1953 was the year that designers from both Paris and New York included pants in their respective evening wear collections - even their homely little sister, Los Angeles - the new fashion capitol of sportswear, provided a pair of pants for dinner occasions. The fad for skirts fashioned out of felt began with college girls when it was discovered that a flattering silhouette could be achieved when the fabric was cut on the bias; the attached article shows the color image of a felt "ballet skirt" as a case in point.
Sub-standard fabrics play a part in fashion's march from time to time; in the Sixties there was a short-lived craze in some circles to wear dresses made from paper or vinyl. In 1951 the finest minds in American millinery were asked to put their collective craniums together and design some hats; each brought something unique to the table - the most humorous design element that appeared in each hat included a telephone!
"Collaborators in the struggle to produce a taller plume, a more involved bird's nest, are the hat designer's - to whom carrots and cornstalks, bean bean pods and bumper-shoots are all perfectly acceptable decorations for the head." Thumbnail descriptions of what numerous European fashion designers were offering during the Spring of 1953.
So much had changed in the world as a result of the Second World War, and although those shifting sands had moved much of the fashion industry to New York, the heart and soul of women's fashion was still in Paris. This article is all about the fashion kings and queens who remained in the French capital. These columns explain what all the finest French designers were up to: Dior, Balmain, Schiaparelli, Fath, Balenciaga, Lanvin etc, etc, etc...
To read further about post-war Paris fashion, click here...
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