"Fashion is cyclical." I know that. "Everything that goes around, comes around." I accept this to be true. "Fashion is constantly looking back at history for inspiration." So be it. But do these fashion truisms mean we're bound to keep repeating the same horrible mistakes over and over again? Can't we pilfer history for the most flattering trends and leave the least flattering trends behind to be snickered at by successive generations? Ever since I viewed the images from the Spring 2008 haute couture collections, I've been having terrible 80's flashbacks. You know the ones - Dynasty-inspired linebacker shoulders and Margaret Thatcher-insprired helmet hair. It was especially evident at Chanel which felt like a procession of structured jackets channeling Ivana Trump circa late 1980's. You see, it's not that the shoulder pads at Chanel were that bad really. Nor were the ones at Valentino for that matter. But virtually all the designers incorporated them in some form or another and we all know it will be a slippery slope from here. Like any innocuous trend, it will start out subtly but before you know it, shoulder pads will get progressively bigger until they become downright cartoonish. More importantly, we will wear them and therefore become cartoonish ourselves. C'est trop horrible!!
Photographic References:
Row 1: Linda Evans (Dynasty); Look from Chanel's Spring 2008 Haute Couture collection (Photo by Daniele Oberrauch); Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Photo from Topfoto).
Row 2: Givenchy Spring2008 Haute Couture (Photo by Daniele Oberrauch); Valentino Spring2008 Haute Couture (Photo by Marcio Madeira); Balenciaga Spring 2008 (Photo by Marcio Madeira).
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