So whats it all about...

So, researching into the evolution of fashion from inspiration to sales got me a little bit down... and I thought you all should know about it. This is a project based on wit, intelligence and humour for the educated consumer.



After spending some time researching current trends in the hope of inspiration towards trends for 08/09, it struck me how repulsive the entire trends system is… the industry gets to dictate to the entire world what they will wear at any given time. Sickening!



And this is not just with regard to those of us who attempt to follow and keep up with the ever changing ‘fast-fashions’ but everyone who steps onto their local high street.



‘I don’t really like hipster trousers, I don’t think they suit me… but that’s all you can get these days, so that’s what I have to wear.’
– Overheard at a party.

What is even more disgusting about this dictation, I feel, is that it comes from such a small amount of people, and us, the masses, just eat up every morsel of information that they give us…



… because we’re all so insecure, requiring constant reassurance and feel that that’s exactly what that ‘IT’ bag, or new pair of ‘on trend’ shoes are going to do for us. Buying that dress that is featured in this month’s Vogue is going to make us better people, more professional, help us get that guy, get us a pay rise… somehow transform us!? – there are so many more important things in life that we don’t put half as much emphasis on!

Consumers are becoming more intelligent, a lot more savy, and we know when we are being tricked by brands. I think we are going to start seeing through trends, designers and the fashion industry in general – A trend of Anti-Fashion! People will begin to buy into quality and boycott the seasonal trends…


‘If everybody looked the same… We’d get tired of looking at each other…’
[Groove Armada]



So who else agrees with me? Well, SilverScreenPipeDreams certainly does:

‘I recognise that the way we look is important to how people perceive us, but I don’t want to be beholden to a code that dictates what I can and can not wear.’

‘Women are so often told what we can and can’t wear in this world, and we soak it up, we’re so certain that we must be doing something wrong, our hair out of style, the wrong dress, why else wouldn’t we have the life we are shown in the advertisements? We let these depictions of life define our roles for us, telling us we should be sexy and also virginal, and smart and also a great mother and stylish and put together, but also free to be ourselves that it’s no wonder some people drop out of the race altogether, or some like Britney Spears, go insane.’



Vivienne Westwood looks into the future and here’s what’s in her minds eye:

‘If you ask me what I think people should be getting next season… I’ll tell you what I’d like them to buy – nothing. I’d like people to stop buying and buying and buying.’

‘With so much fast fashion available to us, we are not giving ourselves the opportunity to develop good taste.’

Brand History

As regards to attaching this venture to a brand... my immediate thought was with the educated consumer, the witty, satirical intellectual, who can appreciate the work that the fashion industry does, but looks at it from an intelligent perspective and can point out its many flaws. This is a consumer, directly in line with the Guardian reader and hence the partnership.


The Guardian is the only full-colour National Daily newspaper in the UK, it is (in their words) 'the most modern and vibrant newspaper in the country'. It is a modern, progressive and exciting journalistic study. Innovative,The Guardian actively encourages debate and exerts influence.

They position themselves as having a 'fresh approach, individual and sometimes unconventional' style. Healthily sceptical, but not cynical, The Guardian is confident, intelligent and investigative.

Ok so here's the facts:

1821 – Saturday 5th May: Manchester Guardian launched as a weekly paper.

1959 – Title changed to ‘The Guardian’ to reflect the paper’s national and international coverage.

1999 – Guardian Unlimited launched.

Speaking of the Guardian Unlimited, it's the UK's largest online newspaper for the intellectual, discerning (read: sharp, astute, shrewd, perceptive, sensitive) user. Providing features with humour, irreverence and intelligent comment.

And this is what they think of themselves: ' Guardian Unlimited has a gift for capturing the Zeigeist, providing topical content.'

And for all of your out there just wondering about that 'Zeitgeist' word (Zeit = Time , Geist = spirit or ghost) - the spirit of the time… trend of thought and feeling in a period…the thinking of the time…

Product Range

So what does the Guardian do at the moment… where does it sit as regards these issues?







All 24 of The Guardian’s areas of coverage can be viewed on Guardian Unlimited, they also currently carry satirical journalistic and artistic pieces as seen below:

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A peek at the diary of ... Sarah Jessica Parker

Saturday October 13, 2007
The Guardian



As I type in a fishnet bodystocking and a silk tea dress, with a giant deconstructed gold lamé hibiscus perched on my shoulder, I hope you are not starting to feel commitment issues toward the forthcoming Sex And The City movie.
Sure, you may have seen all those pictures of me on set in a wedding dress. But, like the producers say, that could be a dream sequence. Because the one thing a concept as self-absorbed as Sex And The City really lacks for is a dream sequence.
Yes, if you can be sure of anything at all, it's that the movie will be very, very surprising. There's even a black character! She plays my assistant. What's the movie like? Well, because viewers are deemed incapable of understanding things unless it's packaged in a totally lame analogy, I took the time to phone one in. I started to think that movies are like relationships. You begin wondering whether to commit. Then, when you take the plunge, there's a period when you wonder whether you ought to go back to being a free agent, getting turned down for parts looking for "a Gwyneth Paltrow type". Then, when you finally feel yourself falling in love, the thing comes to an inexplicable end, and you end up being told you are not good enough by a test audience in Iowa.

Does that make sense? Of course it does. Now, look at my shoes.

- As seen by Marina Hyde

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Hell for leather

Jess Cartner-Morley
Saturday October 13, 2007
The Guardian

Leather comes back on the fashion radar at least every other winter (except, of course, at Stella McCartney). This is vaguely baffling, considering the fact that it is almost impossible to wear leather without looking like a has-been rock star, but that's fashion for you. Actually, you can wear leather without looking like a has-been rock star: if you wear it badged and padded, you can look like a Hell's Angel. Or you can wear it faded and patched, and look like a 1970s PhD student, but the 1970s PhD student look is not one that has ever been a fashion trend (paging Miuccia Prada: uncharted fashion territory alert!), so it need not concern us.


There are leather coats in the shops, but these are best avoided unless you want to look like a call girl. You might want to consider the most fashionable leather look of the season, which is a cropped, casual, fitted zip-up jacket worn over a cocktail dress and thick tights, with ankle boots. However, it is difficult to pull off if you are over 30. Some women can - Chrissie Hynde could still wear this convincingly - but it is best approached with caution. My rule of thumb is: if you still feel this is the true you, go for it, but if you feel like a fraud in it, then you probably look like a fraud, too.
The best starting point with leather is a skirt. Remember the fabric of any skirt has its own raunch-factor, which should be added to or subtracted from the hemline. Tweed, being passion-killingly sensible, has an RF of four inches, so a mid-thigh tweed skirt is only as raunchy as a knee-length regular skirt. Leather, on the other hand, has an RF of minus three inches, meaning anything shorter than mid-thigh is, in fact, obscene.

The leather revival does not extend to trousers. And for that we should be grateful.

End User

The Future Laboratory identified our Guardian consumer market in their Spring Trend Briefing Dossier 2006, they called them 'Generation Jones':


Better determined by the ways that they think than by traditional gauges of classes, income and ethnicity… they share neither the sense of tradition, community, idealism or the general trust of government that the Baby Boomers had, nor the cynicism or me-me-me ethos of Generation X. Above all they are practical, seeking the best deals and less fixed in their opinions than others. They give equal value to their finances and a meaningful life philosophy.

Generation Jones' thinking has shifted from ‘everything is crap’ to ‘everything is crap but it doesn’t have to be that way’… it believes in the possibility of change…

These are the group that were the first students to graduate, but with no guarantee of jobs, brought up to believe they could have it all before abruptly discovering that they couldn’t… they are affluent but unsatisfied with that ‘now or never’ attitude. Their ironic, sarcastic (rather than edgy) humour requires a suitable tone.

Jonesers appreciate high production values, style, design and technology, but they have well honed bullshit detectors… they want honesty. Jonesers firmly believe ‘they deserve it’ and expect brands to deliver. These are the demographic who work long hours, have delayed marriages, and may have school aged children and aging parents who need care. In this sense, they crave simplicity. (The average age of marriage in the UK is now 29, with first mortgages taken out at 34…)

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Anterior:Insight also pin-points our target market in their dossier, The Future of Luxury (Volume One) describing them as,

‘… collectors and critics, archivists and connoisseurs, experts and opinionated.’

Their luxury directive is about using money to pursue intellectual and cultural passions as opposed to flaunting wealth.

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VIEWPOINT #21 PRESENTS THE ‘THIRTYFIVEUP’ DEMOGRAPHIC:

Less cynical about the notion of family, ThirtyFiveUps might still wear the current ‘The’ band t-shirt – The Kills, The Strokes etc… they also count both pension and Playstation amoung their expenditure - an interesting mix, I find. They like the internet and notions of being connected, using their loose social networks to sort out tickets, difficult-to-obtain brands and hard-to-find vinyl covers. These are the people who place words such as ‘family’, ‘real’, ‘friends, ‘ simple’ and ‘authentic’ of high value, leaving ‘synthetic’, ‘fashionable’ and ‘hectic’ at the bottom of the pile.

The result of our always-on, always-connected lifestyle is that it’s easier to stay in the loop and indulge a variety of interests (downloading music, watching videos, reading blogs etc.) yet still keeping up with current affairs, mortgage payments and grocery shopping.

This group is disillusioned by our current consumer society, fast fashion, fast retail, continuous re-buy and have a strong refusal to leave behind the time when penny chews still cost a penny…

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Our female consumer was also profiled by The Future Laboratory, albeit in their Spring 2005 Dossier, and they’ve called her Heidi – Highly Educated, Independent, Degree-carrying Individual


Heidi’s have achieved great things at school and college, are confident behind the wheel, and have progressed very nicely, thanks, in their career.

Heidi is university educated, with an average income of £25K. It’s more than likely that she is single as she’s having far too much fun spending her money to get hitched. She’s sexually confident, go-getting, career-driven and flirtatious… she’s the opinionated, decision maker.

Product Past

Fashion Dictation is nothing new, this is something that has been going on for centuries...it stems from the pressure that men and women place on each other, it's that keeping up with the Jones's, does she look better than me thing.


Nelly Rodi has been telling people what to wear since the 1950's with her 'Style Books' (Paris)

Everyone requires validation... If I wear that well cut, expensive suit I'll be better at my job... I wear that slinky dress, I'll get that guy... but it's gone to far. It used to be that fancy clothing was for special occasions, that people had their 'good' clothes held back, but now we're at a stage where you step out your front door thinking your on the catwalk, and if you don't... well God forbid the consequences... someone important might see you, and tell everyone (especially if you're a high profile identity - the tabloids, the rag-mags... you'll forever be in the 'what not to wear' section.) Women are so pressurised these days to look good, why haven't you got the latest 'it' bag? Where are your 'on trend' shoes? Is that dress last seasons?!

'Fashion magazine editors have been telling women what the trends are for decades and they’re very good at it.'

- ‘Illustator’ (commenting on BBC article)

But the sad thing is, it isn't the sort of information that people dip in and out of when they've got some big event coming up, the Christmas party, your friends wedding... people live their lives struggling to keep up with the rush of incredibly fast fashions just to validate themselves to other women. We all need to RELAX a little bit!

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The Color Association of the United States, with their committee panel of just EIGHT PEOPLE have been dictating colour trends since 1915!


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Often refered to as the 'Bible of the Fashion Industry' The Tobe Report has been in business since 1927, publishing their opinions on clothing and accessories trends 38 times a year - Thats over 3000 reports from the same resource!


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And obviously they are not the only ones! This dictation is not only confined to high end fashion, historically, men and women have continually adhered to dress codes of their society, status, profession and religion. I found this set of rules for the Christian Girl quite disturbing -


With points including:

'How does a women discern the sometimes fine line between proper dress and dressing to be the center of attention? ... Is her intent to show the grace and beauty of womanhood? Is it to reveal a humble heart devoted to worshipping God? Or is it to call attention to herself and flaunt her beauty? Or worse, to attempt to lure men sexually?'

'In choosing what I wear today, whose attention do I desire and whose approval do I crave? Am I seeking to please God or impress others?'

'Am I wearing a spaghetti strap, halter or sheer blouse? Not even pins will fix this problem! Most guys find these a hindrance in their struggle with lust. It's time to go back to the closet.'

Ok, ok... so I know what your thinking - this is a pretty old set of rules, times have changed, we've moved on, moved forward. We'll it might interest you to know that this document was produced by the Sovereign Grace Ministries in 2002!

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As well as all this, we've also got the blatant trend prediction websites that have been running for a number of years... (and are still going strong!)

WGSN


Promostyl


PSFK


Style.com


Hint Mag


The Future Laboratory


... and The Future Lab Blog ...

Product Current

Ok, So here’s what we’ve got going on at the moment… what I'd be up against...

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Fashion Verbatim

- the blogozine with added salt

'Welcome to Fashion Verbatim - the affected abode of my satirical fashion musings. I like to think of Fashion
Verbatim as the bastard lovechild of Miu Miu and Michiavello. Some of you may be humoured. Some of you may be offended. Some of you may be askinf, 'What is Dries Van Norten?'. Remember - take it all with a grain of salt.'


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Ash Can Rantings

- putting a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip since 2006.

'It's a rough life being a battery: You're either working... ir your dead' - Demetri Martin


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A shaded view on fashion

- Gritty diary-style entries and decidedly arresting visuals animate this blog devoted to an indispensable and shaded view on fashion.


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Style Bubble

- Susie Bubble's musings, thoughts, takes, observations on the joys and trials and tribulations on the art of fashion/style.


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The Satorislist

- documenting and commenting on New York fashion


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Style It


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Perez Hilton

- loves to poke fun at the 'it' girls


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Pretty Legit

- from one vain cheapass to another


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Does this look stupid?

- a sight dedicated to the mutual fashion validation of global women!


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DailyCandy

- the leading style and trends e-mail publication company.


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www.sleek-mag.com


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www.curellasays.wordpress.com

- fashion/style hints, tips and rantings blog - with a few cartoons added in!


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A Fabulous Fashion Blog

'I love fashion. Simple. Making fun of the fugliset of all styles and worshipping the fabulous. Chances are, in the near future i'll be living in a tiny New York City apartment. With a ginormous closet, filled with designer clothes and shoes.'


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Mrs. Mills - of Sunday Times Magazine



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Sex and the City loves Vogue...


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Scott King isn't so keen on the mag...