Fashion is a landscape known for taking risks, so intertwined with politics, that one can guess a society's culture just by the person's clothing. It is a parade of audacious fashion statements and unforgettable moments, and oftentimes, life changing. Like for me, it was Versace’s Spring 2004 Ready-To-Wear collection. Every single one of those dresses can be worn today. Changed my world, I tell you.
Have you ever looked into your grandma’s closet and seen a Chanel jacket that you would still wear to a golf club? Or wondered why everyone still fawns over Audrey Hepburn's “Little Black Dress” to this day? These iconic moments in high fashion history have quite literally defined the way we dress and what we view as elegant and classic. Here are some of the moments in High Fashion that have set trends, turned heads, and sometimes left me scratching mines.
The Little Black Dress
Black is a colour synonymous with elegance and class, a tone never going out of style. Black is slimming after all. But every fashion girlie knows you just have to have that one black dress in your closet, the one that’s never going to let you down. I mean, this is the equivalent of a trusty sidekick in movies, the LBD is the one fashion item that has cemented itself in literal fashion history.
In Paris, basically, 100 years ago, Coco Chanel unveiled the original “Little Black Dress” during the Great Depression in 1926, a stark contrast to the Roaring Twenties that defined this decade for us, the LBD was minimal and modern, classy and elegant, and best of all, affordable. A drawing of a simple black dress was published in the American Vogue magazine in 1926. It had long narrow sleeves with a string of pearls as an accessory. The dress was designed by Coco Chanel and was dubbed ‘Chanel’s Ford’. It was simple and accessible to all. Vogue said that it would soon become a sort of uniform for all women who had a taste for fine things. Even when you were starving, you could do so elegantly.
The LBD is unique in a way that any black dress can become the LBD, unique to you and your own style. You don’t need a bedazzled gold dress or a frilly one to be considered elegant, and the little black dress shows this. From Audrey Hepburn’s iconic LBD in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to the countless other renditions by celebrities and designers, the little black dress’s impact was not so very little, proving that less is more.
I have my own LBD. It’s my abaya.
2018 Met Gala
Now, while I have my own opinions about religious symbolism or religion in general being mixed up in fashion (I hate loathe it 🤗) and the fact that the Met Gala is usually a hit or miss in most cases, in 2018…they kinda ate.
The theme of the Met Gala was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” based on the MET’s own spring 2018 exhibition, it features “dialogue between fashion and mediaeval art from The Met collection to examine fashion's ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and traditions of Catholicism.” Basically, catholic symbols and iconography in fashion.
We saw a lot of print in 2018, very fitting of the time periods, but we saw a lot of that ethereal renaissance aesthetic on the red carpet. From angelic wings to gilded halos, attendees embraced the theme perfectly. While there were some misses, there were a whole lot of hits.
Blake Lively, Met Gala 2018
One of the celebrities I saw lean more into the “mediaeval” aspect of the theme was Zendaya’s iconic look. While it isn’t my favourite look from her, I love it. LOVE ITTT!! For menswear, though I despise Trevor Noah and refuse to give him any credit, his designers ate that. Balmain ate that.
While I won't go through all the looks of the 2018 Met Gala, I highly encourage you to check out all the outfits from it as it was one of the rare Met Gala’s where it felt like people actually followed the theme beautifully. Except for Anna Wintour. Obviously. Actually, maybe I should cut her some slack, it was one of the only times she slightly ate. Like 5%.
Princess Diana’s Iconic “Revenge Dress”
Princess Diana was truly the people’s princess. Being a south asian girly, daughter to an Imran Khan die hard supporter mom, Princess Diana was revered greatly in the desi community for some odd reason. And you know what? I think it's well founded! I think we all should love and support her! Would Princess Diana support Free Palestine? I think she would.
Despite her tragic story and life, Miss Princess served greatly. Not only looks, but to the community as well. What made Diana’s version of the LBD so famous was the surrounding circumstances. The plot: a televised interview where Prince Charles (the man too ugly for her anyways) publicly admitted to his infidelity. The plot twist: Diana, charging forth with poise and power, chose this exact moment to make her own statement—a fashion choice so audacious and unforgettable, breaking royal law, that it would etch itself into the historical record of the royal family.
Enter the 'revenge dress': a sleek, black, off-the-shoulder number by Christina Stambolian, chosen well, a carefully curated statement piece. It hugged the figure, the neckline plunged! Oh dear, is that…cleavage?! And, it was black.
It was public betrayal and public defiance, donned the name “Revenge Dress”. Princess Diana’s revenge dress was a masterful blend of personal assertion and style that broke multiple unwritten rules of royal fashion and protocol. Her bold choice not only made a powerful personal statement but also challenged the established norms of how members of the royal family should dress and behave in the public eye. This iconic moment remains a testament to one's ability to use fashion as a means of personal expression and defiance.
Also, she just looked gorgeous in everything. RIP Diana, you would’ve loved Summertime Sadness/
Christian Dior’s “New Look”
Christian Dior is single handedly given the cake for defining an entire decade with a singular look, the New Look. Smack-dab post war, Dior’s reputation as one of the most important couturiers of the twentieth century was launched in 1947 in just under three months, with his very first collection, in which he introduced the "New Look."
Broad shoulders, a cinched waist, and curves and full flaring skirts, the New Look celebrated a return to ultra femininity pre war, bringing in the full rage of the hourglass body shape. The new look became more of a silhouette, emphasising feminine curves and a full figure.
It was a revival of French couture (Dior had spent a lot of time in France, during World War II, Dior served in the south of France, then returned again to Paris in 1941 and worked for Lucien Lelong at a much larger design house.) after the German Occupation of WWII. It was so revolutionary then, for the fact that it was a step back into “normalcy” using an abundance of fabric, forgetting wartime rations. It is exactly what Dior himself envisioned, leaving wartime behind:
“‘We were leaving a period of war, of uniforms, of soldier-women with shoulders like boxers. I turned them into flowers, with soft shoulders, blooming bosoms, waists slim as vine stems, and skirts opening up like blossoms.’” This is how Dior described his vision for his “New Look” collection, according to TIME magazine’s 1957 cover story on the fashion designer.
However, not everyone loved it. Hmph, idiots! Critics argued that the extravagant use of fabric was out of touch with post-war austerity, and some viewed the style as a regression to pre-war femininity. What did they want? To live in slacks for the rest of their life? Despite this, the New Look’s impact was undeniable and enduring.
In conclusion…
There are so many more iconic fashion moments I can write about, for example Chanel No.5! But I fear I have written too much already and really, I can just go on and on…and on. But these were some of the less obscure fashion moments I love, and some I felt many people could relate to me with. Fashion is an ever changing space, and despite some changes being unwarranted, every fashion runway is a reflection and a tiny peek into the future of how we may wind up dressing. Should I make this into a series?
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