Exercise 4 - The Fashion icons from 1920 to 2000s
Fashion itself was as much a character in the Roaring Twenties cast as the people that wore it. Following in Jeanne Lanvin’s footsteps of forgoing the corset in favor of a robe de style, Coco Chanel helped typify the new full-skirted silhouette with her garconne or, "little black dress." Curves were out, and so was milky white skin — she also ushered in the fashion of sunbathing.
Since bare arms had replaced bearing arms, all this free-form fashion made dance the natural expression of the post-war giddiness. Flappers and their cohorts had musicians like Jelly Roll Morton to thank for providing the tunes for their swinging moves. New Orleans-born Morton was at the forefront of standardizing the African European musical hybrid that became American jazz, and he even claimed to have invented the genre. While his swagger was specious, the outsize behavior is typical of the Age and his talents were more than equal to his bragging rights.
1930s
Jean Harlow
In order to promote Harlow’s image, the producers of the 1931 film Gallagher changed it to Platinum Blonde, sparking a craze of fans dyeing their hair to match Harlow’s blonde bob. Her publicity team also launched a competition to any colourist who could match the actress’s signature shade. Jean created the colour with a weekly treatment of peroxide, ammonia, and Lux soap flakes. Harlow was also the ribbon-cutter for Max Factory’s “Blondes Only” room, at the opening of the Hollywood salon.
Harlow joined MGM and began her contract starring in Red-Headed Woman (1932). The studio paired Harlow with Clark Gable in a series of successful films including Red Dust (1932), Hold Your Man (1933) and China Seas (1935). As with MGM’s other leading ladies, Harlow was dressed by Adrian, but created her own unique approach to style. She favored monochromatic curve-skimming gowns, often wearing white to create a luminous effect with her platinum hair and ivory skin. She avoided accessorizing her gowns with jewelry, believing that fine dresses should be allowed to stand alone; for this reason her gowns didn’t feature many patterns or large embellishments.
However, she always wore an anklet, as a good luck charm. Harlow believed in minimalism, and quality over quantity stating, “It saves you money in the long run to get a good dress of which you’re always proud.” In stark contrast to the Joan Crawford’s many wardrobes and reputation as a clotheshorse, Jean Harlow’s style was built on long-lasting, practical investment pieces: “At most, I buy six costumes a season, usually two black crepe frocks, a dinner and a restaurant dress, and two evening gowns. My wardrobe is never a large one.”
1940s
Katharine Hepburn
When the world’s fashion center, Paris, was engulfed by war in the late 1930s, Hollywood designers filled the gap by projecting an identifiable “American fashion” onto the silver screen. Hollywood’s ascendant fashion significance catapulted Hepburn’s tailored and casual style into prominence as the defining American look. According to leading costume historian Jean L. Druesedow and curator of the traveling exhibition "Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen," Hepburn captured the moment because “she embodied American style.”
1950s
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe is one of the most famous actresses of the century — the blonde bombshell is synonymous with Old Hollywood and everything glamorous. While Monroe's movies have gone down in film history — like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Seven Year Itch — her style is just as noteworthy. Her platinum blonde curls and red lipstick were the actress's defining characteristics, as was her sultry way of speaking and impeccable style.
Monroe had a penchant for showstopping sleeveless gowns and curve-hugging wiggle dresses. She lit up a red carpet with her silk evening gowns and white fur stoles. She stole scenes in movies with her sequined gowns and designer duds, and started new trends just by wearing them. Monroe also set the stage for fashion trends with the outfits she wore off the silver screen. She was constantly caught by paparazzi wearing the latest looks, whether that was timeless cashmere dresses or high-waist pants with patterned tops.
Monroe had an effortless style that transcended the test of time, and her looks were truly memorable. Ahead is a peek at some of her best style moments, whether that was in films, on the red carpet, or out and about in town. Let's see which one is your favorite.
1960s
Mary Quant
Quant is often credited with inventing the decade's most iconic look: the mini-skirt. There is no conclusive evidence to say who first took hemlines a daringly long way north of the knee (French couturier André Courrèges is another possibility). Regardless, extremely short skirts and shift dresses became Quant's trademark, and were popularised by the era's most high-profile model, Twiggy, whose willowy figure helped turn super-short hemlines into an international trend. Mini-skirts and dresses were perfectly paired with Quant's tights and underwear range, one of the first lines produced using the Mary Quant name under license. Quant also created the 'skinny rib' sweater (apparently inspired by trying on an eight-year-old's sweater for fun) and, in 1966 invented hot pants. Capitalising on the 1960s' love affair with new materials, she was the first designer to use PVC, creating 'wet look' clothes, and different styles of weatherproof boots in her footwear range, Quant Afoot.
1970s
Bianca Jagger
Supermodel, muse and wife of a Rolling Stone for the majority of the decade, Bianca Jagger defined the decadent 1970s. With her tall frame, high cheekbones and full lips, the similarities with her husband didn’t end with her striking looks. She was a popular cultural force in her own right, a muse to fashion designers and artists alike, such as Roy Halston and Andy Warhol. The former was responsible for the dreamlike image of Jagger riding into Studio 54 on a white horse when he hosted her 30th birthday party.
The long draping hooded dresses and jumpsuits not only defined Jagger’s look, but an entire era of disco decadence – something which fashion is having a nostalgic romance with of late. The most recent offerings from Chloé, in particular, have prompted fashion historians to speculate about the design house’s reference points, drawing comparisons with the ethereal all-in-ones and Grecian gowns Halston dressed Jagger in during the 1970s.
At their wedding in 1971, Bianca successfully outshone her groom, arguably the most charismatic Rolling Stone, when she wore a slinky maxi skirt suit by Yves Saint Laurent — not a trouser suit as is commonly understood. In her book How to Party, Yasmin Mills describes the model’s outfit choice as “perhaps the most inspired alternative wedding classic of all time”. YSL also designed Mick’s suit for the big day, although this bypasses most commentators, such was the impact of Bianca’s outfit.
1980s
Whitney Houston
Celebrated singer, actress, and model Whitney Houston—winner of six Grammys, two Emmys, and 22 American Music Awards—died on February 11th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at the age of 48. Throughout her long career, Houston had earned a reputation for not only being one of the most brilliant voices in the music industry, but also for her inimitable ladylike elegance, her unmistakable signature style.
Houston was rarely ever a fashion victim—even though some of these clothes we're showing you, below, may seem pretty out-there in retrospect, remember that she launched her musical career in the mid-1980s, when dress-up pop acts like Culture Club (feat. lead singer, cross-dressing androgynous Boy George), Cyndi Lauper, and even Michael Jackson (in his early days) were all the rage. Houston's styling choices, in comparison, were tame—she wore a lot of monochrome looks in black, white, or red. Her silhouettes were relatively conservative—suits, shoulderpads, prom-dresses, turtlenecks.
1990s
Gwen Stefani
Unique, bold, fun, unconventional. Gwen Stefani's style has influenced an entire generation and still inspires those who on IG and Tik Tok carefully study her outfits, that unique mash-up, constantly hovering between girlie girl and tomboy, made of baggy pants, crop tops, mixing and match prints, red lipstick and a lot of attitude. She never followed trends. She invented them. Like other Riot girls of the time, she turned the canons of femininity upside down by following her own personal aesthetic, combining everything from 80's punk to Old Hollywood glamour, from hip hop to ska, from manga to Mods. She dyed her hair with pop colors; she played with jewel make-up; she showed up at the opening of Dior's New York boutique showing not a perfect smile, but her orthodontic braces as if they were the chicest of accessories; she played the role of a Jean Harlow style diva as well as the tough girl who didn't have to give up glitter and lipstick to be believable, teaching us all that we could be whoever we wanted, even more than one girl at the same time.
2000s
Britney Spears
Although Spears became famous for her singing, her fans — and critics — were soon paying attention to every part of her life, keeping a particularly close eye on her fashion. Spears' style choices were notable because she often opted for clothing that was deemed suggestive at the time.
Early in her career, Spears was often pictured in crop tops, tight dresses, and sheer pieces during performances. But she wasn't afraid of experimenting with her fashion, either. Spears was also known for wearing cargo-style pants and denim pieces, as well as accessories like bucket hats.
But the daring pieces she sported in performances and music videos were often what people remembered, and magazine covers frequently featured Spears' latest looks in the late '90s and early 2000s.Spears wasn't the only, or the first star, to popularize daring looks that showed off skin.
The members of Destiny's Child, TLC, and the Spice Girls were wearing crop tops and sheer outfits before Spears, and Mariah Carey was no stranger to breaking fashion boundaries either. The singer's peers, like Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson, were wearing similar looks, too.But the combination of Spears' youth and her monumental stardom made her a lightning rod for attention, turning her into a bona fide fashion icon before she turned 18.
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