All aboard for flares, it’s time to abandon the skinny trouser.

When Kate Moss starts wearing wide legged flares instead of the skinny jeans she singlehandedly made famous, you can bet the jig is up. Whether you know them as bell bottoms, flares, wide-legged pants or the first point of order after a seventies fancy dress invite, the fact remains – they’re back in a big way this season.

And yet, if ever there was a time where there are no rules when it comes to the right hemline, silhouette or color this is it. So what goes? It might well be a sense of social saturation that paired with a fitted jacket, extra long scarf and ballet flats, the skinny jean – once the proviso of punk musicians – has become the ubiquitous uniform of every mom on the school run. Despite the vintage flower-child connotations, flared pants feel remarkably fresh right now.

A bold yet minimalist look from Céline’s recent resort 2013 collection.

There is also the influence of Phoebe Philo’s standout Céline Resort 2013 collection (although it may well be redundant to single out any one of Ms. Philo’s collections – all have been entirely remarkable since her appointment in 2008 as the label’s creative director). Her full-legged flared trousers with contrasting colorblocked hems will undoubtedly see immediate success and prove as highly coveted and widely carried as Celine’s luggage tote.

A continual source of style inspiration, Stevie Nicks proves bell bottoms are feminine and wearable.

When the pants we now know and love (or hate) originated is hard to tell. They almost certainly are derived from Navy uniforms. Their flared or bell bottom was a functional choice for traditional sailors as they were easy to remove over boots, a breeze to roll up when swabbing the ship deck, quickly removable when wet – and should you fall into the water – it was even suggested that sailors could use the pants as a life preserver, tying the wide legs in knots and filling them with air.

Like the Charlie’s Angels, flared pants are a total 70s throwback.

By the late 1960’s the counter culture movement adopted the looser more comfortable flared pant rejecting the straight-legged styles of the establishment. As well as buying naval uniforms from surplus stores to embellish with stitching and patches, many hippies and peace protestors began modifying regular jeans by sewing in colorful triangles of fabric. Sewn into the outside leg seam below the knee to the cuff creating a flare below the knee, this flattering and easy-to-copy technique is a great idea for those of you now looking to abandon your skinnies for the wilder winds of fashion change.

Thanks to a wider hem that helps balance proportions, flared styles are more flattering than you might imagine.

Want to catch up on some more fashion history?

Now & Then: the History of the Ballet Flat

Now & Then: The History of Shorts

Now & Then: Met Ball’s Most Memorable Dresses

Now & Then: The History of the Breton Shirt

Now & Then: The History of the Platform Shoe

Now & Then: The History of Fitness Wear

Now & Then: The History of the Pencil Skirt

Now & Then: The History of the Cocktail Dress

Now & Then: The History of Skinny Jeans

Read more Now & Then articles here.

The post Now & Then: The History of Flared Pants appeared first on EcoSalon.

They’re easy to walk in, make you feel taller and add a funky soul era edge to any outfit – which is why platforms will always keep coming back. 

The platform shoe trend is showing some serious staying power since its most recent reemergence on the fashion scene starting in 2007. Instead of being given its walking papers for next season, ever blockier footwear was spotted on the Fall 2012 runways of Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, Balenciaga and Miu Miu suggesting the sky’s the limit for the future of this trend.

Chopines from 15th Century Venice

The origins of the platform can be traced back to 15^th and 16^th centuries when both courtesans and patrician women would wear wood or cork overshoes that at 20 inches high, protected both their shoes and dresses from mud and street soil. Called Chopines, they were covered in leather, brocades and jewel covered velvets that often matched the wearer’s dress. Besides their practical uses, the height of the Chopine became a symbolic reference to the cultural and social standing of the wearer; the higher the shoe, the higher the status of the wearer. However, the modern platform – as we know it today – has its roots firmly placed in the emergence of the (Look At) “Me Generation” and 70s disco culture.

“You have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes.” -Vivienne Westwood

Celine’s much copied Spring 2010 collection of wood-heeled sandals-cum-clogs

Today’s platforms are worn for both function and style. The footwear of choice for those seeking added height and leg lengthening in enduring skinny jeans styles, the weight of the shoe balances a delicate outfit and adds just the right amount of yesteryear gravitas when worn with vintage-inspired pieces.

Despite deploring the ubiquitousness of the dominatrix style hybrid of platform and stiletto pump in her recent On the Runway blog, Cathy Horyn, the fashion critic of the New York Times agreed that this shoe style isn’t going anywhere soon, declaring, “Women love platform shoes.”

Bianca Jagger’s Dancing shoes. Fashionable platform shoes first appeared in the 1930s and 1940s, but reached their greatest popularity during the 1970s. They were revived for the nineties club scene, the Goths, and now look set to stay as part of high fashion style.

Now & Then: The History of Fitness Wear

Now & Then: The History of the Paisley Print

Now & Then: The History of the Pencil Skirt

Now & Then: The History of the Cocktail Dress

Now & Then: The History of the Trench Coat

Now & Then: The History of the Bold Brow

Now & Then: The History of the Cuff

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

Top Image: Mui Mui’s Fall 2012 Platform Boots

The post Now & Then: The History of Platform Shoes appeared first on EcoSalon.