were
worn so low that they would have been better known as ankle warmers. The
hard core would wear them to a sweaty nightclub - even in summer and
layer them, wearing 2 and 3 pairs at a time. Strangely, leg warmers
managed to hang around a little longer than many other 80's fashions and
they didn't meet their fate until late 1984. By 85, they were extinct. It was
probably those girls that wore them with evening sandals or pumps that
killed them off.
Speaking of shoes, while some women wore the highest heels possible (and
in the loudest colors available such as hot pink, purple and teal) others
(especially younger women) were rebelling and wanted flat, comfy shoes.
Jelly shoes were born. Jellies were flat, see thru plastic shoes that came in a
variety of brands and colors. The best part though was how cheap jellies
were! Your local Kmart or Walmart had them for as low as $4.00 and $5.00 a
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
8
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
pair! Imagine! You could have a closetful of multi colored shoes for less than
$25.00. The bad part was jellies were HOT; all that plastic made your feet
sweat, and there was no sweat, and there was no support of course so
dancing the night away in your jellies left you with sore feet the next day.
( Further reading and information )
References:
Century in Shoes, www.centuryinshoes.com
The 80s Server, www.80s.com
Eighty Eighty Nine, www.eighteightynine.com
All History of Fashion pages © 1999-2004 American Vintage Blues/J. Yeager
All rights reserved; please do not use without express written permission. Thank you!
A. Reading & Understanding
B. Group Working ( Discussion )
1. Students may work in a group of 5-7, each group have to ask 5
questions to the other group which is related to the reading
in Unit 1.
2. Each questions marked by 20, let’s see which group that have a
full mark.
C. Summarize the reading in Unit 1, showing the differences from
each fashion decade.
D. Building Knowledge, Vocabulary & Building Confidence.
Assignment: ( for the following weeks )
Asked the students to do a small research about the fashion
design decade in Indonesia, make the report & do the
presentation.
Suggestions : Browse to internet for making rich the information.
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005
9
English for Design II
Prepared by : Indra Tj
BINA NUSANTARA
Edisi :
1
Revisi :
1
Maret 2005