Oh my goodness, would you believe it. It seems after only a short season dominated and inspired by 80s clothes, fashion journalists and trend analysists are already predicting a shift towards the 90s. Although the 80s trend will undoubtedly remain a steadfast feature of the highstreet for the near future, the indicators are already there for a gradual move towards 90s fashion.
For one thing, Blur’s unanimously well-received come-back performance at Glastonbury last month brought that interest and nostalgia for 90s Britpop back into the public domain. See 30 seconds of them being amazing here. You could say Take That did something similar with their recent revival but I’m not sure I’d want to credit Gary Barlow and co with starting new trends!
Those Bright Young Things Pixie Geldoff, Alice Dellal and Agyness Deyn have also instigated a bit of 90s vintage revival.
Their punky, rock look typified by black leather, studs, chunky metal jewellery and Dr. Martin boots, take the 80s trend into the early 90s. These are exactly the same components that made up 90s Grunge, a looking almost single-handedly created by trend-setting, era defining Kurt Cobain.
Its certainly a trend to watch out for. The 80s are by no means over, in terms of the current fashion cycle, but a gradual move towards vintage 90s Grunge does seem inevitable. Interestingly, in this weeks Guardian, fashion columnist Jess Carter Morley notes how the Grunge trend is likely to adapt for a modern audience by making it more glamourous – Glamour Grunge or “Glunge”. See her explain the look here.
Hmmm, not sure about the terminology, “Glunge” sounds faintly offensive somehow. Oh well, in a couple of months time we’ll all be wearing it. Watch this space.
Teddy Boys
Over the next few posts I thought I’d move away from talking about current trends, and explain more about the history of vintage fashion. I’ve chosen a few brief passages from my dissertation (yep, I wrote an entire dissertation about vintage clothes!) that illustrate key moments over the last fifty years that have made the current fashion climate what it is.
First up, is a passage I wrote about the Teddy Boys, really the first generation of young British people to create their own unique look by borrowing stylistic elements from the past. Essentially this is what vintage is all about; borrowing past fashions as a way to express one’s individuality. It sidesteps all that homogenous fashion dictated by the highstreet and allows the wearer to look cool, elitist and most crucially of all, unique.
In the second half of the twentieth century, Britain began to enjoy a massive consumer boom. After the rationing and restriction of World War II, people suddenly found themselves equipped with a disposable income and a far more prosperous outlook. The public was enjoying a new sense of freedom and in consumerism, found an exciting way to channel their optimism…
Whilst the mainstream thrived during this period, young people were largely ignored as a potential consumer group. Advertisers simply assumed that young people could be targeted later in life, when they grew up to become far more predictable adult consumers. As social commentator Naomi Klein puts it, “keeping track of the trends and tastes favoured by style-setting youth wasn’t worth the effort” (No Logo, 2000).
So for several decades, young people dictated their own trends, regardless of the sways of mainstream consumerism. This trailblazing period has been referred to as the “youthquake” (Old Clothes, New Looks: Second-Hand Fashion, 2005). In Britain, the first major example of the ‘youthquake’, occurred in the years immediately following the end of World War II. Developed by Northern working-class teenagers as a dramatic escape from the drab and dreary climate of post-war Britain, these youths had slicked back hair, wide-shouldered suit jackets, skinny drainpipe trousers and brothel creeper shoes.
Known as Teddy Boys (and Teddy Girls), they went to great lengths to source particular clothes. As “the original heirs of Beau Brummel” (Loud And Proud, 2008), they took a fastidious interest in the elegant
suits of the Edwardian era (Edward being shortened to Ted and thus, Teddy Boy). Yet they mixed this Edwardian notion of sartorial perfection with a “proudly proletarian” (Loud And Proud, 2008) attitude. In doing so, they created and maintained a sense of exclusivity and elitism, “designed on the street, for the street” (Loud And Proud, 2008). They also created for themselves, perhaps inadvertently, a notoriety and cult-like status. Teenagers had never before experienced the freedom to make their own cultural choices; instead they had obediently adopted the attitudes (and wardrobe) of their parents. The shockingly different Teddy Boy trend, influenced by the emerging American Rock ‘n’ Roll scene, was therefore seen by older generations as a brazen rebellion against authority and decency.
I hope you don’t mind my meanderings down fashion memory lane too much. Next post, I’m back to the 80s, documenting the immergence of hip-hop and how this changed vintage fashion and youth subculture once again.