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fashionable observations
Jan. 5th, 2008 03:57 pmI felt well enough today to go out and take advantage of the "end of the season" (what? Winter's just getting started!) sales. The main reason was I wanted another pair of straight leg jeans (though I ended up picking up a couple of other pretties :)), but in my meanderings I passed through a lot of shops and peeked in a lot of windows.
It seems that the fashionable female silhouette is changing - not swiftly but dramatically. Casual wear in the latter half of the 1990s-~2005 was dominated by tiny tops and flared jeans. No longer! Following some awkward, belly-baring seasons between '05-06 where the low cut jeans were accompanied by regular-cut tops, the tops have gotten longer, and the pants legs are slimming down.
I was thinking we were getting the dropped waist of the '20s all over again, but with the tops getting looser and belted, it's looking a bit more like the '80s. doG, I hope the hair and shoulder pads don't get big again! :P
Pro: looser/draped tops that are longer cover the midriff and have a lot more style/variation than plain ol' tees. The empire waist/Greekish pleats also translate nicely to dresses (should I need a dress) and hide thick waists and/or hips. Slimmer jeans = more excuses to work knee high boots, which I am all about :)
Con: the tops really need to be belted or out of a very drapey material or they look like maternity wear. The super-slim pants look a bit out of place with my wardrobe of early-millenium slim tees and shrunken jackets, and frankly at my age I'm not going to wear the skin-tight versions!
Overall, if I really wanted to keep up with the shift from slim-on-top to slim-on-bottom I'd have to start my wardrobe over, and I'm not prepared to do that. Most vendors know that though - I still found my straight leg jeans and there were a lot of flared/boot-cuts to go around.
It's still fascinating to watch, though :)
It seems that the fashionable female silhouette is changing - not swiftly but dramatically. Casual wear in the latter half of the 1990s-~2005 was dominated by tiny tops and flared jeans. No longer! Following some awkward, belly-baring seasons between '05-06 where the low cut jeans were accompanied by regular-cut tops, the tops have gotten longer, and the pants legs are slimming down.
I was thinking we were getting the dropped waist of the '20s all over again, but with the tops getting looser and belted, it's looking a bit more like the '80s. doG, I hope the hair and shoulder pads don't get big again! :P
Pro: looser/draped tops that are longer cover the midriff and have a lot more style/variation than plain ol' tees. The empire waist/Greekish pleats also translate nicely to dresses (should I need a dress) and hide thick waists and/or hips. Slimmer jeans = more excuses to work knee high boots, which I am all about :)
Con: the tops really need to be belted or out of a very drapey material or they look like maternity wear. The super-slim pants look a bit out of place with my wardrobe of early-millenium slim tees and shrunken jackets, and frankly at my age I'm not going to wear the skin-tight versions!
Overall, if I really wanted to keep up with the shift from slim-on-top to slim-on-bottom I'd have to start my wardrobe over, and I'm not prepared to do that. Most vendors know that though - I still found my straight leg jeans and there were a lot of flared/boot-cuts to go around.
It's still fascinating to watch, though :)
