Fanglong Fashion

The origination of todays pvc gogo boot and 70s look was probably inspired most by Mary Quant who opened a clothing shop in a fashionable shopping area, King’s Road, Chelsea, many decades ago.

Mary Qaunt was 21 years old, and was tired of the range of clothes available to order and so decided to create her own look. Within 10 years her shop was stocked with her individual styles and she started hiring machinists to satify the needs of her customers.

Without planning it, Mary had started a new genre in fashion which was later to become known as the’Chelsea Look’.

Within a short time scale, teenagers started wearing interchangeable unisex garments that were matched white plastic collared dresses, mini skirts and hot pants in the summer, and skinny rib polo necks and knee high PVC boots in winter.

By being part of the scene at that time, Mary Quant became a secondary word for the the mini skirt. Short skirts worn for the frist time, were both eye catching and highly provocative, exactly what was needed to start a new trend. They soon became extremely popular, and were more emphatic when worn with tights and knee high pvc boots.

Mary Quant today has become international and shops trade in Paris, Tokyo and New York as well as London.

As you often find with new fashions and trends, the more controversial something is, the more likely it is to take off. No doubt what added fuel to the demand was the adoption  of these looks by the leading music artists of the day. One only has to think of Marianne Faithfull and Nancy Sinatra in her song “these boots were made for walking”, to understand the combined power of new exciting designs and media showing them to the young public, to understand the orignins of this phenomenal 70s craze.

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by: Brittany S. Moss

Fashion design school can be an exciting and rewarding experience. But what is it like? Each school is different; fashion design school curriculums include such courses as patternmaking, fashion buying, illustration and trendsetting. Whether you are in the fashion capital of the U.S, New York City, or in the stylish, chic L.A, fashion is what you make it. The following provides a glimpse into two of the top fashion design schools in America.

One of the top and most well-known fashion design schools in the nation is California’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising or FIDM. With 16 different majors to choose from including interior design, fashion design, footwear design, film & TV costume design, textile design and merchandise marketing, FIDM offers a wide angle on the fashion design industry. FDIM has several degree offerings including an Associate of Arts Degree, an Associate of Arts Professional Designation Degree and an Associate of Arts Advanced Study Degree; each degree program takes about two years to complete. FDIM’s curriculum features such classes as sketching, creative design, computer applications, draping and pattern drafting in this global industry.

Parsons The New School for Design, located New York City and best known for its presence on the TV show Project Runway, is also one of the nation’s top fashion design school programs. Parsons’ degree programs are diverse and numerous and include undergraduate programs in architecture, design and technology, illustration, interior design and photography and graduate programs in architecture, fine arts, lighting and photography. The 345 students accepted into Parsons’ AAS Fashion Studies program have an undergraduate college education and focus strictly on design. They learn about the history of fashion and trends and bring styles from across the globe to the streets of New York City. Parsons’ degree programs run two to four years, depending on the program. Parsons’ curriculum features such classes as basic sewing techniques, portfolio construction and how to build an effective portfolio.

These are just a few of the fashion design programs out there. To learn more, research online or visit the fashion design school near you.

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Like it or not, the fact remains that humans are visual creatures.  Our senses are stimulated by what we find visually attractive and what we don’t.  The observer forms his or her first opinion within the first twenty seconds or so of visual contact.  Yes, this is indeed shallow, but it is also more instinctive rather than a cultivated trait.  This characteristic was really the basis for the adoption of fashion jewelry to enhance one’s appearance.  Jewelry is an effective way to disclose facets of your personality. It is a way to project a certain image or vision of your choosing.

A fashion necklace or other peice of jewelry is usually targeted towards an audience that is primarily composed to teenagers and young adults.  When dealing with this demographic, it is important that the jewelry meet two key goals.  Firstly, the jewelry must be visually attractive and conform to the present trends within the fashion world.  Having said that, it is also important to note that sometimes the prevailing trend may be non-conformance!  Current trends for fashion jewelry show a preference for large, chunky jewelry preferably using natural materials such as stones and wood.  However, jewelry with large Lucite beads is not unpopular.  The second characteristic of fashion jewelry is that it must be affordable.  Since this type of jewelry is directed towards teens and young adults – age groups that usually do not have access to large sums of money, it is important that the cost of fashion jewelry be kept reasonable.  So metals such as silver and copper are preferred and more popular than gold and platinum for fashion jewelry.  Similarly, the use of common and semi-precious stones such as agates, jasper and cultured pearls are more popular than precious stones such as diamonds.  The affordability aspect of fashion jewelry is particularly important because the audience within the target demographic often prefers to buy multiple pieces that can be mixed and matched with a variety of outfits and for a variety of occasions.

The fact that fashion jewelry is relatively inexpensive does not mean that designers sacrifice beauty, elegance, and style to cut costs.  A good designer will find a way to achieve these desirable qualities while still keeping the jewelry affordable.  For example, a single strand bracelet of natural matched pearls would cost hundreds of dollars – clearly out of reach of most teenagers and young adults.  Instead of using natural pearls, a good designer of fashion or costume jewelry would used cultured pearls to create a freshwater pearl bracelet that is just as pretty, and cost no more than twenty dollars!  Similarly, the designer can use natural turquoise to make a silver pendant that would cost over one hundred dollars.  Or, they could use a good specimen of stabilized turquoise set in silver, and the piece would cost less than fifty dollars!

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