Why History Matters

 
The mother of a teen asked me the other day what her daughter should study to become a fashion designer. She was relieved when I said, without hesitation, "history, literature, biology, English and whatever languages she feels she can grasp". My friend was relieved because her daughter believed she only needed to study sketching and sewing. Motherly advice was not convincing. Hearing it from me might make a difference. We left it that I'd be happy to speak with or email the daughter. I haven't heard from her yet, but I'm hopeful.

I'm not a fashion designer myself but have been surrounded by fashion my entire working life (even now). Before that I gravitated to fashion and fashion history out of pure love and curiosity.

We are in an alphabet soup mix of style today. There are reasons, including nostalgia and a wish to return to a "better" (simpler) time. Back in the day young working women like me did not dress as hippies (though I admired the look from afar). Counter-culture kids were not wearing preppy in the commune. We wore what we were. Though we surely would not admit it, they were uniforms as much as anything. Today, not so much. It's all fashion, that starts with "Who do I want to be today?"

> So history is really important. Dior's New Look of 1947 was in direct contrast to the restrictions of fashion during WWII.

> Literature is history written with heart. Reading Jane Austen you can almost hear the rustle of silk or feel a less than cozy rough tweed overcoat.

> Biology because you have to know what we are made of—humans, plants, animals, the earth itself.

> English because you have to to express yourself. Sometimes a picture (or fashion sketch) alone is not worth 1,000 words.

> Languages because we are a very small world that still speaks many of them.

I left out math and science because there are only 24 hours in a day, but the more you know the more you have to digest and turn into Creativity—uniquely your own.

I worry that today's designers only skim the frosting off the cake. And it's pre-made frosting at that.

Stylish Cinema: "Halston" on CNN

 
Here's a premiere you can stay home for. You don't even have to dress, though you might want to don your best disco duds. CNN will be showing the new documentary "Halston" on Sunday, August 25, at 9 PM eastern.

Directed by Frederic Tcheng, who also directed "Dior and I", "Halston" looks at the designer whose name and Studio 54 are linked forever. His work epitomized the disco era in New York City, which he loved and where he lived, surrounded by a coterie of celebrity friends and the ever-present paparazzi.

Halston was talented, charismatic and handsome. His business was a huge success, with his designs spanning the industry to include couture, ready-to-wear, fragrance, uniforms, accessories, and housewares. He didn't shy away from interviews and making appearances and believed style could be had by every woman no matter her budget.

Halston was born Roy Halston Frowick in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1932 and moved to Indiana at age 10. He graduated from the Art School of the Chicago Institute of Art and began his career as a window dresser. He started making hats (on their last legs as de rigueur accessories), soon opened his own hat shop, and became famous for designing Jackie Kennedy's inaugural pillbox in 1961.

When hats fell out of favor he moved on to clothing and opened a boutique on Madison Avenue in NYC. His designs were flattering, easy to wear, simple yet sophisticated. He loved soft, luxurious fabrics like silk and chiffon and took full advantage of a new discovery, Ultrasuede, a washable faux suede. He hated extraneous details like bows that didn't tie or buttons that didn't button. Halston also believed pants would become basic to every woman's wardrobe, which they sure as heck are. He popularized caftans and matte jersey halter dresses. Almost everything he designed is just as wearable today as it was then.

Halston and two accessories

 
Meanwhile Halston was always seen on the town, surrounded by friends and muses like Liza Minelli and popular models of the time. Designing uniforms for the hip airline Braniff in 1977 was a major plum. Publicity was huge. He went on to design uniforms for the Olympics, the Girl Scouts, Avis Rent a Car, and the New York City Police Department.

Halston and the Braniff uniforms

In 1983 Halston was excited to sign a deal with JC Penney, a most-definitely mid-market retailer, hoping to bring his designs within the affordable reach of more women. He was a pioneer in that thinking, but others felt the move "cheapened" the brand. Bergdorf Goodman was the first to drop his line and other backlash followed. In the end the collaboration with JC Penney was not a success. It damaged Halston yet paved the way for other designers to successfully make those moves in future.

At the same time the Halston business was bought and sold several tims, with Halston frustrated that he had less and less control. In 1988 he was diagnosed with AIDS and moved to San Francisco to be looked after by family until his death in 1990.

The brand has been revived sporadically without great success. The magic is still there, and his influence is ridiculously apparent in what we wear today. In our minds the name "Halston" still conjures disco balls and glamour; that's when he shone the brightest.

Bullseye at Target

See the names on the squares above? Each one represents a collaboration with Target since 1999. FYI Isaac was first. At the time his further credibility as a designer was seriously challenged. Now being tapped for a Target collaboration is considered a "made it" moment.

Some of the partnerships have caused near riots. There was nothing left but swinging hangers at my local target after the first few hours of Missoni. Others have been more "meh". I still couldn't tell you what is "Hunter".

The merriment begins September 14.

Not to be taken lightly, Target is publishing "Target: 20 Years of Design for All: How Target Revolutionized Accessible Design" with Rizzoli, available for pre-order on September 3, and something about a documentary film to come. I hope there is footage of those swinging hangers.

Can Style and Fashion Coexist?

 
The August issues of the fashion glossies are particularly thin this year. Several were combined into July/August and no heftier. If fashion were a clipper ship, we would now be in the doldrums. I am waiting for those September issues like Ahab looking for Moby Dick.

Meanwhile there's much to think about. Such as...

Style. What is it? You know it when you see it. You do know if you've got it. When we say, "She's got style" we are thinking in the positive. Conversely style can be bad style—old fashioned, outlandish, unflattering.

Fashion is fleeting. In today, out tomorrow. Fashion can also come back the day after tomorrow. Style can be something we all haven't arrived at yet.

You can be fashionable but still not stylish. If you have style you don't need to be fashionable.

You can admire and emulate someone else's style. That will give you style, but it won't be your style.

This exercise makes my head spin, but I still love to do it.

We all want style, or at least to feel good about how we look. Let's agree there's no magic formula and go from there.

The past dozen years or so fashion has tried to convince us anything goes while declaring what's in/what's out on a daily basis. We are not supposed to let celebrities influence us, yet we are bombarded by them and what they wore, only to be told they were dressed by someone else.

In order to have style you do need to care about fashion. You also have to know yourself. Then you can sit out some of fashion's dances that won't work for you. This is discipline.

I don't think discipline means limiting yourself. I will never be happy with only ten items of clothing carefully curated to take me through all my days (and nights). I own way more than that, but I think I know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em*. My life has too may possible scenarios, and I never know which "me" I may want to be today.

So why do you have problems coexisting with fashion and style? Are you stuck in a rut, wearing or (worse) buying the same stuff over and over again? Do you tell yourself fashion doesn't matter but don't quite believe that? Have you decided if you don't have a style now it's too late?

Perhaps...

> You know you should, but you always put if off for tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, and you really need to look terrific, you end up in desperation with a pair of green velvet drapes.

Tara called and wants her drapes back.

>You've been burned, perhaps by those drapes. You paid way too much for something, or you paid too little and paid the price.

> You are set in your ways. You're so sure you know what you like you don't even look to see what's possible.

> You have blinders on. You've made a deliberate decision not to let fashion in your life. You wonder if it's worth it and what you may be missing.

> You don't want to spend the money or the time or the effort. You don't want to spend the money AND the time AND the effort.

> You worry if you care about fashion you will appear shallow. Not likely, but if you follow fashion trends blindly you will be surely considered clueless.

Blinded by the bralette...

 
In conclusion, style and fashion not only coexist. You can't have one without the other.

* Thanks to Kenny Rogers and Marie Kondo.

Summer in the City: A Shorts Story

 

Who said it was okay to wear casual shorts as a tourist in a big city? Nobody. So why are you wearing them?

You know who you are. I estimate your age as between 30 and 60.

Women older than that left their gardening clothes at home and wore pants or even a dress. They (me too) were born in an age when "appropriate" was part of the dress code. Those habits die hard.

Younger women? My personal opinion about what to wear in a city will be irrelevant; I understand.

"What? Me worry?"

By shorts I don't mean “city shorts”, those to-the-knee-ish, tailored shorts. I never saw anyone wearing them. I saw instead a sea of full-on in-your-backyard short shorts.

City shorts never caught on.

Are you older than 30? It’s time to grow up. Shorts are fine at home. We live in casual times, and summer is a little hot for yoga wear. But a city is a city, and they don't get any more "city" than Washington, DC. 

  

For once men out-dressed the women. Men in suits were everywhere. And there were well-dressed women of many ages. Of course these people were all government workers or diplomats or presidential candidates. I could tell they weren't tourists because they walked fast.

I didn't see this guy.

Swimsuit Daze These Sunny Days

 
Fair and prone to skin cancers, I shouldn't be out in the sun in the first place. Of course I want to take advantage of summer water activities. I finally found a self-tanner that doesn't turn my legs citrus peel orange (not a plug but Tan Towel if you're curious). Armed with 50 SPF sun screen they are good to go (or show). The rest of me? That's a swimsuit challenge.

You might say I was an early adapter, but I've been swimming in a long-sleeve rash guard and boy-shorts for a few years now. I called myself "the world's oldest surfer", although there was no surf in the pool at the Richilieu Hotel.

Happily the rash guard has caught on and there are now many fashion-savvy styles to choose from. You may ask, "Well, aren't they hot?" They are not. And (bonus) the residual cool on your body after you come from a dip in ocean or pool is quite refreshing. They dry fast so cool doesn't turn clammy.

Land's End has the sanest versions

The rash guard eliminates all sorts of issues like flabby arms and muffin tops. If you need support you can wear a lightweight athletic bra. You can buy a smaller can of sunscreen. Just don't forget your legs. I haven't gone full scuba diver yet.

Stylish Read: IM

 
"IM" is a great title for an autobiography. That happens to be Isaac Mizrahi's initials, which could also stand for Irrepressible Mensch*.

Be apprised. "IM" is not a romp through Isaac's adventures in the fashion business (though there are some). He doesn't elaborate his design philosophy (other than there must be color and joy). He never kisses and tells if relationships went wrong. In "IM" he is coming to terms with himself, a work in progress.

He grew up in a family that followed Sephardic Jewish traditions in Brooklyn. Isaac had enough difficulty fitting into his own family let alone the neighborhood. Always a showman, he persuaded his parents to allow him to attend High School of the Performing Arts in Manhattan with hopes of going into show business. He loved everything about it, including making costumes.

Acting was hard; fashion was easy. I understand. For me writing (which I loved) was hard; art was easy. I became a graphic designer. Easy or not, the business of fashion is fraught with challenges. It's a wonder anyone makes it. It took time and has been a roller coaster ride, but Isaac Mizrahi is one of our best loved and most prolific designers without a regular presence on runways or in stores.

From 2002 to 2008 he was the first designer of note to produce a line for Target. Although he faced some flack from the fashion community for it, the line was a huge success. I only reluctantly let go of a faux wood-grained skirt I loved that must have shrunk while hanging in the closet.

Wood that it still fit!

In 2010 he launched another successful line with QVC, which continues today. While not particularly impressed by what I see, I think that A) it must pay the bills and B) it sells well because Isaac as a presenter is just so darn charming.

In between Isaac has had a talk show on tv, been a continuing judge on the "Project Runway" franchise, invented a comic book character, had a one-man show, and a cabaret act. I get the idea that any future attempts at fashion design will be replaced by his true love, show business.

To this day he has issues with self image. Isaac's childhood photos are easily found on the internet, but he includes no pictures. I'm sure his editors tried to convince him otherwise. That there are none surely indicates resolve and a will of steel.

Isaac loves stylish women, but doesn't tell us how to be one. There's not one bit of fashion advice in "IM". For that I refer you to his  charming 2008 "How to Have Style".

 
There is, however, one great takeaway: We can never truly be happy unless we are our true selves. Like the hunt for the perfect pair of jeans, it's a lifetime journey. 


* Yiddish for "person of integrity and honor"

Gloria Vanderbilt: An Appreciation

 
Gloria Vanderbilt was a debutante often unfairly labeled a dilettante. She was creating collages, decoupaging and decorating in an inspired American Country Style long before those things were mainstream. Her art was whimsical, folk-inspired yet modern and very, very feminine. I loved what I saw in magazines yet still couldn't decide if she was a genuine talent. She was.

The Coopers surrounded by Gloria's art and design skills

Her 1976 foray into fashion (blue jeans of all things)* was a highly successful venture let alone feminist statement. Yet still I questioned her motives.

Odd publicity shot to say the least...

The years gave her the respect she deserved. She remained active as an artist and a searcher for all of life's gifts. Now that she has died—at age 95—it's time to recognize her as one of the most fascinating and creative of women.

Glamorous shot by Avedon

Gloria Vanderbilt's background and history are well-documented. I hope you investigate how she became the 1920's "poor little rich girl", shocking the world with her marriages—one when she was 20 to world renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski, 42 years her senior—and love affairs (including Frank Sinatra).

With Stokowski in 1950

 
She was almost always in the public eye but accepted the curiosity and notoriety even during personal tragedies (the suicide of her son Carter in 1988). In recent years her status as Anderson Cooper's mother may have been her greatest fame. The CNN reporter and anchor spoke of her often and produced a conversation, "Nothing Left Unsaid", for HBO in 2016 that is candid and loving.

Anderson and Gloria

How does Gloria fit in my universe of all things fashion? Here's where we begin to see how fashion is really a component of style, and style is where the art is. That makes us artists every time we get dressed, and it makes us admirers of those who have the art in their dna. That would be Gloria.

* The company still exists, but Gloria sold her rights and interests in it many years ago.

So Right It's Sarong

 
I love nothing more than a good play on words, but that's not the only reason for this blog. Could the sarong be the next trend?

Sarongs, or variations on the name, are worn by both men and women in Indonesia, Malayasia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent. Patterns, colors and ways of tying can vary, but the sarong is a single length of fabric that becomes a lower garment. We dare not call it a skirt.

On the road again with Bing and Bob

My earliest encounter with a sarong was the Hollywood version, popularized in films with exotic locales. I'm willing to bet it was one of the Bing Crosby/Bob Hope "Road" movies that often featured Dorothy Lamour wearing a sarong. She became known as "The Sarong Girl" following her 1936 movie debut in "The Jungle Princess", wearing a sarong designed by Edith Head.

The jungle princess

You will note that Dorothy's sarong covered top as well as bottom. I wonder what came first—Edith Head's sarong or the bath towel?

But I am getting off subject. 2019's sarong trend just may be a sarong worn over pants or worn as a skirt with a button down or blouse. Street-style not beach-style. I love the idea...

...and on Bella it looks good.

Survey Says...

 
About a year ago, my friend Durell Godfrey and I had the idea to create a book about fashion for Women of a Certain Age. We're both in our seventies and still interested in expressing our style and looking good. The book never took off for various reasons I've mentioned before:

https://allwaysinfashion.blogspot.com/2019/03/allways-in-fashion-forever.html

To gauge interest in the project, it was suggested we poll a group of women to see how they felt about fashion, and we did just that. 100 women from their early 50s to mid 80s responded to the survey. They live on both coasts and in the middle, up north and down south. Some are still working, some retired, many doing a bit of both. Every one that came back via snail mail or email was fun to read and became part of our quasi-scientific survey.

Because we rarely talk about it, most of us think we are The Only One—the only one who hates her arms or that roll of fat around her mid-section or hates her legs or gets thrown a loop when dressing for a special occasion. Even those women who said they didn't care about fashion admitted they were frustrated with their inability to find things they liked at prices they could afford. Love it or hate it, everyone was interested enough to have an opinion.

It seems such a waste to let those surveys sit at the bottom of a box marked "Always in Fashion Book Proposal", so here are the questions and the results:

T H E   F A S H I O N    S U R V E Y  

1) Is fashion more or less important to you now than when you were in your ‘30s? 

a) more important 
b) less important 
c) the same importance 

About half said fashion had the same importance.

2) Do you wish you could branch out but are nervous to try new looks? 

a) I like to experiment 
b) I prefer what I know works 

Answers were 50/50.

3) Is it hard to clean out your closet and get rid of things you no longer wear? 

a) I try to do that 
b) I hate to give things up 

More than half clean out their closets. 

4) What’s your biggest challenge(s) when shopping for clothing today?  

a) finding clothes that fit 
b) finding styles I like 
c) finding items that fit my price range 

More than half are challenged to find things they liked.



5) Are there things you absolutely-will-not-wear?  

a) cropped pants  
b) full skirts 
c) pencil skirts 
d) sleeveless anything  
e) elastic pants 
f) heels 
g) jeans
h) shorts 
i) bathing suits 
j) sandals 

Full skirts, cropped pants, sleeveless anything and shorts topped the list. 



6) What style of dressing do you feel most comfortable in? 

a) relaxed casual 
b) Bohemian 
c) simple tailored
d) feminine 
e) bold and dramatic 
f) I don’t have one style

Relaxed casual and simple tailored were most chosen. 



7) Would you occasionally splurge on a pricey item?  

a) jewelry 
b) handbag  
c) shoes
d) clothing 
e) I’m not even tempted 

Almost everyone would spurge on something, especially clothing.

8) How often do you make a special effort to get dressed each day? 

a) every day 
b) if I have someplace special to go 

More than half make an effort daily.



9) How often do you shop online?

a) most of the time 
b) about half the time 
c) sometimes
 d) rarely if ever

“Sometimes” and “rarely” were the surprising answers.

10) What do you most like about shopping online? 

a) the convenience 
b) the variety 
c) the prices 
d) the fun of finding something unexpected 

Those that did liked the convenience.
 

11) Do you like to shop with friends or on your own? 

a) with friends 
b) on my own 

Almost everyone preferred to shop alone. Even those who liked “social shopping” preferred to shop alone when on a mission.

12) Which are your favorite stores to shop? Circle all that apply. 

a) mid-range department store like Macy’s or Nordstrom 
b) high end store like Saks or Neiman’s 
c) trendy store like Zara or Anthropologie 
d) specialty store like Talbot’s or Chico’s 
e) classics store like J Crew, GAP or Banana Republic 
f) budget conscious store like Target, TJ Maxx or Marshall’s 
g) consignment or thrift shop 

Answers were pretty evenly divided, with trendy stores and budget conscious stores receiving the most.

13) Do you enjoy dressing for special occasions? 

a) I like dressing up 
b) special occasions throw me in a tizzy 

Almost 90% of respondents like dressing up.

14) Do you have a physical feature you play up? 

"The legs are the last to go" seems to be a truism among respondents. Others are still proud to show off small waists, nice bosoms or slim figures.

15) Do you have a physical feature you play down? 

20% of respondents are unhappy about their stomachs.There does not seem to be a body part someone doesn't like.
  


16) Who are your style icons (movies or celebrities)?  

Audrey Hepburn by far led the pack, followed closely by Diane Keaton and Katherine Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn is a natural choice for the demographic. Diane Keaton dresses unexpectedly and to the beat of her own drum. Perhaps that is part of the admiration. Kate Hepburn, also outspoken, mastered the tailored look many of our respondents strive to adopt for themselves.

How do these compare with your own thoughts? Designers, manufacturers, fashion editors and retailers please take note!

Dressing by the Boards

13 Seven Sisters

When Cleveland's department stores announced their College Boards, they weren't talking about the organization formed in 1899 to expand access to higher education.

The College Boards were a predominantly 1950s-1960s marketing tool to attract college coeds, especially freshmen who were anxious to fit into their schools' particular fashion sense. The Board consisted of a dozen or so supposed authorities on what their particular colleges required in terms of wardrobe. They were hired to work for six weeks, from mid-July until late-August, peak off-to-college shopping time.

It was an honor to be a College Board member, I thought, not that far from being Miss America. Their names, colleges and photos would be printed in the department store ad under a fetching headline such as:

"Introducing our 1958 College Board!"

Members didn't represent just any college, either. They were almost all from the Seven Sisters— Barnard, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Radcliffe. There was the odd local student from Oberlin or Ohio State, but who cared what anyone wore in Ohio? It was the Ivy League that mattered, and it was that preppy style we sought to emulate even in high school.

I never met a College Board member. They didn't seem to be "on duty" when I was downtown shopping. Instead I got my fashion advice from August Seventeen magazine and their "Back to School" issue or August Glamour's "10 Best-Dressed College Girls"*.

 
By the time I really was headed to college, to art school, in 1960, I'd put my circle pins away and laid my Peter Pan collars to rest. Instead I was buying opaque black nun's stockings to stand in for the black tights Beatniks wore. No College Board in that department.

I see why it's so hard to get dressed today. We don't have anyone telling us what to wear, how many shirts to buy, what styles are "in" or what will make us look hopelessly out of step. We have no one to please but ourselves. And when was the last time you looked in the mirror without hesitation and said, "Gee, I look good today."

*Yes, Glamour actually called it that from 1957 until 1969, when the honor was changed to "Top 10 College Girls". It took a few more years for them to become Women.