I have a love-hate relationship with the NY Times‘ Thursday Styles section. I read it every single week, yet it is simply so wrong that I derive endless amusement from its startling out-of-touchness with anything resembling actual fashion happening in the world.
This crystallized for me on December 1, 2005, when they actually went to press with this:
Nor will the sight of a baby boomer tricked out in leather and flares raise many eyebrows, Mr. Padilla added. “In the 60′s, if you had a record executive walking around in a Sonic Youth T-shirt, you would have thought he was out of his mind.
Yes, because the members of Sonic Youth were in preschool in the 60s. And also, the vintage band t-shirt craze had been both mainstreamed and over for nearly three years by the time the article was published.
Recently, I’ve been using Twitter to express my exasperation with the NYT style pages. And I’ll continue to do so into the future. And starting right now, I will post a wrap-up of the best of my discontent to the blog once a month.
Here are the first handful:
August 20:
Trend the NYT style section put a nail in the coffin of: the 80s revival. Which started 3+ years ago, not on the runway six months ago.
August 13:
Trend the NYT style section just learned about: hipster hair. Trend the NYT style section is trying to start: calling beer guts “Kramdens.”
July 16:
Trends the NYT style section just learned about: cellphone photos. Trends the NYT style section is trying to start: eyebrow shaving.
at 9:46 am
Hi C.
(Funny that this is my greeting for a comment on 80′s revival, since I think Hi C. (where the C. stands for chemicals I am sure), was a juice that hit it big in the, I’m guessing, late 80′s.)
Don’t you think the 80′s thing started even earlier? I recall seeing people with upturned polo collars as early as 2004 maybe even earlier than that?
And, as usual, our 80′s craze was preceded by the European one, Barcelona was already saturated with it in 2001.
More interestingly, as I mentioned on Medium’s blog a while ago, fashion just seems to repeat itself in terms of mainstream designers just going back a generation for inspiration pretty continuously every few years or so. (It would be interesting if some mathematically inclined fashion person, which might be a rarity, actually graphed these trends, I’m guessing the chart would show two similarly sloped lines with one significantly lagging the other.)
Now we seem to have moved from early-mid into late 80′s mode, as evidenced by the preponderance of aqua, and this could only mean that the early 90′s fashion obsession is soon behind (in fact maybe it’s already taking root among the more cutting edge crowd). But my question to you is, what do you think happens after that?
I mean so far it’s all gone in sequence (70′s – late 1990′s, Early 80′s – first half of this decade, late 80′s/early 90′s – Now and the next few years) but what will the designers plagiarize in, say, 2012 since we are running out of “recent years” to draw upon? Are they just going to repeat the cycle again? Or go earlier in time (late 40′s)? Or, I daresay, actually start inventing something original?
Since I can’t go to Europe to see the fashion future right this minute…
thoughts?
Yt
at 6:06 pm
You’re totally right; the 80s revival definitely started way earlier, more like 6 years. I almost “edited” that in the blog entry, but it would have looked fishy had I linked back to the twitter post which said 3.
I remember right around 2002, 2003, seeing what I thought/hoped/prayed was a 1930s/40s revival—fluttery sundresses, structured suiting, tailored tweed, chunky t-strap shoes—on the streets, but ominous 80s portents—neon colors, crazy eyebrow-high purple eyeshadow, plunging V necklines—in fashion magazine ads for Versace and the like. I tried very hard to mentally sway the 1980s away, but alas! no luck. Although, I suppose it could be argued that 80s high-fashion was in a sense a 1930s revival, it just isn’t. Then American Apparel resurrected scrunchies and hypercolor, and my soul died a little.
As for the imminent dreaded 90s revival: it’s coming.
at 6:08 pm
By which I meant: it’s coming: http://jezebel.com/5359200/dkny-loves-the-90s/gallery/
at 1:34 pm
Good catch (how awesome is it that we totally called what’s going to happen next in the fashion world), and I guess I see what DKNY is doing there, but was there really a 90′s style? Flannel shirts? (which I’ve definitely seen more among the Indie crowd)? It’s a little hard to imagine Gansta-wear catching on in corporate offices, but who knows.
I agree with you on being all for a return to the 30′s and 40′s (BUT ONLY FASHION WISE), I started watching Zorba the Greek last night and the dug the crisp double breasted suit on one of the main characters.