The 80s: Accessories, Pastel Ads, and The Big Shirt.

Think of me as an 80s correspondent - an observer.  I didn't love the 80s, but the 80s happened before my eyes.  Here - a few things torn from magazines - pastel advertisements, dapper menswear for girls... some with a baroque slant, some rather New Wave.  You'll see a bit about the mini suspender clip and also a do-it-yourself sleeve garter how-to.

80s dapper menswear for girls.

Accompanying text for the above photo:  "It's boyish girlish flamboyant daring dapper dandy dashing charming punky sexy clever quaint slicked up spruced up spunky natty wild outrageous street smart at heart.  It's boyswear you can wear.  Where?  Anywhere!"

80s magazine sleeve garter how-to.

For the sleeve garter, not all the directions are there, but here's a guess:  So that the band has a bit of gathering, cut the decorative fabric approximately two times the circumference of the bicep plus extra for the seamed ends.  The height of the fabric tube appears to be about 3-inches, but remember - being a tube, the strip has been folded in half lengthwise - right sides together - and a bit extra was necessary for seam allowance.  Elastic should be cut to fit loosely around the bicep.  Try knotting a length of elastic around the arm first, leaving extra for stitching ends together.  A hair-scrunchie is made in this same manner, but leave out the horizontal ruffling-rows of stitching and perhaps make the tube narrower .  Practice getting the right amount of gathering by cutting various lengths of scrap fabric and instead of cutting and stitching the elastic, just tie it before trying it on your ponytail.  

Around the time the sleeve garters and suspender clips were popular, girls also wore extra-long and billowing, crisp mens button-up dress shirts - which I believe... were called "grandaddy" shirts.  Sometimes I wore a skinny tie with the shirt, sometimes a cowboy bandanna, sometimes a big gaudy brooch pinned right between the collar points.  My Great Aunt was extremely embarrassed to be seen with me wearing the oversized shirt - it was just too weird for her.  I felt her pain - but it seemed completely irrational,so - feeling sartorially "neato" -  I floated forth - shirttails billowing like sails in the breeze.

iO-robe: A Short Fashion Forward Fiction.

Intelligent Optic Robing, iO-robe, or just iO - solved so many sartorial conundrums regarding travel, parties, fitting in... . A bit of programming, then - the magic transformation. A digital fairy godmother. It came to mean the birth of ideas, the generation of life itself... iO... a small cursive letter i encircled / enrobed by a fat, round O.

You know, in the 60s - there was Mars and the paper dresses. Mars - the company, not the planet... and the paper dress was just another way to express freedom and being "with it" - fashionably and sexually. 

The digital dress was of the same ilk - another way to be "with it"... hip, chic, cutting edge - you name it - always the same thing, but a different name.

The Techie-Chics and the Techie-Geeks dreamed the entire scene. T-Chics wanted the style, T-Geeks wanted the notoriety... the challenge.

To the middlemen it was a surprise... no need for malls, no sweat shops, no child labor, no fighting for parking spaces - everything changed. Was it better? It was different.

Of course, there was the buffout... of 2020. Like a blackout or brownout - all to do with power / electricity, but so many people were left standing around with so few little wires and buttons dangling - it wasn't that big an embarrassment.

That outage though - created in the modest among us - a momentary return to the paper dress - which made for a better canvas, a smoother silhouette... like the vast screens at the retro drive-in cinemas.  

Then there was, once again, the move to fabric... aside from the digital gadgetry - that's all anyone needed - just a few solid-color dresses or coveralls of fabric - depending upon the "in" feel... soft, crisp, silky, plush, crackly... upon which the iO (robe or suit) was projected.

Eventually, digitally enhanced optics - DEO - also eliminated even plastic surgery - with all appearances hiding the possibility of illusion or facade.

Anymore, what was real?

If you like this story, let me know - with some comments.  Will this be the path of fashion in the future... who can say, but imagining the scenario produced the fiction you just read.

A Day with Monet, a Parasol, and a Hat.

With a parasol and hat, most any day with Monet is a lovely one... whether it's in a park, a meadow, the beach, or the outskirts of a town... Argenteuil, Vetheuil, or Giverny.

To have painted in this manner, recording the color - vibrance - and freshness of the outdoors in all its splendour seems a very profound way to make every moment more real... with every smudge representing another second felt.

Even this blustery day at Pourville conveys a sense of nature appreciated... and perhaps you too can hear the choppy waves and the wind, feel the damp and maybe even the sting of a hard rain.

The day at Pourville is the very kind to send a hat flying like a frisbee and to turn an umbrella inside out.

Sew A Sonmi Dress of the Future.

You might start with a basic sloper or sloper-shell fitting pattern.  Take into consideration various dart positions... try it first with the least expensive fabric you have around - or with a nonwoven interfacing.  In Cloud Atlas, Sonmi's almost-transparent dress looks as if it might be made of nonwoven interfacing, but may be organdy or batiste.

Reading about modern ideas in fashion and projections for future fashion - from the past, the minimalist dress of Sonmi-451 came to mind. Notice the similarity in dart and seam positioning - also the streamlined fit.

 

The Search for the Right Flachen-Schmuck.

Toile La La watercolor sketch incorporating collage - created long before Art Fashion Creation.

Decorating Art Fashion Creation, there's a continual quest for the right look of the page... first impressions being what they are.  I love the look of bookshelves - orderly... with all the colorful spines on display.  To me, a bookshelf equals potential, pages of thoughts and secrets and knowledge, history - even personality.  

The bookshelves are rather busy though... already there is quite a lot of color and design occurring at Art Fashion Creation - so, do you think the bookshelf "wallpaper" is a bit too much flachen-schmuck... ?  Are you wondering about the flachen-schmuck?  (Flachen-schmuck is surface decoration, see this post.)

Perhaps this bookshelf flachen-schmuck will still be here a month from now, perhaps not... here's a memento.

Art Fashion Creation blog June 2013 header: Number One Good Luck, Toile La La 80s scrap sketchbooks, and book wallpaper blog borders.

There's more of Number One Good Luck - and more cat-related banter at these Art Fashion Creation posts:

• Full-blown cat enthusiasm and a vintage cat story here.
• This one, somehow weaving a cat observation into photo shoot admiration.
• A flower-y, outdoorsy, Number One Good Luck here.
• Number One Good Luck on the catwalk in a red harness.
• Number One styles a photo shoot.
• Number One crashes a photo shoot.
• Number One graces the Slouchy Beanie tutorial, here.
• And here is the minx, again at Toile La La.

 
 

Fashion Trends: Chronological Parallels.

You made it through the geeky post title, so perhaps you too are interested in the why of fashion, the psychology of dress, the recurrence of trends... topics for which I hold an endless fascination - see the fashion psychology and trends labels at right for more posts and discussion.

But for now... furry spots, furry stripes, and animal magnetism - a trend frequently peeking its furry head out of The Wild.  Is it a trend conveying sensuality... does it indicate a desire to bring nature into the scene... the animal magnetism trend means something and your opinion is welcome.

Thinking these geeky fashionable thoughts very often makes me feel so enthused, I feel as if I will burst into a colorful spray of confetti!  A dyed-in-the-wool fashion nerd.

Below, animal magnetism parallels from today and from the big scrapbook I assembled in the 80s (you see it in the blog header photo behind Number One Good Luck).  

Alas, being a college student in the 80s (of English and Art) and having loads of studying and homework - I did not always record the origin of the tearsheets, designers, photographers, etc... - but if you can provide this information, please do!

Wonderful to see in Harper's Bazaar June/July 2013 "The Original Club Kids" - milliner Stephen Jones' recollections of the 80s London club scene. (London's Victoria and Albert Museum is gearing up for a Club to Catwalk exhibit in 2014.)

Stephen Jones' story also brought to mind Kennedy Fraser's 1987 Scenes from the Fashionable World - I enjoyed reading recently... with smart observations of society, trends, events, and fashion personalities of that time.

80s fashion magazine tearsheet - saved in Toile La La sketch scrapbook from 1980s.

Magazine tearsheet saved in Toile La La sketch scrapbook from the 1980s.

Animal prints, Harper's Bazaar June/July 2013 p.108.

Animal prints, Marie Claire June 2013 p.174.

I loved Ilan Rubin's "Cat Call" photography for Marie Claire.  See my Men of the Future posts.

More:

• Trends, Fashion Psychology, Fashion Discussion, and Fashionable Thoughts... just select one of those topics from the Label section above the Art Fashion Creation Archives and you'll be on your way to numerous posts of that ilk.  Here - a trend and sketch scrapbook link.  Here - an origin of trends research paper I wrote in the 90s.
• To see more of my 80s sketch scrapbooks, there's a link within the Labels section at sidebar right.  Here - a post about the beginnings of my 80s sketch scrapbooks.
• See Kennedy Fraser's Scenes from the Fashionable World on my bookshelf widget at the Art Fashion Creation footer.
• Art Fashion Creation Men of the Future posts are available as links from the Labels section at sidebar right.  Here is the first one I wrote - Men of the Future: An Anthropological and Fashion Forecast - after a thought-provoking, comical, and perhaps prescient conversation with my husband and nephew.

Punk-itty.

Punk-outure, chic felines seen in Quebec - more than a year ago.  

Number One Good Luck trying the punk-outure look.  Toile La La.

Green Thumb, Striped Cat.

More of nature and the outdoors, rambling and wild:

• Here, a post mentioning my love for Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf's touch of au naturel - and a few snapshots of The Wild which surrounds me. 
• Or here, Rambling in The Wild. 

  

  Where we belong... the outdoors.  Toile La La.

 
 
 

80s Style Scrapbooks and Observations of Diversity.

Sorting sketches and fashion ephemera to use in my 80s fashion book, I came across a photo saved in a scrapbook - of a magnificent black model.  In the fashion industry, during the late 80s and early 90s, there was a visible and significant shift toward representing a wider range of ethnicities.  

Coincidentally, I have just recently noticed the beautiful Elle covers - which also rekindled these memories.  Particularly, the Elle June 2013 featuring Kerry Washington, looking lovely lovely lovely - and the April 2013 one featuring the splendid photo of Nicki Minaj in profile.  It's good to see fashion publications finally acknowledging the infinite variety of the world's population.

Back to the 80s though - which was a time leading to the profusion of hair straightening - and also extensions... though I closely observed trends in clothing fashion, hair studies were not my forte - but the hair straightening phenomenon does pique my "origin of trend" interests.  (By the way, if you have not seen Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair: Sit Back and Relax, you should.  It does answer a lot of questions a pinky-pale sort of person with languid hair - like myself - might have regarding African American hairstyles.)

In clipping and saving fashion ephemera, I did sometimes neglect to note the source of saved materials.  If you know who the 80s model is, please leave a comment... I'm thinking Naomi Campbell, but not sure.

Page from Toile La La scrapbook of 80s model - with June 2013 Elle featuring magnificent cover model Kerry Washington.

In collecting images for my 80s book, my feeling for that time is not exactly nostalgia (defined as sentimental longing), but instead - familiarity... images of the 80s stuck with me and I kept them in my mind like snapshots, so to share them with you is a way to share visual evidence of history and of art and culture of the time.  One artsy person's observations of what appeared then. 

All told, I'm much more interested in visions and images of things to come... developments of the future.

With a  primary interest in fashion trends, I recorded that visual history via sketches and magazine tearsheets.  Sometimes the records were of things I'd actually seen, but more often - they were of designs and looks and fabrics I wanted to see... drawn wishes - and to my mind at that time - fashion design.  In the beginning, the techniques were rather clumsy - and I did not know how to sew, but the imagination was there... and the technique improved.

If you are an artist, consider this - when you draw people, do they often resemble your own self...hmmmh.  Very frequently my drawings of people did resemble myself - much to my dissatisfaction, so with great effort - I began to diversify the people I drew... sometimes with humorous results, but I will share with you anyway some of those early attempts at recording the essence of people with appearances different from my own.

Toile La La Designs and Illustrations from 1980s.

Above, you see a design for a very large and heavy-looking brooch, a sketch of sports-inspired booties, and watercolor experiments for wardrobe colors and for models.  (I like the cat-like eyes of those 80s ladies.)

The sports shoe sketches were very definitely inspired by some of my favorite shoes - which appear in a sketch below and in an 80s photo from a related Art Fashion Creation link - which appears at the end of this post.

80s shoe sketches from Toile La La scrapbooks.

Drawn documentation of 80s shoes and clothing.  Toile La La sketch and scrapbooks.

On the same sketchbook page are drawings of two Santa Cruz garments - a pleated blouse (which always required my devoted ironing) and a drop-waist romper-dress.  Santa Cruz made some of my favorite styles and - within a student's limited budget - affordable.

Here are related post links:
80s shoes.
80s dance and fitness-inspired clothing (more sketchbook images).
My love for curly hair completely different from my own.
Another 80s Santa Cruz blouse (this time - a pirate or poet shirt).

Your opinion.

I've just added the "cloud" list of posted topic labels at right, thinking it might make your art-fashion-creation searches easier (compared to exploring the archives)... try it out and let me know what you think.  You know I love comments, so during your search - do leave a few!

People-Watching, SC.

Near a cantilevered bridge, under blue skies - prom photos:

• girl in short, strapless dress with turquoise mermaid-scale sequins, teetering in spike heels - moving as little as necessary.
• girl in short, strapless randomly-sequined coral dress, teetering in spike heels - moving as little as necessary.
• brunette in short, strapless electric blue satin with tulle tutu, descending stairs.

Near a park fountain:

• bridesmaids wearing two styles of gray taffeta dress - strapless or bow on one shoulder... abdomens slightly ruched, but dresses very fitted and above knee.  Everyone, throats adorned with big citron yellow plastic gems dangling - really a very attractive and eye-catching accent.

In front of a hotel fountain:

• bridesmaids wearing pale sea blue/green shot silk long, full-skirted formal gowns with peach corsages.  Men's ties also pale sea blue/green shot silk.

In front of a tree:

• a grouchy/grumpy-looking bride being photographed by a grouchy/grumpy-looking photographer.

High-low hemlines (short in front, long in back - like a mullet):

• one girl in an electric blue dress with high-low overskirt of diaphanous material.
• one girl in a dainty-looking cream lace high-low dress with double-tiered ruffle over the bust.

Two auburn scottish terriers reclining on a cafe table (placed there by their people) - panting, watching me go by.

A boy with glossy dark wavy hair wearing a plastic comb-like stretchy headband, making his hairline appear braided.

A group of five people - all with dark, thick hair - one girl, four gentlemen... looking as if they were a band, even if they aren't - all wearing denim shirts and jeans and black shoes... girl in long denim skirt, men with full hair and some with beards and mustaches, walking slowly - looking full of potential creativity.

Blues piano player wearing heavy-rimmed black glasses, a fannypack, and shorts with embroidered leaves.  His fingernails long... brown fingers with healthy pink tips, walking purposefully up-and-down mostly the black keys.


  

Ready to Send: More Real Mail!

Two letters - one for E and one for my daughter.  To E, sent a five senses letter with noisy guava and ginger candy wrappers from Thai and Sushi restaurants, sunflower seeds to plant, and plenty of things to see - with a peony decorated envelope.  To my daughter, sent lots of cat sketches rendered while Number One Good Luck had her outdoor stroll.  That envelope was decorted with some watercolor birds and a lobster sticker.  

I learned how to make stickers at Rookie - from an Alaina Sermersheim DIY Sticker post... hurraaaay - and it was fun to do!

You'll also see above -  wax seal experiments, using a stamp made from an old metal button and a real stamping seal my mother gave me.  The button has a raised pattern of a crest with gryphons, so it leaves a recessed imprint.  The stamping seal has a carved-out ribbon-tied rose, so it leaves a raised imprint.  I do believe my favorite is the homemade button seal.

Here's another Art Fashion Creation correspondence post with more thorough directions for creating the wax seals.

In the photos, notice the glass dog jar - holding the peonies.  That was my Nana's and I love it!

The quilt was made a long time ago by someone in my family who is long gone and would probably never imagine it appearing on a screen digitally.  I think it's beautiful.

The Excellence of Real Mail.

Versus the Lackluster of Email, Real Mail Contains in Its Folds... your friend's handwriting, little extras such as photographs and artsy bits of sketching or stamping.  Real - snail - mail requires postage, which provides another chance to personalize correspondence... stamps add pizzazz... panache... an artful touch.

Here's another excitedly received letter from E - this one came with three small vintage black and white photographs... lovely bits of the past.  Among other things, E tells me of her affection for books with deckled, rough edges, her Uncle named Square, and her fragrant lavender and jasmine. 

We're true mail snails... choosing real over email anyday.

Real Snail Mail for Toile La La at Art Fashion Creation.

If you love the thought of real mail, you'll surely be inspired by Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler's book Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art.  And, here's a link to Jennie's blog Everyday Should Be a Red Letter Day with a recent Tokyo correspondence post.

Pen, Envelopes, Stamps... Real Mail!

Toile La La correspondence - Real Mail.

Inspired by Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art (Jennie Hinchcliff / Carolee Gilligan Wheeler) - I've renewed correspondence with E, a college friend.  Off and on for many years we've exchanged letters - agreeing that email lacks the wonder and excitement of real mail.  Real mail is capable of offering the same captivating qualities of a good book or an intriguing painting.  

Receiving a real letter lets you know someone cares enough to make an effort to entertain, amuse, or delight you.

When I'm ready to write a letter, I like to assemble supplies:  odd or colorful postage, magazine pages, photographs, rubber stamps and ink, stickers - light a nicely-scented candle or sit near an open window with a fresh breeze and then allow my thoughts to flow.

In the photos above, you'll see my husband's harmonicas near the letter-writing supplies.  The Van Gogh card and the Eiffel tower card were sent by E.  (Her Van Gogh card with sky-bound birds prompted me to attach bird stickers to E's next letter.  The birds also made good mustaches for some sticker people from Bullett magazine.)  

After she sent me photographs of flowers she grows in her garden - along with a picture of a chicken, I carefully cut out the chicken and decorated its wing with a bouquet of her flowers - then glued it to E's envelope.  

I like her method of using creatively-illustrated pages from her London Review of Books as stationery.  Books are an affinity E and I share.  A keen paper versus digital observation recently from E:

"With the  popularity of the eReader I've been wondering about what it means to own a book.  I'm such a book lover... the feel and smell and look.... oh ... just to possess the book.  But an E book... what do you own.. my conclusion is that all you own is an idea.  The idea of the book.  The book just exists out there in the netherverse. Intangible. "

E introduced to me the word "netherverse" - which came to her out of the ether, heavens, thin air... stratosphere, collective creative consciousness.

I have enjoyed decorating her letters with stickers found in Bullett magazine's Spring 2012 issue and some Assume Vivid Astro Focus stickers from the coloring book Between the Lines.

The important and historic look of wax seals is something I appreciate, but the cost of the metal stamps can be quite high - so it was nice to discover my own do-it-yourself version of a wax seal stamp.  A crayon melted for just a minute or so over the flame of a small scented candle provides the seal wax.  The do-it-yourself seal stamp is a metal button with a high-relief design.  I slid a toothpick into the shank of the small button, then gently pressed it into the wax after the wax became slightly warm and opaque.  It is a good idea to practice making a nice, round, penny or dime-size dollop of wax before applying it to a stamped envelope and to practice just gently pressing the stamp against the warm wax.  (The postman explained wax seals require a bit of extra postage.)

For E's next letter, I'm thinking about making a 5-senses snail mail:  one to appeal to the visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile faculties.  In the last photo above, you'll notice an exploration of this idea with the Constant Comment tea envelope - which contains not tea inside, but a letter... which ideally absorbed the pleasant spiced orange scent.