Fifty years of fashion
No history of fashion in the years 1960 to 2010 can overlook or underestimate two constant factors: jeans and the rise and fall of hemlines for women’s skirts and dresses.
Denim, the textile which jeans are made of, was known in France in the late 16th century, but it was Levi Strauss who saw that mine workers in the Californian gold rush in the mid-19th century needed strong trousers, which he reinforced with metal pins. Blue denim jeans remained popular in the US as work clothes until the 1950s, but then became associated with youth, new ideas, resistance to authority and independent thinking. When Levi Strauss & Co began to export blue jeans to Europe and Asia in the late 1950s, they were bought and worn with huge enthusiasm by a large proportion of young people and recognized as a symbol of the young, informal American way of life.
Hemlines have a more peculiar significance during this period. There is consensus among fashion editors that there is a precise relation, with only a few exceptions, between the length of women’s skirts and the economy. As the stock market rises, so do hemlines, and conversely, when it falls, so do they. Exactly why women should want to expose or conceal bare legs during periods of economic boom and bust remains a mystery. But the general trend is clear. Whenever the economic outlook is troublesome, the convention is for both men and women to wear more conservative clothes.
Perhaps the most important development in fashion in the 1960s was the miniskirt, invented by the British designer Mary Quant. Because Quant worked in the heart of Swinging London, the miniskirt developed into a major international fashion. It attracted greater respect when the great French designer, Courrèges, imported it into his range of clothes and developed it into an item of high fashion. But it would not have achieved such international currency without the development of tights, instead of stockings, because the rise in hemlines meant the stocking tops would be visible.
The hippie movement of the mid-1960s and early 1970s influenced the design of jeans, with the trouser leg developing a “bell-bottom” style. By the mid-1970s, as the economy grew worse, hemlines descended to midi or medium (mid-calf) length and maxi (ankle length), while jeans were no longer limited to blue.
Jeans remained fashionable during the period of punk, usually worn ripped, often with badges, chains and belts with metal ornaments, and pierced ears and noses. The look lasted for several years, although became more and more restricted to small groups of inner-city young people, and had little influence on other age groups.
As a reaction to punk, the New Romantics was a fashion movement which occurred in British clubs. It was eye-catching and featured fancy shirts and blouses. Jeans were definitely not acceptable.
The mid-1980s saw the rise of a number of different styles. Power dressing was characterized by smart executive suits and, for the newly empowered women, shoulder pads and knee-length skirts. Not surprisingly, the economy wasn’t stable, and people took less risks in what they wore. For men, the Miami Vice style, named after the television series, made use of smart T-shirts under designer jackets, and three or four days of beard growth. But as always, denim remained popular with the young. In particular, heavy metal music fans wore ripped jeans and denim jackets.
Gradually hemlines started to rise again ... until the world stock market crash in 1987. So the late 1980s in the US saw the rise of the more conservative style called Preppy style, with classic clothes by Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers for men, button-down shirts, casual trousers and shoes, with a sweater tied in a loose knot around the neck. They also wore jeans, but either brand-new or clean and smartly pressed – not at all what Levi Strauss originally intended.
As the world economies bounced back again in the 1990s, fashion for young people became more daring. Boots and Converse or Nike trainers remained popular, but the most common colours became olive green and oatmeal. Hair was worn long, or cut short and dyed blue, green or red. Hoodies, baseball caps and loose jeans, which were often fastened low below the backside, were common on the streets.
Then in January 2000 the New York technology stock market collapsed. As usual, so did hemlines, which were described by one commentator as “the prim and proper look is in. Skirts should be below the knee.” But merely one year later, the stock market began to rally, and the miniskirt returned. Lower limbs were more exposed than they had been for many years.
During this period, it was unusual to wear formal clothes unless you were at work. Designer jeans gained huge popularity. These were made of the traditional denim, perhaps with extra stretch fibre added, but cut and marketed under well-known brands such as Armani, Hugo Boss and Moschino, who until recently had only concerned themselves with the smartest fashion lines. Narrow jeans also became popular in Britain and most of Europe. Skirt length is uncertain, ranging from micro to “sensible” – knee-length or just below.
Sometimes hemlines can even predict a change in the mood of the stock market long before it actually happens. In September 2007, at the New York fashion shows, which were displaying their styles for spring 2008, the trend was for much longer dresses and skirts, many to midcalf or even down to the ankles. Some people felt this showed that the hemline indicator was no longer reliable, and that designers no longer dictated what people would wear. During the London and New York fashion shows in September 2008, hemlines continued to drop. But sure enough, in the fall of 2008, the stock market indexes crashed when the banking crisis hit the US, Europe and then the rest of the world. Hemlines were no longer following the stock market – they were showing the way and indicating future economic trends.
During the whole period, fashion styles have ranged widely, and have usually been sparked off by a desire to identify people as belonging to a particular sub-culture. But the constant factors over this period are denim and hemlines and the greatest influences have been a 19th-century Californian clothes manufacturer and a young designer in the Swinging London of the 1960s.
1. 1960年至2010年间的时尚史不能忽视或低估两个恒定因素：牛仔裤以及女性裙子和连衣裙的裙边的兴衰。
2.牛仔布制成的牛仔布在16世纪后期在法国广为人知，但是Levi Strauss看到19世纪中叶加州淘金热中的矿工需要坚固的裤子，他对此进行了加固
用金属别针。
蓝色牛仔牛仔裤一直作为工作服在美国流行，直到1950年代，但随后与年轻人，新思想，抵抗权威和独立思考联系在一起。
1950年代后期，Levi Strauss＆Co开始向欧洲和亚洲出口蓝色牛仔裤时，很大一部分年轻人就以极大的热情购买和穿着蓝色牛仔裤，并被认为是美国年轻，非正式的生活方式的象征。
3.在此期间，下摆的意义更为特殊。
时装编辑一致认为，除了裙子的长度和经济性之间有确切的联系，只有少数例外。
随着股票市场的上涨，边线也随之上升，反之，当其下跌时，它们也一样。
在经济繁荣和萧条时期，妇女为什么要裸露或隐藏裸露的腿，这仍然是一个谜。
但是总体趋势是明确的。
每当经济前景困难时，惯例就是男人和女人都应该穿更保守的衣服。
4.也许1960年代时装界最重要的发展是由英国设计师Mary Quant发明的迷你裙。
由于Quant在Swinging London的心脏地带工作，因此迷你裙发展成为一种主要的国际时尚。
当法国伟大的设计师Courrèges将其导入他的服装系列并将其开发为高级时装时，它引起了更大的尊重。
但是，如果没有紧身衣而不是长筒袜的发展，它就不可能实现这样的国际货币，因为底边的增加意味着长筒袜是可见的。
5. 1960年代中期和1970年代初的嬉皮运动影响了牛仔裤的设计，裤脚发展为“喇叭裤式”风格。
到1970年代中期，随着经济的恶化，下摆下降到中长（中小腿）和中长（踝长），而牛仔裤不再局限于蓝色。
6.朋克时期的牛仔裤仍然很时髦，通常破破烂烂，经常带有徽章，带有金属饰品的链和皮带，以及耳洞和鼻孔。
这种外观持续了几年，尽管越来越多地局限于城市中的一小部分年轻人，并且对其他年龄段的人几乎没有影响。
7.作为对朋克的一种反应，《新浪漫主义者》是一场流行运动，发生在英国的俱乐部中。
这是引人注目的，特色化奇的衬衫和上衣。
牛仔裤绝对不能接受。
8. 1980年代中期，出现了许多不同的样式。
动力装扮的特点是巧妙的行政套装，而对于刚刚获得权能的女性，则是肩垫和及膝裙。
毫不奇怪，经济不稳定，人们所穿的衣服所承受的风险较小。
对于男性，以电视连续剧的名字命名的Miami Vice风格使用了设计师外套下的巧妙T恤，以及三到四天的胡须生长。
但与往常一样，牛仔布在年轻人中仍然很受欢迎。
特别是重金属音乐迷穿着破烂的牛仔裤和牛仔夹克。
9.逐渐增加的裙边……直到1987年世界股市崩盘。所以在1980年代后期，美国出现了一种更为保守的风格，称为Preppy风格，其中包括Ralph Lauren和Brooks Brothers的经典服装。
，纽扣衬衫，休闲长裤和鞋子，并在脖子上系松结的毛衣。
他们还穿牛仔裤，但要么是全新的，要么是干净利落的压制–根本不符合Levi Strauss的初衷。
10.随着世界经济在1990年代再次反弹，年轻人的时尚变得更加大胆。
靴子和匡威或耐克运动鞋仍然很受欢迎，但最常见的颜色变成了橄榄绿色和燕麦片。
头发很长，或者剪短了，染成蓝色，绿色或红色。
连帽衫，棒球帽和宽松的牛仔裤通常固定在背面的下方，在大街上很常见。
11.然后，2000年1月，纽约科技股票市场崩溃。
像通常一样，下摆也是如此，一位评论员将其描述为“外观优美而适当。裙子应在膝盖以下。”
但是仅仅一年后，股票市场开始反弹，超短裙又回来了。
下肢比许多年来暴露更多。
12.在此期间，除非您上班，否则不穿正式服装。
设计师牛仔裤广受欢迎。
它们由传统的牛仔布制成，也许还添加了额外的弹力纤维，但以Armani，Hugo Boss和Moschino等知名品牌裁剪和销售，直到最近他们才关注最聪明的时尚系列。
窄牛仔裤在英国和欧洲大部分地区也很流行。
裙长不确定，范围从微小到“合理” –膝长或略短。
13.有时，波动甚至可以预测股市情绪的变化，而远未真正发生。
2007年9月，在纽约时装秀上，他们展示了2008年春季的款式，趋势是长得多的裙子和裙子，很多到中小腿，甚至到脚踝。
有人认为这表明下摆线指示器不再可靠，设计师也不再规定人们穿什么衣服。
在2008年9月的伦敦和纽约时装秀期间，裙边继续下降。
但可以肯定的是，在2008年秋天，银行危机席卷了美国，欧洲以及世界其他地方，导致股市指数暴跌。
Hemlines不再关注股票市场，而是在显示道路并指明未来的经济趋势。
14.在整个时期，时尚风格的范围广泛，通常是由于人们希望将人们确定为属于特定亚文化而点燃。
但是，在此期间，牛仔布和下摆的固定因素是最大的影响因素是19世纪的加利福尼亚服装制造商和1960年代摇摆伦敦的年轻设计师。