As period research for my costume design class becomes more and more time-consuming and difficult, I've started to wonder: What defines our current era of fashion?
The Greeks had chiton, which we currently know as togas. The Elizabethans had chemises, corsets, farthingales, and padding that distorted their bodies to a point of geometrically recognizable style. In the 1800s, style changed so definitely from year to year with differences in shoulder lines, waists, and skirt lengths that costume designers have to be very careful about what they put on the stage for plays set in that century. The 20s had flappers. The 40s had Hollywood glamour. The late 60s and early 70s had flower power. The 80s had power suits. The 90s had grunge. But what does the new millennium (and the current decade in that new millennium) have?
Well...
We have Gaga and platform heels so high that they should be made illegal for fear of all the
broken ankles that they undoubtedly cause.
We have designers playing with structure, but I can't say that I would ever wear some of the
blockish pieces that designers such as Calvin Klein have recently put out.
We have the cast of Gossip Girl looking classically preppy.
We have the Olsen twins whose style hasn't left the 90s.
We have trend after trend looking back on previous eras.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that we have everything yet we have nothing. Fashion in the 2010s has become post-modern; it has become pastiche. Now, I don't necessarily have a problem with this. As a lover of Hollywood glamour and vintage I love looking back. Yet, I have to wonder...when people look back at us 25, 50, or even 100 years down the line, will we (in terms of what fashion has to offer us) matter?
