Maria Garcia
English 3
December 2, 2013
Ms.Wolf
Eras in Fashion
There have been many changes on the clothing’s throughout the years because many
things have depended on what the eras were about. Designers showed it on the designs they
made to show what was going on. Do you think things have changed? I think things have
changed because throughout the years we have expressed how we feel through clothing and our
feelings have changed because every time we had different things going on. The clothing all
depends on clothing styles, designers, and attitudes.
The clothing styles were different in other eras compared to today’s fashions. In the
1960’s, the “Baby doll” look was in at that time which consisted of big hair and shorter skirts
which was personified by Brigitte Bardot (Fashion Timeline, pg.1). Through 1960-1969,
Jacqueline Kennedy was very popular. She made many pieces of clothing popular. She had
popularized full-skirted gowns which were also worn with low necklines and close-fitting waists
for formal attire (Fabulous Fashion of the 1990s). In that time she had also made elegant styles
popular since she was an iconic legend. Which included a simple geometric dress or shifts,
pillbox hats, and pastel suits with short boxy jackets and oversized buttons. Later on many styles
changed once it was the 1970s. There were many different kinds of shirts like strapless tube tops,
crop tops, and halter tops. Strapless tube tops were shirts that were held up by elastic because it
was a single band of fabric which went around your body (Niven, pg.28). While crop tops they
only showed your belly (Niven, pg.28). Halter tops had straps that came around your neck to
hold the top up and they also had no backs (Niven, pg.28). There were also accessories that both
men and women wore including platform shoes. Platform shoes were popular in the1970’s but
they are still worn today (Fabulous Fashion of the 1970s). In the 1970s the disco look was also
popular in that time (Niven, pg.32). Many people wore many different things like women wore
leotards with tights and wrap around skirts while many men copied John Travolta from Saturday
Night Live. Once it was the 1980’s the styles changed. They enjoyed wearing neon colors and
big hair was also in. People wore Dr. Martins to be fashionably dressed which Dr. Martins were
boots and were very popular. Other popular items that many people wore were chunky costumes,
jewelry, sunglasses, wrist bands, and fingerless lace gloffs. Including shoulder pads were worn
people wore them in the 1930s and 1940 but in the 1980s the shoulder pads got bigger and
broader. When it was the mid-80’s people were buying more casual clothing and sportswear that
were designer. Many of the type of clothing’s they wore back then are gone. In this time we like
to wear more of clothing that has animal print but the main one that has become famous is the
zebra print. Which not is it only used for clothing but for many other accessories like one main
one is a handbag. It became famous because it gives your ensembles some wild burst of color.
The black and white zebra print is the most famous one that people like to wear. Many of the
clothing’s have changed throughout the eras and I think that it is going to keep on changing.
There are many different designers that were famous. In the 1970s Gloria Vanderbilt,
Jordache, and Calvin Klein were very famous. Gloria Vanderbilt became famous for her jeans
which had a swan logo on it. After that she made other clothing’s. Calvin Klein was famous as
well in the 1980’s (ehow, pg.1). He made clothing for men and women. His most popular
clothing that was popular were jeans and underwear. For his sports wear clothing the prices
ranged to high end to affordable lines. In the 1980’s Christian Lacroix, Thierry Mugler, and
Ralph Lauren were also popular in the 1980s. Christian Lacroix he had made his own label. He
had combined bold colors of orange, yellow, magenta, green and bright pink. Lacroix put
intricate beading, prominent jewelry pieces, and big bows on his designs to decorate them.
Thierry Mugler was mostly famous because his clothing had sharp shoulders and rounded hips to
create angular dresses. Ralph Laurens clothing brand was Polo Ralph Lauren which people wore
if they wanted to look classic. His polos were expensive jackets and chinos which had his name
on it. The preppy look was partly due to him too. Then after that in the 1990s some designers
that were famous were Bill Blass and Donna Karan. Some young designers that were praised and
had made headlines included Norma Kamali, Michael Kors, Carmelo Pomodoro, Isaac Mizrahi
and Gordon Henderson. As for today’s popular designers include Betsey Johnson, Sandy Powell,
and Italian designer Donatella Versace. Hubert de Givenchy who designed for many celebrities
like Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy was famous back then and is still famous today.
All the designers had their own designs and their own way of expressing what the era was about.
Throughout the eras the attitudes changed. Today people don't wear shoulder pads like
they did back then. You also don’t see people walking around in a disco look anymore but that
look was popular in the 1970’s. Bulky clothes and neon colors are out of date as well. In the
1980’s some popular looks were whimsical and soft with velvet knickerbockers which you wore
with short cheerleader skirts and as for today you don't see that as much out on the streets. In the
1980s people dressed in jump suits today nobody would wear them anymore. In the early 1990’s
many people wore color blocking which for today nobody would like to wear that (Fashions of
the Decade the 1990s, pg. 14). People were always excited to see what would be popular to wear
at that time. Even though the clothing’s looked crazy to us they people back then seemed to like
the clothing’s that were designed. They were always excited to see what was going to come out.
Many of the clothing’s have changed from back then since today but the people are always
happy to see what comes out and what is going to be worn.
Clothing styles, designers, and attitudes is what clothing’s were mainly about.
Throughout the years the clothing’s styles have changed to what we have today but many
clothing’s are also coming back. Only now they are making the clothing’s blend into today’s era.
I think that maybe more things are going to come back from other eras and make them look more
to what todays people like. In the end we decide what we want to bring back and wear.