THE RENAISSANCE REVIVAL & THE JOY OF ESCAPIST FASHION

Khaite AW20

If you’ve recently found yourself struck by a desire to regularly swathe yourself in lashings of pearls, velvet and brocade, or with an healthy appreciation for puff sleeves, romantic necklines and jacquard ballgowns, then you’re not alone – Renaissance-era dressing is having a moment right now. Thanks to the preponderance of that giant-collared Ganni shirt, it’s safe to say that we’re experiencing a period of white-blouse mania, whereby fanciful iterations of Shakespearean-inspired blouses and lacy, ruffled confections are firmly entrenched in the season’s repertoire of must-have wardrobe items. The runways, too, in recent seasons have witnessed an inundation of 16th-century-inspired attire, with designers presenting collections in ode to all things Renaissance.

CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION & COVETING DURING COVID-19

Since I left Paris 8 weeks ago for what was at the time an unknown period, I’ve made three purchases – a month’s supply of books, a glorious daisy signet ring, and a pair of trainers to replace my former pair that were so old and worn down (I have vivid memories of being forced to run up and down the school sports hall during the ‘bleep test’ in them) that attempting to run in them seems to have done semi-permanent damage to my ankles. For a while any desire to make sartorial purchases seemed to have been subdued, perhaps by the knowledge that I wouldn’t be leaving the house, with the exception of my ‘daily’ walks, for the foreseeable future, and though I am still getting dressed, there is currently little need to be adding to the contents of my wardrobe. 

THE POWER OF GETTING DRESSED

From the depths of quarantine: an outfit recipe for a sunny day – plain white T-shirt, a beach-umbrella-striped midi skirt, and the key to feeling/looking put together when going absolutely nowhere = jewellery

Today I am wearing a slightly V-necked, slightly cropped duck-egg blue knit jumper. It has cuffed balloon-sleeves that bell out from the underarm, and it is one part of a co-ord – the sister piece being a midi-skirt in the exact same knit texture and the exact same delicate blue hue – that I bought in an attempt to recreate a knitted pastel two-piece look from a street style photo at Autumn/Winter 2019’s Paris Fashion Week (which I wrote about here in one of my first ever blog posts). Instead, though, today I am wearing it with a pair of striped pyjama bottoms rendered in an aubergine-purple and white stripe. I’ve probably had them since I was about 12. I don’t own any joggers so these are my answer to the question of comfortable loungewear. They’re fairly fitted, hugging my lower half in a pleasant, almost satisfying fashion rather than a constrictive one. 

MFW AW20: WHY WAS MILAN FASHION WEEK SO NOSTALGIC?

Versace

In my slightly overdue third instalment of Fashion Month pieces, I wrote about nostalgia at Milan Fashion Week and why so many collections were inspired by the past.
For more Fashion Month food-for-thought, take a look at how designers at London Fashion Week incorporated sustainability into their collections here. Or, if you’re in need of some inspiration on how to get dressed, plunge into the New York Fashion Week shows that gave lessons in how to do just that here.

LFW AW20: WHAT DOES SUSTAINABLE FASHION LOOK LIKE?

Marques’ Almeida AW20 – A bubble-hemmed recycling-themed print dress made from plastic collected from the oceans in collaboration with Louise Gray

Among the ‘Big Four’, London Fashion Week occupies a place at the forefront of the conversation surrounding sustainability. For my second installment of Fashion Month pieces, I took a look at how sustainable values and practices manifested themselves in London’s Autumn/Winter 2020 collections.
Find the first installment on New York Fashion Week where I explored why the best fashion shows aren’t always the ones that display the most beautiful clothes here.

NYFW AW20: THE BEST SHOWS ARE THE ONES THAT INSPIRE YOU TO GET DRESSED

Veronica Beard AW20

The world of runway shows and designer collections can sometimes feel like a distant fantasy reserved only for those who have managed to rise through the ranks of the fashion industry, while the rest of us fashion enthusiasts watch from afar (or through our phone screens and Instagram feeds) and marvel at the otherworldly silhouettes of theatrical ball gowns and gilded power suits and myriad other sartorial novelties. Compounded by the fact that the way clothes are made and presented is heavily influenced by the age of social media that we are currently living in, fashion shows and the clothes within them at times become an orchestration of an Instagram moment, their most notable attribute being their ability to aesthetically please the eyes of an Insta-obsessed generation. 

SEX, FASHION & FEMINISM: WHAT DOES THE END OF THE VICTORIA’S SECRET SHOW REALLY MEAN?

Bella Hadid walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

What was once one of the most hotly anticipated and aspirational events of the fashion calendar came to its somewhat overdue end in November. Victoria’s Secret, the lingerie brand famous for its annual fashion shows where A-list models would strut down the runway in lacy lingerie and angel wings, with bouncy breasts, visible abs and jutting hipbones, announced the cancellation of the very event that made it famous, sparking a plethora of questions about the changing dynamics between sex, fashion and feminism: how has the sexual politics of women’s clothing changed in a post-MeToo era? How can fashion break away from the misogynistic beauty standards that dictate what we should look like? How has the lingerie industry evolved to catch up to the demands of inclusivity and diversity within fashion? Can lingerie shows be empowering? 

CAN I LOVE FASHION AND SIMULTANEOUSLY WANT TO SAVE THE PLANET?

Before I moved to Paris last month, I was on a mission to curate for myself the perfect workwear wardrobe for my internship. I’d successfully landed myself with several bargains, including a Whistles dress for £45 instead of £160, a Ganni blouse for £36 instead of £120, and a pair of checked trousers from sustainable US brand Reformation for £54 instead of £180. All in all, I was pretty proud of myself. Not only because they were bargains, but because not one of these items was from a fast-fashion brand. In fact, I hadn’t bought any clothes from a fast-fashion brand since May. So when I decided to treat myself to a dress from the H&M x Richard Allen collaboration, a delightful satin 60s-style scarf-print maxi that would slide perfectly into my workwear wardrobe and work effortlessly with a black blazer and a pair of ankle boots, I felt a wave of what I call ‘fashion guilt’ run through my mind. Suddenly, the pride I’d taken in my conscious effort not to consume fast-fashion over the previous few months turned into a feeling that ‘doing my best’ isn’t really enough, and that I’m not going to make a difference unless I stop buying from fast-fashion brands completely.

SUSTAINABLE FASHION: HOW TO SHOP MORE SUSTAINABLY WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

Disclaimer: you’ll probably read the words ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability’ about 100 times in this article.

In case you hadn’t heard, we’re in the midst of a climate crisis, and fashion is one of the most polluting and damaging industries on the planet, with everything from the production of materials and manufacturing processes to the transporting of garments and the amount of waste sent to landfill having a detrimental environmental impact. Facing this fact can be a little overwhelming, especially in the golden age of thriving fast fashion as we are constantly bombarded with more and more clothing options and encouraged to continue consuming. The accessibility and affordability of high street and fast fashion retailers seems to be irresistible to some, and breaking up a relationship with fast fashion can be tricky when you’re used to making weekly orders from PrettyLittleThing or ASOS for garments costing as little as £5. It’s easy to understand the appeal, but suddenly these brands aren’t so appealing when we think about the social and environmental cost that takes the weight of these cheap prices. And, particularly as young people who’ve grown up in this cheap consumption-orientated society in which ‘more is better’, breaking these habits in favour of shopping more sustainably might seem nigh-on impossible. But shopping sustainably doesn’t necessarily doesn’t necessarily have to have such a hefty price tag.

SUSTAINABILITY: THE TREND TO END ALL TRENDS?

Reformation

Sustainability is the latest buzzword at the forefront of our minds, a cultural zeitgeist beginning to dominate every aspect of our lives as we attempt to navigate and limit the impact of the current climate crisis. The urgency of the planet’s health is forcing brands and designers across the fashion community to reconsider fashion’s relationship with sustainability. As consumers, our environmental responsibility demands that we reassess our habits when it comes to fashion consumption, and moving towards a more mindful consumption means a shift from shopping based on ever-changing seasonal trends to investing in high-quality, ethically-sourced, staple pieces. Could the rising trend of sustainable dressing put an end to the constant need for newness?