Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Astro-retro Fashions ? - No, no, no!

Judy Licht's article "The Frill of It All" alerted me to an upcoming fashion trend of which we are unaware, here in the sticks of deepest Oklahoma. Not that it'll affect the way we women dress in these parts, but it's interesting that fashion is trying (allegedly)to hark back to looks embraced in the 1950s and early 1960s.

From Judy Licht's article:
"Another Fashion Week here in New York, another frenzy. But hidden in all the hairspray, hubbub and hilarious air kisses are clues not only to what we'll be wearing next season, but what that says about us as a society right now, what we're feeling, and where we may be heading. Fashion historians have long known that clothes are just as accurate a barometer of the culture for which they're created as any political or literary histories.

O.K...So what are they saying this time???? Everybody is craving comfort clothes. No, not the soft stuff you wear on the weekends. We mean the kind that reminds everyone of the late fifties and the early sixties, the last time, it seems, when everything was truly right with the world. The last age of innocence. With an economy that seems scary, but still a bit of an enigma; an election that for the first time in decades seems to be providing an unknown factor (i.e., choices), everyone wants it to be simple again. ..................... great trilby hats and slim single breasted suits for men..they've embraced the sheaths, the full skirts, swing coats and sweaters that screamed oh so subtle under-the-girdled-sex, for-women."


Oh dear! I well remember the circular skirts, and the hobbling sheaths which required contortionist-like skills for the wearer to be able to sit down at all, nevemind elegantly. And the required matching shoes, gloves and handbag. Not that again, please!

"Simple", the author said. Simple it ain't. Trust me, I'm old enough to know from experience!

Anyway, back to astrology - two of the outer planets, thought to influence the collective: Uranus (change, inventiveness, novelty) and Neptune (imagination, creativity, dreams) - correspond with the ingredients involved in fashion trends.

Using tropical zodiac, and covering the period mentioned in Judy Licht's article, from early 1950s to 1956 Uranus was in Cancer, Neptune in Libra. From 1957 to 1962 Uranus was in Leo, Neptune in Scorpio.

The fifties followed a decade of grinding restrictions affecting almost everything, including clothing in Europe and, to a lesser extent in the USA. In Britain people were allocated "clothing coupons" a form of rationing. When World War 2 was over, the fashion industry re-grouped, and by 1950 it seemed like party-time for them.

Uranus moving from comfortable, homely Cancer into more extrovert and showy Leo, and Neptune slipping from elegant Libra to passionate Scorpio heralded some style changes during the later part of the period in question.

Circular skirts and easy little dresses, (a la Doris Day) characterise the easy, homely "apple-pie" phase, of Cancer/Libra, followed by Audrey Hepburn's and Jackie Kennedy's sleeker, more sophisticated looks during the phase of Leo/Scorpio.










"Sweaters and under-the-girdled sex", said Judy Licht...she obviously hasn't experienced the reality, which had more in common with suits of armour and chastity belts!



Currently Uranus is in Pisces and Neptune in Aquarius. I'm surprised that fashion needs to look backward for inspiration during this astrological atmosphere. Neptune and Aquarius in mutual reception (in each other's ruling sign) ought to be breeding creativity of the highest kind.

Why would fashionistas want to look back to this era? It's a mystery. Perhaps the designers promoting these looks have heavy retrograde influence in their natal charts. Some clients and customers may fall in love with these looks, but I suspect it will be a short-lived affair. It's definitely not for me - I'll parody Amy Winehouse:

They’re tryin to make me go to the fifties
I said no, no, no!

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