First Fashion Publications

Finding out what the latest fashions were before the seventeenth century was fairly difficult. Members of royalty – kings, queens, princes and princesses – set fashion trends and one actually had to see noblemen or women to get an idea of new trends. Some royals sent their tailors around the country with life-size dolls dressed in the latest styles to spread news of fashion changes. Then, in 1672, the first fashion magazine began publication in France. Called “Mercure Galant” the magazine began to regularly offer comment on the latest clothing styles and was read throughout Europe. The French also led the way in the creation and circulation of fashion plates, beautiful illustrations of the latest garments that guided the work of tailors. (The term ‘fashion plate’ would later be used to describe someone who was always dressed in style.) By the end of the century many Parisian printers began selling fashion plates or engravings of fashionable clothes. The trend has not yet stopped. Such fashion magazines as “Elle” and “Vogue” are bought internationally by the millions in the twenty-first century

UNIT 5

The Importance of Colour

When you describe to another person how someone you noticed was dressed, what is the first thing you mention? For most people it is colour. Even when you recall clothes you wore years ago, colour often comes to mind. You probably have found memories of a favourite coat or outfit you once wore. The chances are that you remember most about it is its colour. More than any other feature of clothes, colour is what you notice. It catches your eye, and you remember it. Colour also has cultural value. Think of all the ways that we communicate in our society through colour. Red is often a sign of warning or of an emergency. Stop lights, fire engines, and fire call boxes are often bright red. The colours pink, blue, and yellow are sometimes associated with babies. White is the colour of innocence (in Western cultures). Black is the colour of mourning. Different colours symbolise flags of all countries in the world. Colour has also personal value. It affects how you feel. Pastel or soft colours are thought to relax people. Bright colours are thought to make people feel happy or talkative. A colour may have an even more personal meaning for you. You may find that you feel especially good wearing a certain shade of blue. You may always reach for your bright green coat on gloomy, rainy days because it cheers you to wear a favourite colour. When you are particularly happy, you may pull a neutral or dark colour from your closet.

UNIT 6

The Appearance of a Costume Designer Profession

Costume design as a profession is a twentieth-century phenomenon. Until the end of the nineteenth century, costumes for popular entertainments were assembled piecemeal, either by the director or the actor-manager. Actors working with more than one company might travel with their own costumes.

The actor’s strike of 1919 put an end to the practice of performers providing their own wardrobes. Thereafter, producers were required to supply costumes for everyone by contract. Then the stage designers unionized. As part of the collective agreement producers of Broadway and touring productions had to hire a union designer. The first union members were set designers who might also design costumes. By 1936 the union recognized costume designers as a separate specialty.

Film designers also emerged in the 1920s. At first, actresses in contemporary films wore their own clothes. Designers emerged partly because studio heads wanted their films to have a cohesive look but primarily because the shift from black and white to colour film, and from silent to talkie, required costumes especially designed for the medium. The early film distorted colours. Blue on film appeared white. Red photographed as black. The early microphones were so sensitive to sounds that only soft fabrics could be used.

UNIT 7