Historical Influences on Today's Fashion

    Throughout the years, fashion designers have taken inspiration of historical dress from previous centuries. Whether it’s specific textiles, or patterns on the fabric, or the style itself, designers everywhere take inspiration and create a more contemporary version for the runway. They say that history repeats itself, and this is particularly true with fashion trends, as specific fashion items make a comeback. 

    Alexander McQueen is a famous fashion designer known for his wearable art and his designer clothing. In many of his fashion lines, he creates an upgrade from historical fashion (specifically from the Victorian and Romantic Eras) to contemporary pieces that are known on the runway as high fashion. In Autumn of 2008, McQueen created a line that was inspired by the Directoire Period (1790-1820) of dresses with a straight skirt and a square neckline. Similarly, This type of style is used in every day life with dresses that become popular in the summertime. 

    Wedding dress designers are also hugely inspired by historical fashion, mainly in the Crinoline Period (1850-1869) which involved massive skirts that envelop the woman. The same style is often seen on the red carpet by celebrities. The most simple of trends in today’s fashion was inspired by history’s fashionable norms. Such as a single poof strategically placed in the skirt of a wedding dress, or even the neckline. 

       

    In ready-to-wear garments (aka what we can wear out on the street instead of couture that is only meant for the runway) the influence is still there, which you can see various decades are making a comeback (such as the 70's with the bell bottoms, or the 90's with the oversize jackets). If you want to go way back, the ruffles on collars were really popular in the 1700's, and yet you still see ruffled collars today.

 I have always been a fan of fashion because no matter what a person wears, it showcases their personality. It’s a way to express oneself, even in every day life. Most people overlook what fashion truly means in ones life, when I see fashion, I see history, art, expression, and inspiration. Fashion is even a way to understand history better, and bring back historical influences to the 21st century.