Fashion Icons – Excurses to History.

The term “fashion icon” has recently replaced the slightly antiquated notion of “fashion leaders.” During the second half of the twentieth century, fashion became less hierarchical, more meritocratic, and media-dominated.

Indeed, the media itself created its own icons of style, sometimes thrusting opinions to stylists, and others involved in the professional process of promoting fashion. The designer-led fashions of the past were joined by the concept of fashions created on the streets.

“Style is not fashion until it has reached the street,” is a statement popularly attributed to Coco Chanel, herself a leader; she was also part of the democratization of fashion. The “fashion leaders” of past generations were those in the very highest society—royalty, aristocrats, and their wives and mistresses.

At the start of the twentieth century, magazine journalism had been enlivened by photographs. Much of the newsreel footage from the first decade of the new century showed King Edward VII and his elegant wife, Alexandra; many of his mistresses were also fashion leaders.

Chanel set up her fashion business before World War I and her designs suited the new needs of the society. During the War, many women had experienced the freedom of wearing trousers for manual work—and freedom of movement was Chanel’s aim. She liked wearing men’s sweaters and put women in soft jersey and fluid garments. She popularized costume jewelry, the little black dress—and the suntan. She was emulated in every way, and when she came back from the Riviera to display her suntan at the Opera, a new craze began.

The war annihilated a generation of young men; the women who survived wanted to forget, rather than to mourn. Economic independence and changing mores meant new fashion icons were needed.

There was still a role for royalty—men and women were fascinated by the dress of Edward, Prince of Wales, and his Oxford bags, plus fours, and Argyle sweaters were widely copied. He even had a fabric pattern named after him—Prince-of-Wales check. His long-term mistress, Freda Dudley Ward, embodied the flapper look of the 1920s, but in the following decade he abandoned her to marry the stylish American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. It was she who formulated the fashion dictum, “A woman can never be too rich or too thin.” Although the public was distressed by his abdication, they nevertheless bought mass-market copies of her Molyneux wedding dress. Technological changes now meant that fashions could be copied at moderate prices, and, at last, ordinary women could copy their icons. This was the decade when Hollywood moguls allowed women to imitate the dresses of their favorite stars, as well as their makeup.

Designer Edith Head dressed leading stars Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and the young Elizabeth Taylor in outfits inspired by the New Look. The 1950s saw a sea change with the advent of youth oriented fashions, linked to music and to the newly discovered and largest consumer group, the “teenagers.”

Designer Ossie Clark famously dressed Mick Jagger in a white tunic and trousers in 1969, and in the 1970s the male stars wore makeup. In 1977, the Sex Pistols wore clothes designed by Vivienne Westwood—torn, provocative, and fetishistic. In the 1980s, as economic prosperity returned, so did conventional icons, like the young Princess Diana, and more glamorous icons; the “supermodels” were dressed and lionized by Gianni Versace. Rap stars, like Run-DMC, made active sportswear fashionable; designers copied their look. In the 1990s, there was a need for less “glitzy” icons and sports stars became emblems of style.

Tasks to be done after reading text 2:

I. Read the following words correctly:

antiquated, hierarchical, meritocratic, democratization, enlivened, popularized, annihilated, fascinated, abdication, technological, provocative, prosperity, glamorous.

II. Say if the following sentences are true or false:

1. During the second half of the twentieth century fashion became more media-dominated.

2. Icons of style are created only by famous designers.

3. The “fashion leaders” of past generations were from the very highest society.

4. Coco Chanel set up her fashion business after World War II.

5. Coco Chanel popularized costume jewelry, a black mini skirt—and the suntan.

6. The public was distressed by the abdication of Edward, Prince of Wales.

7. With technological changes in clothes making ordinary women could copy their icons.

8. Designer Ossie Clark famously dressed Mick Jagger in a yellow tunic and white breeches.

III. Answer the questions about the text:

1. How are fashion icons created?

2. What is Coco Chanel famous for?

3. Was Edward, Prince of Wales, also considered a fashion icon? Why do you think so?

4. What changed with technological progress in clothes making?

5. What fashion icons existed in 1950-s, 1970-s, 1980-s, 1990-s? What fashion icons exist in our time?

Text 3

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