To me, it’s fascinating how popular culture influences fashion, and fashion influences pop culture. In the 1920s, for example, women won the right to vote, and a certain liberation followed. Flappers flew, women threw off their bustles and girdles, and in some cases, even in high society, they threw off their undergarments altogether – witness those early films featuring Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert and others, dressed in those slinky satin gowns without a stitch on underneath. In the 1940s and ‘50s, a new morality emerged. Women squeezed back into their girdles, and accessorized with matchy-matchy belts, handbags, gloves and shoes. The 1960s brought a new kind of liberation in the form of the birth control pill. Free love. Miniskirts were born, and as skirts rose, so did easy access, if you know what I mean. Or did ‘easy access’ give rise to rising skirts? Hmmm… Was ‘flower power’ a political movement or a fashion trend?
My point is this: Fashion and Culture are inextricably linked. What’s popular in the culture finds its way into the fashions of the day. For example, if America falls in love with a little-engine-that-could film called Slumdog Millionaire, and we are moved by the story, and by the film’s Indian setting, then all things India will be hot for a while. Our interest in Indian culture thus piqued, new Indian restaurants will pop up, the rich saffron and curry color palette of India will find its way into our furniture, home décor, and fashion.
A case in point: On December 5, 2008 the AP published an article stating that Pantone had declared Mimosa (the yellow flower, not the drink) would be 2009’s hot color. This was after Slumdog premiered in theaters, but long before it swept all the awards. Then on March 3, post award season, I read a blog post on Philly.com’s fashion blog Mirror Image titled “Slum Dog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto in Pantone Color of the Year, Mimosa Yellow.” The article accompanied a picture of the film’s leading lady in that beautiful mimosa scarf that she’s wearing in the movie’s exhilarating final dance sequence.
Which came first? Fashion or culture?
Guest Blogger Solveig Muus of Silk Road Spirit started her business in theory when she was around 15 – Her Mom gave her one of her favorite scarves (raiding her closet was not an option!). She became a scarf fan, even when it was clear no one else was into them. She sewed a lot in those days, and developed a great appreciation for fabrics. Then later, when she was traveling the world in search of adventure, she fell in love with the fabulous colors and the sumptuous textures of Indian textiles. The more she visited India, the more she came to appreciate the people, the land, and the vast array of handicrafts to be discovered there. Check out her blog and learn more about sourcing in Asia.
