Perfectly Paisley: Stella McCartney shows us a fresh, modern way to wear the print for spring 12.

Fashion’s swirling tapestry of theme, color and fabric all come together to tell a very particular story each season. The emergence every five years of the – similarly non-linear – paisley print allows fashion detectives like myself to ponder the clues to its most recent return route.

Print in abstract, Celia Birtwell for Ossie Clark, 1969.

Were spring’s psychedelic 60’s-style silhouettes a foreshadow? Is it a dandyish reaction against all the recent prim ladylike looks? It’s hard to know, but paisley may well be around for a while if Frida Giannini’s darkly glamorous collection for Gucci last month is any indication –  with its overt references to the Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris-ish plushness. Whatever it took to reawaken this time around, the sentimental and eccentric pattern is never far beneath the surface. As Prince’s 1985 anthem attests, “Life won’t be so bad/Paisley Park is in your heart.”

The first paisley shawls were worth more than a London townhouse. Hand embroidered by Indian artisans, they sometimes took up to 5 years to be completed. 

The well-loved teardrop design originated from Kashmir, India. The motif is thought to be taken from the early shoots of the date palm, which is known in India as the symbol of fertility. Hand embroidered paisley shawls were brought to Europe by the East India Company in the seventeenth century and were all the rage, especially in Britain. To keep up with the demand, the Scottish town of Paisley began to mass-produce the print, hence the name “paisley.”

You can’t help but think of Oscar Wilde in the print. It was as much a symbol of the Victorian aesthetics movement as peacock feathers, sunflowers, lilies and cattails, but the fever for paisley dried up by the late 1800’s.  It wasn’t until some 20^th century Wildean creatures claimed it as their own that it reemerged. Worn by icons of counter-culture rebellion such as Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger and the Beatles who, no doubt, admired the “pickled pear” for its eastern exotic heritage and freethinking provenance.

She’s with the band: Marianne Faithful in Paisley.

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Now & Then: The History of Turtlenecks

Now & Then: The History of Tights

Now & Then: The History of Skinny Jeans

Now & Then: The History of the Chevron Stripe

Now & Then: The History of Penny Loafers

Now & Then: The History of Go-Go Boots

Now & Then: The History of the Poet Blouse

The post Now & Then: The History of the Paisley Print appeared first on EcoSalon.

Boots are an essential part of our wardrobe, but they didn’t take off as a fashion look until the 1960s & 70s.

Have you noticed the great shoe switch that has taken place over the course of the last couple of years? Not so long ago, the idea of wearing short boots or booties with skirts and dresses was far from modern mainstream style. As if in solidarity, stilettos these days appear to demand a rough and tough pair of skinny pants in order to feel modern and edgy.

London models wearing Ossie Clark designs and the boots that defined an era.

Boots are an essential part of all wardrobes now, but prior to the 1960s, the concept of a fashion boot was revolutionary. Before the introduction of the knee high-style that became known as Go-Go boots (from the French word la gogue for “joy, happiness”) women’s boots were purely for riding, walking or protection from rough weather.

The boots from the future – André Courrèges’ Fall 1964 collection kicked off the trend for tall boots.

Short boots with elasticated side gussets called Chelsea Boots – named after a well-heeled suburb of London – became popular with the mods and bands like the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. But as hemlines rose, so did the length of the boots. The new calf-contouring boots complemented the new shorter length skirts and drew attention to the legs.

Nancy Sinatra wrote “These Boots are Made for Walkin'” that brought attention to the style.

Designer André Courrèges was thought to have originated the style when a low-heeled, white plastic calf length boot was featured as part of the “Moon Girl” look in his Fall 1964 collection. The Go-Go boot and its subsequent – more-earthbound – incarnations came to define an era of streetwise style that has never ceased to go out of fashion.

The ultimate Boho icon, Talitha Getty wore her white pair on a roof-top in Marrakesh.

Now & Then: The History Of The Cocktail Dress

Now & Then: The Trench Coat

Now & Then: The Bold Brow

Now & Then: The History of the Cuff

Now & Then: The History of Turtlenecks

Now & Then: The History of Penny Loafers

Now & Then: The History of Tights

Now & Then: The History of Skinny Jeans

Now & Then: The History of the Chevron Stripe

Now & Then: The History of the Poet Blouse

Now & Then: The History of Ladylike Gloves

The post Now & Then: The History of Go-Go Boots appeared first on EcoSalon.

If in doubt at how to wear the midi skirt now, look to London’s Ossie Clark who first introduced the midi skirt in 1967.

No one was very happy when U.S. designers first introduced the conservative midi skirt to counter ultra short miniskirts in the early 70’s. Activist groups like the mini-loving GAMS (Girls Against More Skirt) and FADD (Fight Against More Skirt) organized into groups such as POOFF (Preservation of Our Femininity and Finances) to protest the new look and denounce the designers who pushed the style.

In contrast, when designers like Fendi and Celine confirmed their preference for spring’s long, ladylike skirts with a repeat showing in their fall collections – this time the look was universally embraced and adored. But while the new length is everywhere for fall, it can be tough to pull it off without looking like you’re playing a bit part on HBO’s Big Love series.

Take a lesson from Ossie Clark, the British designer who managed to persuade boutique babes in London to ditch the mini in 1967, and keep the volume up high and the waist defined. Contrary to the fear that the longer length will cut your leg off in a strange spot, the calf-grazing skirt actually makes legs look longer and slimmer. For a modern look, pair with ankle boots, cropped sweater or bomber and a fun accessory like a floppy hat to keep that cool 70’s vibe going.

The post The Midi Skirt: Then And Now appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’ve watched eco-fashion’s sizzling new designer Christopher Raeburn‘s film for his Spring/Summer Dazzle collection of jackets made from redeployed parachute silk, over and over again. It’s a nebulous fashion moment that I can’t quite put my finger on.

There are fashion moments we’ve all connected to. When I first saw Alexander McQueen’s amazing hologram of Kate Moss, fat tears heaved out of me. And Jackie Kennedy’s decision to keep on her blood-splattered pink Chanel suit for Lyndon Johnson’s swearing in, affects me even as a Brit. Then there are personal fashion moments. The first time I laid eyes on an Ossie Clark dress, for instance. The genius in its bias-cut intuitively understood how to flatter my shape before even I had it figured out.

I went down to San Joaquin Valley to look at California’s cotton farms last week. My neighbor on the bus and I were talking about our emotional connections to our clothes. At first, she’d insisted her clothes were just a uniform. Then, she remembered a special piece that had some significance. Would she ever throw it away, I asked? Her eyes delighted me, as they fixed onto a far away gaze.

Back to the point, and there is one – although I’ve warned you this is pretty nebulous stuff. Another memorable personal fashion moment occurred this year, when I opened up Vogue’s August issue to see Blake Lively wearing Christopher Raeburn’s battledress wool inuit parka (shown below). Not only was it my first introduction to the talented designer. I realized that the eco-fashion movement had produced something that stood on its own design merits, a lone eco note among conventional fashions in the industry’s bible. That parka was really cool. And, I really, really wanted one.

Three months later – I still really, really want one, by the way – and Vogue is seemingly foaming green at the mouth with articles on Marni’s recycled drinking bottle necklace, a locally-made skin care line and Stella McCartney’s enchanting country estate. I think it’s really great. I noted the somewhat flimsy eco-provenance of some of the looks in the “Naturally Refined” layout, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, but I’ve decided that undermining ‘baby steps’ is not the point either.

Ironically enough, the environment isn’t the only victim to fashion’s mass market appetite. The industry’s creative talent suffers too. The “mega-corporations are making creativity more difficult every season. The struggle between the demands of marketing and the freedom and needs of the creative process, the pressure to constantly sell more and to keep upping the ante on the shows with more celebrities and always more press coverage, these are the things that are literally killing fashion” – someone else’s point, by the way.

There are lots of great ideas about what sustainable fashion needs to be defining and some inspired critical thinking – like this – about how to maneuver the luxury goods market.  If we want to produce  “heirlooms-in-waiting” as “an antidote to throwaway fashion,” we’ve go to embrace our emotional connection to clothes, and celebrate the industry’s creativity and aspirational fashion editorial – and the enduring desire it induces. It all matters. It’s all the point.

Back to Christopher Raeburn‘s cute little fashion moment – what do you think? I still haven’t really figured out why, but it makes me happy every time I watch it. And maybe, that’s the point too?

The post Happiness Is Fashion: What’s the Point? appeared first on EcoSalon.