Unzipping the floodgates: From a closure to decorative fashion statement, the zipper changed the course of fashion history. Shown here, Balmain’s SS 2010 zipper jacket.

Instantly recognizable by their exposed back zipper, Victoria Beckham’s signature bodycon dresses continue to be the toast of the town. The sexy design detail with little teeth has been giving Beckham’s otherwise demure mid-calf length dresses some serious bite since she launched at New York’s Fashion Week in 2009.

Victoria Beckham’s signature figure-flattering dresses with exposed zipper. 

As erotic a notion as, well, sewing notions can be, the zip and its semi-scandalous potential for exposing whatever is being hidden meant that it wasn’t until the late 1930s that the invention caught on. The popular name “zipper” was also a slow starter.

3.1 Phillip Lim’s recycled zipper dress kicked off the trend for Spring/Summer 2009. The black dress with golden meandering detailing was eco-friendly, made of a natural hemp and silk blend, hand dyed and adorned in recycled zippers and surplus remnants.

Closures prior to the zipper were limited to laces and buttons until 1851 when Elias Howe applied for a patent for his invention, the “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.” Due to design flaws and the success of another of his inventions, the sewing machine, he did not attempt to seriously market the product. In 1914, Gideon Sundback doubled the number of teeth per inch of Howe’s version, creating the “Separable Fastener.” And then an improved version, called the “Hookless Hooker.” The hardware finally got its familiar name in1923, when B. F. Goodrich Company wanted to improve on the standard boot. It introduced the “Zipper Boot,” and the familiar name stuck.

Proving every thing old is new again… Elsa Schiaparelli created the first clothes with visible zippers in 1935. This Schiaparelli taffeta evening gown incorporates a decorative YKK plastic zipper placed diagonally on the front of the skirt.

Ever wondered why the initials YKK are stamped on your zipper? The YKK stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha. In 1934 Tadao Yoshida founded Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha or Yoshida Industries Limited.  YKK remains the world’s foremost zipper manufacturer, making about 90% of all zippers in over 206 facilities in 52 countries. Their largest factory in Georgia makes over 7 million zippers per day.

An ad for Talon nylon zippers first launched in 1960.

Mr. Yoshida endeavored to create the best zippers in the world, basing his company on the Zen principle of the “Cycle of Goodness”, as he called it.  Namely, “No one prospers unless he renders benefit to others.”  Thanks to his mass manufacturing strategy and innovations like using DuPont nylon in the 1960s to replace the metal models (that often rusted and stuck), the zipper has become a part of all of our lives.

The Rolling Stones put a zip that works on the cover of their 1971 album Sticky Fingers created by Andy Warhol.

Want to catch up on some more fashion history?

Now & Then: The History of Fashion Media

Now & Then: The History of the Bikini

Now & Then: The History of the White Wedding Dress

Now & Then: The History of the Ballet Flat

Now & Then: The History of the Breton Shirt

Now & Then: The History of the Pencil Skirt

Now & Then: The History of Skinny Jeans

Read more Now & Then articles here.

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

An exclusive EcoSalon playlist to celebrate being single.

You know that feeling when you’re all by yourself and all you want to do is dance? Love is a great thing, but sometimes it’s worth celebrating being alone, which is why we pulled together a playlist that does just that.

Check out the music videos below, or instead of clicking play every time one music video ends and you need to start the next one, you can even go ahead and listen to all of them nonstop on our Songs to Be Single To playlist on 8tracks.

1. All Around and Away We Go (Teen Daze Remix) – Twin Sister

2. Corvette Cassette – Slow Magic

3. Saturday Love – Toro Y Moi

4. Rocks Off – Rolling Stones

5. Walkabout (w/Noah Lennox) – Atlas Sound

6. Happy High – Blackbird Blackbird

7. I’ve Just Begun (Having My Fun) – Britney Spears

8. 1901 – Phoenix

9. EL ALFA – White Ninja

10. All The Sun That Shines – Peaking Lights

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Like this playlist? There’s more where that came from. Check out our full 10 Songs series.

Image: Susan -**

The post 10 Songs to Be Single To 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.