Fall fashion incorporates trends from decades past

NOORI CHISTI ’17
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Let the ever-bipolar weather be a sign that fall is finally upon us. There are so many things to be excited for this fall. There’s the sheer beauty of our campus, pumpkin spiced lattes, and my personal favorite – fall fashion, just to name a few.
Fall fashion is always one of my favorite seasons to dress for, but this season brings to light some particularly great trends to be excited about. You can essentially look at the runway looks for this fall as channeling an amalgamation of so many iconic looks of the past.
For example, we are still seeing a lot of the 60’s, 70’s, and 90’s looks that were popular through this past summer. With that in mind, it would be a good idea to keep your mod silhouetted dresses, bohemian prints, and high-waisted pants easily accessible in your closet. Not to mention a personal favorite, the 90’s slip dress, which Celine and Rag & Bone have made really cute versions of. But what’s really fantastic is that we’re seeing 80’s styles now as well.
When we look at fashion today, and specifically this fall, you can really look at it as this great fusion of the styles of the past. It is really easy to get excited about the fact that you essentially have the ability – to a great extent – to wear such a large variety of styles and still be trendy for this fall.
Statement pieces like 70’s suede culottes are a big thing, but at the same time, you can wear a velvet 90’s style slip dress and channel your inner Kate Moss with a cute choker.
From the 60’s, we have flattering mod silhouetted dresses, often paired with boots. With that, plan to see lots of shift dresses; to make it edgier, and also perfect for fall weather, they can be paired with leather thigh high boots or maybe an androgynous penny loafer. It is the iconic style of Chanel tweed and Lilly shifts, elegant and classic. Celine capes and long Calvin Klein coats that you would imagine to be worn by a modern Jackie O. One of the biggest statement pieces for this fall is the classic white blouse, which can be paired with just about anything.
From the 70’s, we have strong bohemian and Eastern influences that can been seen on the runway by DVF, Alexander McQueen, Donna Karan, and Oscar de la Renta, just to name a few.
Between flared sleeves and bellbottomed pants, another big thing to keep an eye out for from 70’s fashion is suede. For the fall, one can expect to see suede all through department stores, by both very high end and more approachable designers alike. As if anyone needs another reason to go forth and channel their inner Penny Lane from Almost Famous. Suede has gone further than just being seen in jackets, as we can look at how edgier, newer designers, like VEDA have made all suede dresses in interesting, modern silhouettes.
From the 80’s, we can see strong statement pieces and a sense of bold color coming back into mainstream fashion sense. Bottegga Veneta, known for its bold leather pieces, is able to become so popular due to the fact that fashion is turning back to the glitz and glam of the 80’s though interpreting them in a modern sense by showing the fashion influences of the 80’s as statement pieces.
For example, many of the Dior pieces for this fall were made out a shiny material reminiscent of the 80’s. Not to mention, the leather pants of the 80’s definitely seem to be here to stay. Another interesting statement piece reminiscent of the 80’s that you can see in many runway looks is gloves, but especially in those of Prada. The E! Fashion Police may have been in an uproar over Amal Clooney’s choice to wear gloves with her evening gown to the Golden Globes last year, but that being said, the runway does not lie. Amal brought gloves back.
From the 90’s, we have fashion pieces like my favorite slip dresses, plaid and flannel, and the edgier looks of the “heroin chic” decade of fashion. Perfect for the fall in the sense that burgundy lipstick is always a given for the season. Plus, as a New England school, we really can’t get enough of our flannel and plaid. Not to mention, I am a firm believer that a leather jacket can top almost any look.
Considering the weather that can’t seem to make up its mind, the key to fall fashion any year is layers, and with the options that this fall’s fashion brings, the possibilities are endless. From Celine and Dolce & Gabbana capes to leather jackets, this season’s concept of layers is wonderfully widespread. But an interesting concept that this brings with it is a key component of fall fashion this year – textures.
This fall is all about playing with different textures in creating something interesting and new. We see this in the presence of mixed media looks, patchwork prints, the plethora of leather and suede being used in such a large variety of ways.
To build on the ideas of layers and texture, it is important to note another key component of fall fashion this year – fur. Fur accents are appearing pretty much everywhere. Even brands that normally don’t do a lot of work with fur, of example, Kate Spade, are making fur accessories. That being said, animal activists hang tight, Kate Spade is specifically only working with faux fur.
What is important to note as the difference between fur in seasons past is that whereas fur vests grew in popularity last year, this year, we are seeing fur everywhere from tastefully cuffed on jackets, all the way to a more blatant presence on the outside of shoes.
In these terms, one can see that the embrace of fur on anything and everything is not unlike the rest of fall 2015 fashion, in the sense that it is embracing many styles that are no longer understated, as we have seen in the past.
Designers are making bolder clothing. You can see this specifically in terms of jewelry, as there is a turn to more feminine and larger jewelry. For example, Prada and Balenciaga both have brooches for their fall collections. Another example is the turn to larger sunglasses.
With all the potential that fall fashion this year, I can understand that the choices can be overwhelming. With allowing for so many choices though, especially in terms of being bold, one has the ability to emulate so many different fashion icons. Considering the specific trends of this season, it seems like dressing like you belong in a Wes Anderson movie would immediately make you on point, whether that means the Grand Budapest Hotel, or channeling one of my favorite characters ever, Margot Tenenbaum, Gwyneth Palthrow in The Royal Tenenbaums.