WWD Century, Special Collectors Edition,
September 1998, edited by Edward Nardoza, published by Fairchild
Publications, New York, NY — 268 pages — profusely illustrated —
measures: 10 1/8" x 13 3/4"
Contents:
- Letter From the Chairman
- The Decades:
- 1900-1909:
- It's a new century, full of
promise and experimentation. Immigrants swarm America's shores,
providing a cheap work force that is the backbone of the U.S. garment
industry. Couture prospers in Paris, and the S-shaped silhouette is the
look of the day.
- 1910-1919:
- The second decade is full of
battle and progress. World War I, dubbed "the war to end all wars," is
fought, bringing women into the workplace — complete with a new,
suitable wardrobe. Suffragettes fight for and eventually win women's
right to vote in 1919, and unions keep up their struggle to develop
labor laws to protect mostly immigrant workers.
- 1920-1929:
- Life is a dare — a mad, wondrous
jaunt. The Jazz Age is one of instant gratification and defiance... play
now, pay later. Chanel emerges, hemlines dance along the leg, youth is
idealized in the flapper. On the darker side, fascism is on the rise,
Hitler publishes his book... and in the U.S., the Great Depression
looms.
- 1930-1939:
- After nearly a decade of endless
partying, the country suffers from a massive hangover brought on by the
stock market crash of 1929, which dramatically impacts the luxury and
fashion businesses. But the movies provide a source of escapism, and
Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd president, giving a petrified
nation a New Deal to put people back to work.
- 1940-1949:
- World War II engulfs the globe
and even takes its toll on fashion as materials are rationed. Women are
back in the work force, wearing pants and cutting their hair. But after
the war, femininity returns as Dior's New Look dazzles the fashion
world, setting a pace for decades to come.
- 1950-1959:
- From the New Look to poodle
skirts. Hula-Hoops to TV, the decade is fat and fun. The country is
giddy with postwar prosperity, optimism and modern conveniences, even
against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Korean Conflict. In high
fashion, the decade belongs to Dior, but Elvis Presley's explosion on
the music scene makes rock'n'roll one of the century's most powerful
social forces, in fashion as well as popular culture.
- 1960-1969:
- A walk on the wild side, from the
elegance of Camelot to the abandon of Woodstock to those unbelievable
footsteps on the moon. The Sixties compresses a remarkable volume of
history into a relatively short moment — Vietnam and the antiwar
movement, assassinations, Civil Rights, the Pill, sexual freedom.
Fashion goes from the pillbox hat to defiant bra-burning to space-age
chic.
- 1970-1979:
- The "me" decade is one of the
most reviled — and, ironically, revisited — periods in fashion. It is
the era often called "the decade taste forgot" (remember leisure suits?)
Fashion romps from the hippie hangover that leads to ethnic and retro
influences, to the storied days of Studio 54, to violence expressed in
punk, terrorist chic and aggressive uniform looks.
- 1980-1989:
- Big money rules. It's the era of
Conspicuous Consumption and leveraged buyouts. And American designers
like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan become household names.
The Reagan presidency sets the tone for a New Society of elegant
affluence and extravagance, when clothes as large as the times. Lady
Diana Spencer and Prince Charles are wed in a fairy-tale fantasy, and
Di's gown is one of the most copied dresses of the next few years.
- 1990-1999:
- The last decade of the millennium
is one of extremes. Overt opulence is over, minimalism is in, stripping
away the glitz of the Eighties, in fashion and in photography. In the
workplace, dress codes are shattered.
- The Metamorphosis of American Retailing
- New York's Lucky Seventh
- The Italian Conquerors
- Fashion's Fantasy Lab
- The Image Makers
- The Sweet Smell of Success
- Innerwear: From Corsets to Consciousness
- The Sign of the Cloth
- The Icons
- The First Ladies
- Star Power
- They Told WWD
- Acknowledgements
- Louise's Fashionary