Inhabited Chair: Fashion Cycles
It all started when I came across an article in the New York Times about how round sunglasses are coming back. The article admitted that the thick rimmed version of the glasses made famous by John Lennon were not “face flattering.” I have never understood why anyone would wear something that they did not believe made them look good, in the name of fashion. I certainly understand wearing things for the sake of comfort (the vast majority of the time I walk out the door, my outfit is designed by the need to feel comfortable). To me the point of dressing fashionably is to enhance your aesthetics, or in other words, to look good. So it baffles me to learn that something that is known to decrease the aesthetics of the individual wearing it is now coming back into fashion. Because I could not wrap my head around why this was happening, I did some research to hopefully shed some light on this apparently backward way of thinking. I really did not find a satisfactory conclusion as to why people would wear something that they do no think looks good, but I did find some interesting information on fashion cycles in general.
The general consensus seems to be that a fashion will resurface every 20 years or so. For example vintage t-shirts were all the rage when we entered the new millennium because they were emulating the style of the late 70s and early 80s. I’m just glad the hair styles of the mid 80s haven’t come back. What where they thinking? The fashion cycle consists of several stages. In the first stage, we see runway models first debuting the fashion that was dreamt up by some designer. The second stage is when we see celebrities wear the fashion; they are featured in magazines, on the internet, or from coverage of red carpet events. The third stage is when we see the fashion begin to appear in high-fashion stores and the early adopters of mainstream society begin to wear it. These were the “cool” kids in high school, you know the type. The fourth stage is widespread adoption, where the average person wears the fashion. At this point the fashion is in mass production and far cheaper, as well as available in an increased number of knock-offs. The economic feasibility of a fashion plays a big role in how prolific the fourth stage becomes; the cheaper it is, the longer it remains popular. After this, the fifth stage is where people get bored of the fashion, and by this time the bored fashion designers are busy designing the next thing that people will spend their money on. So the cycle continues…
Shoe Thoughts of the Week:
Punk lives loud in the Public Royalty G-Funk Splash sneaker. It features a leather upper in a retro high top sneaker with stitching and overlay accents. Lace up front, padded collar and tongue, fabric lining. It also has a cushioned insole, retro vulcanized midsole. Traction outsole. This funky retro sneaker, offered in a variety of colors to match any outfit, is a casual style that can be paired with anything from jeans to gym wear. A versatile sneaker that is great for any activity. It features a genuine suede upper, solid rubber outsole with traction for extra grip. This Gola Harrier shoe is a Gola original! Back from the 60′s, it was a must-have growing up in England. This Gola Trainer has a soft suede upper, padded footbed collar for added comfort, and a leather trim.
Non-Shoe Thoughts of the Week:
- The shirts that we will be running in for the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge just arrived today, they look great. Vote for our design here: http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/tshirtcontest.php?page=tshirt&city_id=4
- If you are the kind of person that enjoys dark humor, take a look at a TV show called “Dead Like Me”. It is the story of a girl who dies and becomes a grim reaper, its funnier than it sounds. There were only two seasons and a movie made but I think it’s worth taking some time to check out.
- I only have two more weeks until I have to go back to classes, my how time flies.
And now I would like to say a few words about myself and my posts. My name is Zachary Wolfson, I’m a student at Northeastern doing my internship at Shoebuy.com. I will be writing weekly blog entries, which I modeled after “Monday Morning Quarterback” by Peter King who is a great sports writer and always gives some love to my Philadelphia Eagles. Every week, there will be a main story where I discuss something that is happening in the world at that time, my shoe thoughts of the week, where I share my thoughts on a couple of styles and my non-shoe thoughts of the week where I just share random thoughts for your enjoyment.
Thanks for reading. I always enjoy hearing from my readers so leave lots of comments on anything I’ve said. Please subscribe to the Shoebuyblog.com RSS feed and tell all your friends.
