A Lesson In Fashion History

Oct 19, 2007 at 1:33 PM
1 comment

Today I will be giving a lesson in fashion history, but first I must talk about the new show Pushing Daisies. I really enjoy this show and I must like it a lot because usually I don't talk about things even if I do like them. Anyway, the reason I like this show is NOT because one of the characters knits. I like it because it is fun and fanciful, silly and smart and incredibly visually interesting, it is just gorgeous, the colors are brilliant especially on our "Glorious HD" TV. How does this relate to fashion history? I have heard people talk about the costumes, specifically the costumes of the main female character Chuck. I found one of Chuck's outfits to be particularly interesting in this week's episode "The Fun in Funeral". And while the people that I heard talking liked the costume, they didn't find in interesting in the way that I did, which made me mad. I am hoping that my historical insight might interest someone else.

Here is the costume I will be discussing:

Chuck

Even if you don't know anything about fashion you can look at this picture and think "that looks 50's" and yes, it does. More than that it reminds me of this image

Dior

This is an iconic image of Dior's "New Look". This image went along side information on "The New Look" in two of my three fashion history books. This is an important moment in fashion history and while we look at this style and think "50's" it actually started in 1947. You see, in the 1940's the world was at war, WWII to be exact. There were restrictions on everything and that included how much fabric you could use to make clothes. Men were at war and the women took up the "man's work" at home. Fashion took on a utilitarian, even militaristic feel. This included boxy square cut jackets worn by women. In 1947 after the war, the men came home and everyone wanted to "get back to normal", where women did women's work. This was a return to femininity, the perfect "50's family", men bringing home the bacon and women taking care of the home. The New Look emphasized this return to femininity. In the picture above you can see a slim, defined waist that expands into a wide full skirt. The shoulders are soft, not boxy like early 40's style, these elements are what defined the New Look. It also seems very luxurious, because a skirt that full requires lots of fabric, so it breaks away from the early 40's ideals of conserving fabric.

While Chuck is wearing a dress and not a jacket and skirt there are similarities that make me think her costume specifically references this Dior image, instead of just evoking a more general "New Look style". It must be the hat.

Chuck hat

I don't have anything to say about why the costume designer chose to reference the Dior image, I just think it is interesting. Interesting to reference an iconic image and all the history that goes along with it. I hope you learned something and that someone found it interesting too.

Future lessons in fashion history may include
The origin of the word sabotage
How Cinderella's shoes may have originally been squirrel fur

Humm...both those are shoe related, so also something not shoe related?
The toga...not what you think it is.