New York Fashion Week

One of the most eye-catching sights of the New York Fashion Week just passed was the proliferation of modish, almost byzantine, feathered hats. This visual reference is a deliberate case of everything old becoming new again.

Yet writing on the subject isn’t easy to find. Millinery was a major aspect of women’s costume until the mid-20th century. You can find pockets of this fashion in certain places – like the hats on the British ladies who attend Ascot races. The Library has a marvelous U.S. publication, complete with dyed feather patterns mounted on plates, from 1888, entitled The Practical Ostrich Feather Dyer. Also at SIBL, a Parisian study by Francis Beltzer, from 1923, treats the manufacturing collusion between hat-makers and featherwork. Take a visual tour through the Digital Gallery, also, using the terms feathers, hats, and ladies hats, to see how inspired these creations could be.

I’m wondering if I’m the only one who thinks that men get a better deal from the fashion industry? Historically, men did own fashion: peacocks out-strutted peahens every time. The NYPL exhibition “A Rakish History of Men’s Wear” told the story of how men were the fashion leaders until the early modern era, coinciding with the birth of haute couture, and then gave up their primacy to women.

With sufficient perspective, however, I wonder if men just didn’t take a roundabout way into a new form of fashion dominance. Other social and costume historians have been pursuing the same theory, with varying conclusions. One of the best studies is by Tim Edwards, Men in the mirror: men’s fashion, masculinity and consumer society. This 1997 publication traces the often surprising emphases placed on modern masculinity through the 20th century, and how the workplace shaped clothing choices.

And, if I want to be devilish, the recent outcry about skinny male models at the New York Fashion Week shows brings a new speculation to mind. While anorexia and eating disorders occur in young men, too, this phenomenon is most usually attributed to the immense social pressure placed on girls and women to be fashionably thin. Could we be heading to an “equal opportunity” attempt to point out this problem with men? The fashion industry gets blamed for many things. Is super-skinniness a new problem for the opposite sex?

The verdict is in (on my part) on the New York Spring 2008 Fashion Week results. Men’s Collections: 6, Women’s Collections: 2.

Diddy seemed to enjoy putting touches of European classicism into his Sean John collection. Many designers, especially Robert Geller and Rag & Bone, had fun shrinking and layering existing casual gear. Tim Hamilton, once again, demonstrates how he’s someone to watch on a regular basis. Clayton Kirking, our chief, thinks I should have titled this post as “Skinny Boys and Dandies: No Cod Pieces at Bryant Park.” Hmm, I’ll have to think about it, especially after Guy Trebay’s rant in the Times…

All in all, I’d take the insouciance of the Spring 2008 men’s wear lines anytime over the ambiguities and mixed metaphors of the women’s wear designs. Isn’t it interesting that, while women still get the lion’s share of runway time, the men’s collections usually come off seeming so much more put together? Men just still seem to do better when things fashion-related occur, or at least they know how to make the fashion stakes more agreeable.

Regency spinster Jane Austen understood the advantages the opposite sex has dealing with popular culture issues. In Persuasion, she writes: “If there is anything disagreeable going on men are always sure to get out of it.”

Hosiery and shoes are another two foundations for contemporary feminine dress, and this year’s runway models sport tinted hose and high heels that made a winning combination in the 1920s. A decade earlier, Paul Poiret introduced women to flesh-colored hosiery, considered daring in that time. Nowadays, black-tinted hose possesses the cachet of being more dressy and alluring. A book called Socks and Stockings offers a pictorial history of hosiery, with some fascinating asides. A number of Fashion Week’s best runway outfits were completed with the same kind of stockings and heels that can be found in the illustration below.

What revelations did New York Fashion Week make? The fashion industry laid hints in advance. The September 2007 issue of Vogue foresaw some trends: Caroline Herrera’s English country girl clothes, FutureFashion’s tribute to “green” wear, with outfits made from soy, hemp, and bamboo (even Donatella Versace made a contribution), and nods to sensible 20s through 60s retro looks. As usual, however, I try and fail to find a discernable pattern to the women’s wear presentations. What interests me most, however, is what will translate into realistic street wear: what designs will appear in the stores for our consumption. Judge for yourself, look at nytimes.com/fashionweek.

We enjoy a spectacular freedom today that we little think about. Our feminine bodies are unfettered by the sort of corsetry that was considered essential for women in past decades and centuries. Fashion Week’s models couldn’t slouch down the runaways with the bravado they do if they were wearing the undergarments of our grandmothers and great grandmothers. Note what was the expected look for a woman of 1918 and contrast it with 2008’s silhouettes.

The text attached to this ad speaks about how “Correct Pose is attained and Natural Pose is improved…” Come to think of it, the 1920s introduced the flapper slouch and lounging poses still seen on the runways.

Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. The New York Spring 2008 Fashion Week looks to be one in which, with the troubled economy and potentially tense presidential campaign, the designers will opt for conservatism. The buzzwords are “Grace Kelly” and “Camelot,” which means a retreat basic to the classics: sheath dresses, skirt suits, and bouffant skirts. If you want see more innovative attempts at bringing artistry to fashion, look out for the younger designers. Alexandre Herchcovitch, James Coviello, and Mara Hoffman are doing some good things with color blocking and patterns that make reference to period styles like Art Deco. Small busts and slim hips are imperatives. Forget about the feathery headdresses many models sported – the new watchword for decoration is ruffles.

Check out www.nydailynews.com/blogs/hotornot for some real dish.

Tomorrow morning, the Library's third floor reading rooms will reverberate to the bass boom of recorded runway music. Hordes of slim, anxious, black-clad men and women will stand around the Library and Bryant Park entrances, walkie talkies and cell phones in hand. Passersby will strain for the glimpse of a celebrity sighting, while those not in the know will wonder what new fuss is going on the park. It’s the start of New York Spring 2008 Fashion Week!

I’m starting to wonder if my ruminations about body types are echoing a murmur in the collective zeitgeist. Lo and behold, the current issue of Newsweek has an article entitled “Rise of the Real People.” The gist of this report is that a trend is developing in which fashions modeled by people with realistic figures are becoming more and more popular. The reasons for this development aren’t fully clear, but the Internet plays a role. Jennie Yabroff, the article’s author, has talked to people in the fashion industry who think that the vogue for skinny, expressionless models is wearing thin with the public. A notable blogger and photographer, Scott Schuman, who takes pictures of real people in street fashion for his blog, The Sartorialist, is also mentioned.

We’ll just have to see what the coming week brings for fashion innovation. The Milan shows had a mix of playfulness and business as usual. Paris Fashion Week featured pastel bubble dresses, platform wedges, and a tasteful sendoff for Valentino. New York’s designer shows, however, are just like the presidential election—too unpredictable to call…