ARTISTRY
73. Design of Dissent
Rebels have always influenced fashion. By
today's standards, the flapper look of the 1920s
is charming and chic. Nostalgia now clouds
how women who epitomized that look were
perceived, such as Louise Brooks and Clara Bow,
who were the bad girls of their day. Rebellious
and reckless, these girls bobbed their hair and
wore flimsy dresses that exposed their knees and
bared their arms.
Jean Harlow, Mae West, Joan Crawford, and
Bette Davis personified the sloe-eyed vamp of
the 1930s who broke with conventional morals
and brandished overt sexuality in slinky satin
gowns. Actresses such as Lana Tu rner, Virginia
Mayo, and Barbara Stanwyck brought the femme
fatale of the 1940s to life in film noir.
The undercurrent of the very conservative 1950s
was part teenager, part Beat Generation, and
part "rebel without a cause." Jeans and leather
jackets were the major fashion influence of icons
such as James Dean and Marlon Brando. Hippie
fashions of the 1960s were heavily infl uenced by
a bohemian lifestyle and the music of performers
such as Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. Punk is one
of the most aggressive antifashion movements.
In the 1970s, infamous performers such as
Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols
were dressed by Vivienne Westwood, who in
corporated BDSM gear, safety pins, razor blades,
and spiked dog collars into her fashions.
In direct contrast to slick power dressing in
the 1980s, street fashion and deliberately torn
clothing became the alternative fashion, heavily
influenced by pop stars Madonna and Cindy
Lauper. The 1980s also initiated the start of
Goth, which has diversi fied over the years to
include everything from horror to high fashion.
Function trumped form in grunge fashions of the
1990s, popularized by the Seattle music scene,
and in particular, Kurt Cobain. Layers of baggy,
unkempt plaid flannel shirts, charity shop finds,
cardigans, and combat boots comprised the look.
Fashion designers must be in touch with the
fringes of fashion. Who are the outsiders of
today that might be defining our era?
152 Fashion Design Essentials
Goth-influenced style
