Of Grecians

Grecian Sandals

I love Grecian Sandals. I own a very simple pair myself. It is champagne gold with a T-bar, and an ankle strap.
I pair it with practically everything. My white pants, jeans, skirt, shorts...anything! It blends perfectly with nautical looks (blues and whites) and safari/ethnic looks (browns, embellishments) or classic styles like the cardi and capri outfit at Peter Som below:



Grecian Goddess looks:

GYPSY


Vigotti - Indian style. Simple, and elegant. Perfect for a casual outing.

Great when paired with:
Anna Sui Eyelet Dress - To make this gypsy dress less bourgeois

Accessorize with:


Isabella Fiore Urban Gypsy Hobo - for that added colour

SWEET


Faryl Robin Troy - Gladiator tie-up.

Great when paired with:
Robert Rodriguez Ribbed Tank & Lace Skirt - revs up the chic quotient, plays down the sweet lace-y look

Accessorize with:


Fendi Pink Leather Vanity Handbag - To glam it all up

BOHEMIAN


Celine Santorin Thong Sandal - if gold is too much

Great when paired with :
Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti Crochet Cami & Peasant Skirt - simple shoes that complete the ethnic look and don't overpower the strong colours

Accessorize with:


Yves Saint Laurent La Boheme Small Hobo - to take boho a step further


CASUAL

Valentino Jeweled Flat Sandal - for colour addicts

Great when paired with:
Johnny Was Collection Floral Tunic & Cami - the colours complement the simple jean and tunic combi perfectly and make the florals less Laura Ashley boring


Juicy Couture Super Star Hobo - casual and practical chic

Fashion Through The Ages - 1980s

Whew, last post for the series.

The 80s was the decade of excess. Everything was bigger, and everyone wanted more more more! Shoulder pads were de riguer for both men and women, the more accessories the better.

The Rubik's cube, Cabbage Patch Kids, "Baby on Board" signs, and Trivial Pursuit fads capture the interest of the American public.

MTV was born and it inspired many a teenager in their sartorical decisions.

New Romantics

New romanticism emerged in the UK music scene in the early 80s as a direct backlash against the aus­terity of the punk movement. At various times it became a catch-all term for quite disparate bands working within the pop world, and consequently works better as a description of a specific time rather than sound or style. Where punk railed against life on England's council estates, the new romantics celebrated glamour; ostentatious clothes and hedonism.

Adapted factual or fictional themes and Hollywood glamour were chosen by the New Romantics to make a personal look. The flamboyant, colourful dramatic look used frills and luscious fabrics associated with historical periods. In contrast to punks the wearers made an effort to look flamboyant in an attractive, luxuriant, beautiful, narcissistic way.

David Bowie was an obvious influence, and his 1980 single "Fashion" could be considered an anthem for the New Romantics.



The early designers of the romantic look were Vivienne Westwood, Colin Swift, Stevie Stewart and David Holah. Westwood began her romantic ideas with adaptations of dandified Regency designs which later she developed into a Pirate look. She designed especially for Adam and The Ants.

The Swashbuckling Pirate Look

Typical romantic glamour had the swashbuckling style of pirates and buccaneers. Full sleeved frilled pirate shirts were made from luxury fabrics. Theatrical brocade or hussar style jackets of velvet or silk complete with braiding were copied and appeared on many jackets. The New Romantic look was intended to be individual, unlike punk which tended to have uniformity. New Romantics longed for the fantasy of the 1930s and 50s glamour of Hollywood.


McLaren and Westwood's Pirate clothes (above) explored historical cut and evoked the golden age of piracy, an age of highwaymen, dandies and buccaneers. As in Punk, the garments were unisex. The collection immediately entered the mainstream and McLaren and Westwood gained a new reputation, as serious and marketable designers.

Neon
Socks, Shirts, Hair accessories, bracelets, shoe laces, store signs etc. In contrast to the conservative business climate, the voice of color became louder in casual wear. There were no shy colors, be they primary or fluorescent. New Wave bands such as Culture Club featuring Boy George and mega stars such as Madonna and Michael Jackson encouraged in-your-face fashion.


Boy George

Jelly Shoes
If you were a little girl that grew up in the 80's, then chances are you owned a pair of jelly shoes. These were flexible bright colored jelly shoes that you could wear without socks. A very popular fad during this decade.



Women began demanding an alternative to high heels. The image of a power-suited woman in athletic shoes rushing off to work is quintessential 80s. Quotes such as "It's harder to climb the ladder of success in high heels" were taken seriously. Some women began dressing in mannish simplicity while attempting to shatter the glass ceiling. Flats and low-heeled shoes in muted colors and classic styles were popular.


1980s Charles Jourdan Black Peau d'Soie Pump

Moccasins, espadrilles, and other sorts of native shoes were reinvented using these new color palettes. With the rise of Nike, Converse, Vans and Adidas, sneakers became more popular.


The Converse Chuck Taylor was popular in the 80s

Lace fingerless gloves
ala Madonna who was THE fashion icon, THE material girl of the 80s.



Madonna

Tights and Pantyhose
By the 1980s, patterned tights returned, but now they were spotted or delicately textured lace, striped or enhanced with embellishment such as a flock flower, embroidery or diamante at the ankle. In the mid to late 80s, coloured tights sheer, opaque or solid that toned and matched coordinated shoes could be seen everywhere. Vaguely Black sheer tights were worn with power suits through the eighties.


Neon tights

Hair

Hair styles of the 80s are the most diverse and humorous characteristics of this decade. In the early 80s, the New Romantic fashions kicked off the decade with great hair experimentation. For a while there seemed to be a competition to see who could build the tallest hair, have the strangest angles, or see much plastic, metal and mousse you could fit into your hair and still keep your head upright.

-Big Hair with lots of hairspray
-Hair from music bands like Bananarama, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard and Poison truly epitomized the 'bigger is better' adage.
-Asymmetrical haircuts
-Bleached short hair
-Bangs
-Mullet
-Hair that was styled in all kinds of incredulous ways (see Flock of Seagulls)


Bananarama and Flock of Seagull's hair

Acid washed jeans

While blue was the most popular color of acid wash, in the late 80s denim manufacturers also experimented with red styles and black (black and gold acid wash was truly jaw dropping.


Acid-washed jeans

Leg warmers

Leg warmers started with dancers but by around 1982 they began to make an appearance in wider society thanks to the movie Flashdance. They were speckled, fluoro and some were worn so low that they would have been better known as ankle warmers.


Preppy Look
Reagan's election in 1980 ushered in a new age of American conservatism, and the "Preppy" collegiate look popular with high school and college students fitted right in with it.

Sales of Brooks Brothers, LL Bean and Ralph Lauren's Polo clothes were up, thanks partially to the publication of Lisa Birnbach's The Preppy Handbook. Though the book was intended as satire, it was taken at face value by most of its teenaged readers, who regarded it as a fashion bible



Power Dressing
The 80s were also about power dressing. Corporate business suit dressing was conservative, though the bright colours of the 80s was prevalent. There were sleeves on dresses and the cuts were tailored, not revealing or figure-hugging.


1980s Valentino Red Wool Dress , 1980s Carolina Herrera Pink Linen Dress

Evening Wear
Even evening wear was not spared from the bright colours of the 80s. More bold than power suits, evening gowns had colourful glitter and appliques.


Evening dress by Oscar de la Renta, United States of America, circa 1982, Denim suit by Patrick Kelly, France, circa 1980-1989.

Movies from the 80s
-Flashdance
-Fame



Buy the 80s

80s are too recent to be vintage, so I would say, don't buy the 80s, unless its a classic gown.

But for the daring, try Jelly Shoes.


Kate Spade jelly sandal with big bow


Salvatore Ferragamo Jelly Thong with Charms


Dior Glossy Clog

Fashion Through The Ages - 1970s

The 1970s were literally the "anything goes" decade. For some, the uglier and clunkier the fashion, the better. For others, soft and feminine was the answer. No matter what you "dug" though, making a fashion statement reached its apex in the 1970s.

The 1970s were an intensely tumultuous time, with various cultures and subcultures coming out into the open at once. Cynicism abounded as militant feminism, Civil Rights, the Watergate scandal, and the Vietnam War brought gritty reality to the forefront. These influences gave designers new ammunition, and the public was eager for the latest fashion wave.

Platform Shoes
By the mid seventies the most ordinary people were wearing two inch deep platforms without a second thought. But accidents did happen and many a woman and man twisted on a pair of platform shoes. At about the same time clogs became popular as they followed the trend for chunkiness of sole.

Pop art emulated the platform shoe, and by 1971, it was considered the most exciting year in shoe design, not only for the population but for Pop artists. The colors and designs were raved as "psychedelic," for their swirls and colors



Disco Fashion
The late '70s set off the disco craze, showcased in John Travolta's film Saturday Night Fever. Polyester was THE fabric of the decade. Leisure suits with butterfly collars were all the rage under the mirrored disco lights.

Spandex tops and shiny clinging Lycra stretch disco pants in hot strident shiny colours with stretch sequin bandeau tops were often adaptations of professional modern dance wear that found itself making an impact in discos as disco dancing became serious. Gold lame, leopard skin and stretch halter jumpsuits and white clothes that glowed in Ultra Violet lights capture the era perfectly.

Disco gave way to dress codes and a door screening policy. People had to have tried to look right to gain entry to clubs. Disco wear was never acceptable for day wear, but for night it was the only possible wear to enable the participants to be part of the action, to be part of the atmosphere of strobe lighting, mirror balls and spotlighting of individuals at any time. Satin jackets that reflected the light and a medallion resting on a tanned chest in an open neck shirt with the collar turned up were de rigueur, however awful such fashions might seem now.


Talk about tacky, look at Abba in 1977.

Micro, Mini or Maxi 1970's Skirt Lengths
By 1970 women chose who they wanted to be and if they felt like wearing a short mini skirt one day and a maxi dress, midi skirt or hot pants the next day that's what they did. Ra-ra cheerleader skirts were popular.



For evening women often wore full length maxi dresses or evening trousers or glamorous halter neck catsuits. Some of the dresses oozed Motown glamour, others less so.


A 70s catsuit

Frequently for evening in the early seventies, either straight or flared Empire line dresses with a sequined fabric bodice and exotic sleeves were typical for a dressy occasion. One popular style was the Granny dress with a high neck, sometimes frilled or lace trimmed and a floral print design in a warm brushed fabric.


A vintage 1970 Pucci Dress, 1970s Fred Perlberg Red, White & Blue Long Voile Dress

Caftan or Kaftan
The Hippies of the sixties had brought with them clothes from other ethnic groupings which had often never even been seen before. Nehru jackets and loose flowing robes from hot countries made their way to world cities and permeated down to mainstream fashion, helped of course by designers like Yves St Laurent.

From the mid to late 70s, caftans, kaftans, kimonos, muumuus, djellaba (a Moroccan robe with a pointed hood) or jalabiya (a loose eastern robe) and other styles from every part of the Indian sub continent and Africa were translated into at home style robes and comfort wear. They were worked in every fabric imaginable, but were especially suited as glamour dressing when worked in exotic fabrics and edged in silver or metallic trims


Nehru Jacket from India, Djellaba from Morocco


Muumuus from Hawaii, Jalabiya from the Middle East

Flared Trousers, Bell Bottoms and Trouser Suits
Trousers and trouser suits were serious fashions in the 1970s.They began gently flared and reached wide bell bottom proportions by about 1975. After which they slowly reduced to straight and wide until by the end of the seventies they were finally narrow again. popular fabrics include heavy crepes, wool jersey knits, Courtelle jersey and woven Polyester suiting such as Trevira.


That 70s show features bell bottoms, trousers and jeans

Punk Rock
By the time Punk Rock came on the scene in the late 70s, fashions changed as radically as was possible - While bikers and Hells Angels had dressed in black and shoved metal studs through their clothing for most of the 70s, the new punks sported every colour under the rainbow but preferred to shove the metal studs (and safety pins) through their ears and noses.


Hairstyles of the 70s
-Feathered Hair made popular by Farrah Fawcett (below)
-Long straight hippie hair
-Afros


Movies of the 70s


Charlie's Angels


Saturday Night Fever


Superman

Hollywood Celebrities do the 70s


Jennifer Aniston in a midnight blue 1970s Halston Couture dress
Not quite a 'signature' 70s look, its very classic. But nevertheless, it was made in the 70s.


Molly Ringwald looks fugly in this 70s granny printed dress.

Shop the 70s
D&G's Fall 2005 collection escaped to seventies kitsch. There was a giant disco ball and T. Rex and Roxy Music blasted the runway. It paid homage to Biba (a fashion designer) circa 1972 and the show had a punk-rock glam theme.



But if the punk-rock thing is too tacky for you, a more appropriate approach would be to search for ethnic, hippie fashion (which is very in vogue now)

Try the Dior Peace and Love line Dior channels bohemian-chic in their supple suede bags and shoes. Totally hippie. Totally 70s.


Peace & Love Suede Saddle Bag


Dior
Peace & Love Suede Zipped Hobo


Dior Peace and Love Suede Pochette


Dior Peace & Love Suede Mule