Darwin-ism

Darwins Theory of Evolution. A heavy weight topic explained to me perfectly via the magic of the Little People, Big Dreams books, books which anyone with children in their lives should be aware of, they explain without patronising the reader subjects that it took until adulthood for me to comprehend, such as racism, prejudice, privilege, ambition and determination, they introduce the worlds most brilliant minds to the future most brilliant minds.

So there i was, sat crossed legged on the bed with my youngest reading the highly compressed version of Darwins Theory and my tiny mind started to wander about how this highly complex hypothesis affects fashion, fashion constantly evolves, although it nods backwards towards trends, and takes inspiration from bygone eras we don't ever go backwards, there is constant improvement, updating, enhancing and development of everything from shapes to fabric.

Second Hand September always highlights how designers take inspiration from Vintage clothing, taking the patterns from yesteryear and making them in modern day fabrics that were often unheard of when the original was made. The Met Gala 2021 was full to the brim of celebrities wearing dresses “inspired” by Vintage fashion, Kendall Jenner (the tallest Kardashian) wore Givenchy inspired by the dress Hubert De Givenchy made for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady whilst Model Kaia Gerber (daughter of Cindy Crawford) wore an Oscar de La Renta gown inspired by Dior famously worn by Bianca Jagger.

But its not always the garments that evolve, often the originals can’t be improved upon, it is whats worn and accessorised with it, the styling of a look, that dates it and that is what evolves, while 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s trends continue to inspire how we dress, modern day styling avoids us looking like are lost in a time warp, it can be a subtle as pairing a trainer with a dress, switching a pointed stiletto out for a square toed mule, rolling a jean instead of turning them up, a shirt cuff that comes longer than the jacket sleeve, a top handle bag instead of a clutch, its the nuances in fashion that keep it moving and keep it fresh. Darwin knew, he just left it to me to write the bit about fashion.