I Like Socks

Left: Marc Jacobs S2008RTW, via Style.com.  September 10, 2007.  Prada S2008RTW, via Style.com.  September 25, 2007.

Right: Alexander Wang S2010RTW, via Style.com. September 12, 2009. Valentino S2010RTW, via Style.com. October 6, 2009.

Now, for Then/Now posts I normally just like to let you make your own observation/inferences, without me being like, LOOKIT.  But this isn’t so much a case of “everything old is new again” as “hey, ‘sheer pants runway‘ is actually a great search term and maybe let’s examine how it did two or three years ago before postulating the lifespan and plausibility of this ‘trend’.”

The see-through separate–spotted at Prada, Costume National, among others–works with spring’s pajama-party look as well as the ‘80s trend, but the jury’s still out if these will work for normal women (will something that emphasizes rather than streamline the leg really flatter everyone?) or if they’ll just be a fantastic accoutrement for magazine shoots and adventurous red-carpet types.
Glam Chic.  October 4, 2007.

But when it comes to pants, we have a feeling that the only ones that should be wearing them see-through style are belly dancers and fire eaters. But Alexander Wang and Valentino both showed barely there pants this year, and a quick scan of our favorite e-commerce shops show that they’re is being stocked in stores. Should we be equal-opportunists when it comes to all things sheer?
Refinery 29. June 1, 2010.

Seems every time you turn around, the disciples of design are moving hemlines.  Well, now you can have your maxi and wear it too—but don’t put those minis in mothballs.  This season, anything goes.

New York Magazine. February 24, 1992.

Popular as they are with the nose-ring and chunky-boot set, maxi-skirts have only lately surfaced in the influential fashion glossies. . . . Will the street-length skirt endure? Even its most ardent proponents will tell you, that depends. “People are waiting to see trendsetters like Kate Moss wearing it,” Ms. Borissova of Curve suggested. “Then they’ll take a chance.”

She maintained, nonetheless, that by fall, a long, lean silhouette could be driving sales. “Five years from now,” she insisted in a whoosh of enthusiasm, “we’ll all be wearing maxis.”

Ruth La Ferla, New York Times. May 27, 2010.

Last summer’s revolution in skirt lengths—so mini they stopped just short of perdition—has provoked a counterrevolution.

Life. November 7, 1969.

More tellingly, perhaps, they represent a seductive — make that subversive — alternative to the jeans, leggings and showily girly micro-minis that pop up like ragweed with the first mild breeze. They are “fashion’s backlash to the short skirt,” Ms. Yakus suggested.

Ruth La Ferla, New York Times. May 27, 2010.

Gradually by degrees the skirt lengths on dresses gave the illusion of being first long and then shorter with dipping, scalloped and handkerchief hemlines in floating fabrics. It was only in 1925 that skirts rose 14 to 16 inches (45 to 50 cm) from the ground making the shorter hemline we associate with the era. . . .
By 1929 uneven hems and asymmetric skirt hemlines again helped the transition to longer skirts. Longer sheer overskirts and semi sheer top skirts were worn over shorter linings. By 1930 the hemline was several inches below the knee.”

Fashion-Era.com

Less common but perhaps appealing to women still on the fence about the full-on maxi are versions like one by Yohji Yamamoto for Y-3, hiked to the knee in front and pooling in a train at the rear. Mr. Yamamoto, it should be noted, is one of the Japanese provocateurs who introduced more voluminous versions of the look more than two decades ago.”

Ruth La Ferla, New York Times. May 27, 2010.

I keep referring to this retro-retro thing as a “feedback loop.”  I’d like to think it was less self-involved and transient and actually more of a reinforcement with some sort of learned end.

In general, the feeling is for peaceful coexistence for all lengths and for letting women wear whatever they please, all of which should sooth the frayed nerves of shoppers, merchants and husbands alike.

Life. February 16, 1968.

There is a bit of discussion over H&M offering skirts with their menswear for Spring 2010.  It is true that somebody is always trying to introduce skirts to menswear and it is going to make the blogs titter every time.  What is new is that it’s not some fancy-pants (skirt) designer who’s most outré pieces have no chance of trickling down to department ready-to-wear copies.  This is H&M, which—for cities that are not Portland—is as solid a source for clothing as Target is in the ‘burbs.

That there is no (apparent) feature of these skirts that differentiates them from styles sold regularly to women doesn’t really matter.  These are Skirts For Men, racked next to skinny jeans and blazers in the men’s section.  There will be no need to wander over to Juniors or Ladies and parse a different department’s sizing system, practising legit-sounding reasons for being there.  More folks who shop in the men’s department will try them on.

If the experiment fails, whatever, the seed has been planted. Once a style permeates the department stores it never really goes away.  Less classy/hep joints will begin picking it up. The process will rev the feedback cycle until, like cargo pants and babydoll tees, skirts in the men’s section are always represented to some degree—though every couple of years you may have trouble finding a style you like since the world’s gone obsessed with something else for the season.

During a season when everybody is wearing body-obscuring layers and thick coats, I’m thinking about summer. Not, as you might guess, in a wistful manner, contrasting the sweltering day star to the icy dusk. Instead, I’m noticing how cold can be the great gender equaliser.

I’ve seen and heard comments on dating during winter, who can guess at the shape beneath that puffy parka (and more importantly, does it have tits?).

In the same vein, it’s generally agreed that summer is when the secondary sex characteristics come out. Bare chests, short shorts, the curve of the neck unobstructed by scarves and high collars.

Last summer and acquaintance bemoaned his inability (work and lifestyle related) to wear light summer dresses in the clinging wet heat. As someone who can and does wear skirts, I extended my sympathies—in the heat skirts win, less fabric, breeze access and more length variations to favour a wider range of legs and style.

It is a horrible bummer that general society inhibits people from wearing what they like if it goes against the local community’s opinion of what one should wear when presenting as a particular gender. Ladies have it easier, pants, in most cases, are totally okay.

Women in items that are clearly “menswear” have, for some time, in the western world, been accepted and embraced. ‘Cause “how hot is it when she’s wearing your shirt?” Acceptance hinges, of course, on using menswear to enhance one’s delicate, blushing femininity by contrast.

However. For ladies the world of fashion more widely spreads its legs. Nonetheless, the common female approach to menswear is couched in jealousy, only the rare lightbulb flickering on to realise that men’s closets are wonderful sources of plunder, or that an item could be considered “unisex” (and therefore okay). Why confine your taste and comfort to the dark months of winter?

I’m late on posting this, but hell, might as well finish the draft, get it out of the queue, new year and all.

Late December we went to one of the local Targets that was graced with the presence of some of Rodarte’s little capsule collection.

The situation and lighting was one where flash or no flash were equally annoying options, as far as getting clarity and detail.  These are quickie snapshots taken to get a point across.

There were dresses and bikinis and printed tees too, but I picked a couple of pieces that seemed best representative. I could not find the tights they made, which are pretty much just large pattern lace and I know Leg Avenue makes a variation in a thigh high.  All images link to Flickr pages that have more info.

Anyway, the piece I liked the most wasn’t even available online:

Quality-wise, if you like Target’s house brands (Mossimo Supply Co. and Merona, specifically), then you’ll have no problem with these pieces.  I personally am totally a fan of them, and found nothing wrong with all the little tulle/lingerie/lace fabric and treatment, nor the cardigans.

A couple pieces though, were victims of design and circumstance:

The tulle that works so well on the skirts comes off as itchy, snaggy and badly draped here.  Online reviews at Target say the fabric is as itchy as it looks and that the bows are not tacked, so they come undone and don’t go back very well.

Well, it’s printed, so the inside remains white.  This is always a problem with prints, they might have been better off using a mustardy-yellow lace and printing black on it.  Inside felt scratchy,hung like crap—but that might have been a combination of the fabric and any residual size.

I wish they were carrying the socks they show in the looks. Closest equivalents at Sock Dreams are the Textured Stripe Knee High and fishnets over beige stockings, both raw-topped (cut the crotch top of the tights off so they’re just legs).

Overall I am remaining sceptically hopeful for Gaultier’s line, though it sounds like it is coming from a similar approach to what McQueen did—referencing “women and pop culture” instead of those things that made us love the designers in the first place.

There are a couple of things, during this season of costumes, that are asked about by customers at work.  One of my favourites is “how do I get the stockings (leggings?) the Alice character wears in Resident Evil: Extinction?”

The internet is mildly clogged with answers to finding the right holsters, or you can look at images of the original costume and really, it isn’t that difficult to get info.  But there wasn’t anything I could find (at this time) specifically about the stockings, which are basically self-gartered.

Tights are, in general, a bitch to fit.  If you’re leggy, or rounded, or some combo of both, odds are the crotch of the damn things end up somewhere lower than they’re supposed to, giving you that sexy penguin waddle.  So chopping the legs off a pair of tights and tying them back on will just lose you precious length in the leg.

So, here is a simple step-by-step to get the self-garter look.

1. Find yourself a pair of tights or leggings. Foot Traffic’s Combed Cotton in Brown, Chocolate, or Heather Mocha are all good bets for the Alice costume, and are comparable to Rit dyes I’ve worked with before, so you can match the shirt to the tights.
2. Put the tights on, making sure the legs are straight (this is important to positioning the “garter”).  Now, using a fabric marker or pen that will wash out, mark the center-point of your thigh.  Do this at the height you want the self-garter to be.
3. Take the tights off.  Laying them flat and even, make two marks to either side of the center-point you just made.  You want the total width to be about 1.5 inches.
4. Using the marks you’ve just made as a guide, cut a shallow wedge from the sides in.  Set the pieces you’ve cut out aside.
5. Almost done.
   
6. Now, take those bits you cut out and tie them around the self-garter you just made, back and front.  Wrap them around several times, it bulks up the “knot”.  I find it’s easier to do this when they’re on, as you can judge things a little better.  Trim any extra ends.
7. BAM. You actually get a little extra length this way, even.

I am, honestly, going to write about the last couple of fashion weeks beyond where you can get the legwear.  Today though, I’m gonna be all timely and shit.  Let’s set it up.

Last year I nearly pissed myself with joy when I discovered Target’s Go International line.  This was because they had a capsule line by Jovovich-Hawk, who I love inexplicably.  I then promptly fell in love with a couple of pieces, waited until the line was 75% off and bought a dress.  Because I am like that.

Anyhow, in November of last year, it was announced that Target was starting this new thing, Designer Collaborations—and that it was kicking off with Alexander McQueen.  By February, a fuller version of the looks popped up.  It was understandably toned down—inspired by Leila Moss, who is called a “90s Brit Rocker” (though her band doesn’t seem to extend that far back), the skinny pants paired with bulkier tops made sense.  Also, you know, Target, logical price point, design for all.

I was, and am, pretty stoked for this.  Beyond my love and respect for some designers, I don’t froth at the mouth about labels.  But I am interested in this “Design for All” thing, as it hints at a truly post-modern future for fashion.

So it is out today and is not heart-stopping—there are a lot of basics, one or two good pieces and something that makes your brain hurt.  And Blythe is involved somehow.  Nonetheless, there is a touch of the future in there.

And I am probably going to buy these when they are, inevitably, on clearance.