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James Laver's Law of Fashion

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FASHION - James Laver was a museum curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London from the 1930s through the 1950s. Laver was also a fashion theorist and historian and having no other claim to fame he conceived of Laver’s Law — an attempt to make sense of the "fashion trend life cycle". Here is James Laver's Law of Fashion: Indecent 10 years before its time Shameless 5 years before its time Outré (Daring) 1 year before its time Smart Current Fashion Dowdy 1 year after its time Hideous 10 years after its time Ridiculous 20 years after its time Amusing 30 years after its time Quaint 50 years after its time Charming 70 years after its time Romantic 100 years after its time Beautiful 150 years after its time What is interesting is that James Laver's Law of Fashion's has become the standard by which clothes buyers now operate. ie. Stanley Marcus, the former president of Neiman Marcus, recounts in his rather boring memoir tit...
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Red Alert: Fashion Entering the Red Revolution

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FASHION - For almost 30 years black has maintained a stranglehold on fashion, even in Paris the avant garde capitol. But there are growing signs that things are changing and that red... isn't dead. In the early 1980s purist Japanese designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto claimed black was dense with meaning and subtext. They rejected colour and focused on form and shape. Colours were frivolous and only to be used as accents, if absolutely necessary. Black was existential, smart, artsy and serious. Wearing it meant separating yourself (like goths do) from the rest of the overly colourful society. For Kawakubo, black was a feminist colour because she felt it desexualized the female form. These days everyone wears black , but the high-mindedness and theory has gone stale. Now black is a cliche and is "so two decades ago". Women today who wear black will defend it by arguing it's easy to co-ordinate and that it visually flattens unwanted curves. Even now as th...
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