Fashion is an ever changing world of colours, styles and attitudes that seems to be governed by its own tides. As soon as one trend comes in, another is pushed out; but we can be sure it will return in ten, twenty or even forty years time. Are contemporary fashion designers and high street stores still influenced by the images that were popular during the 1960s? In our experience, very much so…

Fashion cycles more than Lance Armstrong

Take the flamboyant designer Ossie Clark. Rather than taking an interest in the monochrome mini dresses and platform shoes of the 60s this Lancashire born designer headed straight for the romantic look that has recently taken high street stores by storm. He made fringes, ruffles and floral patterns on thin, organic fabrics huge in 1965 and forty four years on we have no shortage of staggeringly similar ditsy print floor length dresses, tiered skirts and wide leg trouser suits with ruffle-collared blouses. Just as they did in the 60s, Cuban heeled tan leather cowboy boots with long hair and natural make up complete the look with these summery fabrics.

Ossie Clark. He’s on the right

There are plenty of examples of other 1960s fashion designers whose ideas have remained immortalised to this very day. Take Jean Varon’s empire silhouette for example. Okay, okay, so women have been wearing high waisted dressed with loose skirts since Cleopatra, but Jean Varon brought the style into mainstream 20th century fashion and it never left. Today, we can easily walk down the high street and buy an empire silhouette dress (often in magenta or royal blue) with a silver sequinned waist band. This style has gone from being only available in dresses to becoming a very popular style of evening top, too. These dresses weren’t and still aren’t worn with cowboy boots like ditsy print dresses are, though. Silhouette dresses would often be worn with a simple pair of pointed stiletto mules, because the fabric would reach the floor. Because the dresses are now usually shorter in modern fashion we’ve simply added a heel strap to create pointed stiletto sandals.

Jean Varon, Of course

Of course, the 60s was the decade that saw the great battle between the mods and the rockers and thinking back to that time generates some vivid images of fashion. Trilby hats worn with braces, shirts and skinny jeans is a look that has seen a definite resurgence in the past five years, after having become popular at the hands of the mods, in around 1964. Skinny jeans were actually made popular in the 50s by Elvis and other rock ‘n roll stars, and since they survived almost until the very end of the 60s they’re one of the longest-standing fashion trends in history.

Music has always shaped fashion

One popular design for contemporary evening wear is the boat-neck mini dress. Today these garments are often plain black and made of satin, as opposed to bright yellow or half black and the other side white as they often were forty years ago. They’re still worn in much the same way; with a cross-body envelope purse or clutch bag. It’s perhaps the colours of the 70s that have carried through to today, with dresses in bold pinks and fuchsias that Zandra Rhodes would adore. Young women used to wear two-tone t-bar heels with boat-neck mini dresses in the 60s and they still do now; an example of two separate styles that have travelled together through time. Even the asymmetrical poker straight and shiny hair of the mid 60s has come back; a ghost we’re actually particularly glad to be haunted by.

Hot pants and a coat?

Popular high heels in both the seventies and the noughties are brogues; traditionally a men’s shoe style from 1920s. These were eventually made available for Women and they were often sold in the two-tone leather style that remained popular for that entire decade. Today they’ve been made popular by celebrities such as T4 presenter Alexa Chung. We see nothing wrong with wearing brogue heels with another 70s trend; hot pants. Although they’re not usually denim in today’s high street stores, black or white satin hot pants with large round buttons on the thigh are hugely popular to wear on a night out (perhaps with one of those empire silhouette tops we mentioned earlier!).

In general, it’s the big 60s fashion designers that have the most influence on today’s trends. The classic Twiggy-esque  two-tone styles of Mary Quant and the romantic, floral and hippie ideas from Ossie Clark are starkly different, but somehow they still work and still give us a lot of choice in our outfits. The seventies has not had as much of a look in, but perhaps this decade will give us a prediction of what we’ve yet to come from fashion designers in 2009. Are you ready for the resurgence of glam rock, Marc Jacobs designer bell bottoms, or DKNY flower power? Let’s hope it’s not that extreme.

We all care about how we look.  Even those who say they don’t.  We all have gone into the shop and picked out that shirt or, mmm, that skirt.  We wouldn’t have chosen that item if we didn’t care how it looked.  Even that pair of black trousers or that grey shirt.  We chose them for a reason.

We all care about how we look

But why go buy that pair of harem pants?  Seriously.  You’ve got usually stunningly dressed women, the type us females want to emulate (if only we had the money and the lifestyle) but, then put them in the harem pants and you’ve got a walking disaster.  These grown ladies look like they’ve gone out wearing the most indiscreet of nappies.  If a toddler was walking around looking such like, their nappy would be changed, pronto.  Why would you want to look like that?  Why would THEY want to look like that?  Especially when these are the type of ladies who have a couple of thousand at their disposal to be able to afford that  much coveted Hervé Léger dress, or some other high-fashion designer’s work of art.

Rachel Stevens likes them. Must be good

I cannot walk into a high-street store without being ‘greeted’ by this monstrosity.  The MC Hammer pants.  I’m reaching a period where I feel I simply must pick up a pair (I’m thinking turquoise blue, or something, if I’m going to do this, I may as well go the whole hog) and try some on.  For a laugh, of course.  But I’m too scared.  What if, shock horror, a salesperson or fellow shopper thinks I’m picking them up because I like them.  Oh, the shame.

Please don’t touch this…..

And then, what if, as I’m trying a pair on and I walk out of my changing room so I can get a better look at myself in the full length mirror at the end of the room, another person is trying the same pair on?  What if they look over and smile at me and say I’ve got great taste?  I don’t know if I’d be able to hold in my breakfast anymore.  Really, I dislike these pants that much.  Then, what if my best friend tells me she loves harem pants.  I don’t know what I’d do.

Saying that, I used to hate the legging look.  I wasn’t quite as disgusted of those as I am nappy-pants.  Then, I saw so many girls wearing them.  And they looked good.  Not good as in yummy, but good as in ‘I want to look like that, too.’  But that’s different.  Leggings, worn under a long shirt, or a dress (of course, I’ll get to that in a second) can look amazing.  Worn with heals, the legs are elongated and the girl’s figure is shown off to advantage.  I’m still plucking up the courage to give this look a try. I fear by the time I get around to it, I’ll be looking unfashionable, as everybody’s walking around harem-ing it up.  (God forbid.)

I think you need changing

But, the legging look, you still have to be careful.  Yes, I was reading the online gossip news the other day, I admit, and I saw a picture of Ruth Lorenzo snapped and posted online.  Who, you ask?  Ah, she’s that girl from the X-factor.  Spanish.  Wooed Simon Cowell.  Yeah, that one.  Anyways, she was sporting the wet legging look.  Let’s just say I think the look could have (would have?) looked better, if instead of a short t-shirt, she’d have worn a longer top over the leggings.

There’s even a picture of her as she’s walking away from the stalking photographers where she’s covering up her bottom with her large handbag, as though even she’s aware perhaps it’s not the greatest look.  I’m not being intentionally nasty.  It’s just a point I’d like to make.  I don’t think, if and when I get round to buying a pair of leggings, I’d be walking out with a short t-shirt.  I’ve already a little bit planned what I’d wear with them. I’ve got a lovely long purple dress-top to wear over the top.  And my purple high heels.  At least Ruth got the heels part right.  That’s one point to her.

Didn’t she use to be a singer?

I just hope that I don’t mellow to harem pants as I did to leggings.  Woe forbid that day.  And I’m going to have to figure out what to say when I go out and one of my friends is wearing these nappy-pants.  Or perhaps I’m just missing something.  I wear glasses already, so I can’t really believe that I am.  I don’t know.  I’ll just have to wait for that day…