Our red hat society hats Christmas ornaments are 3½ long and 3 inches wide. The red hat society hats Christmas ornaments consist of a red, bonnet style, hat with a thin purple sequin ribbon, tied in a bow for a hatband. The red hat society hats Christmas ornaments have purple flowers with green leaves and a spray of pearls decorating the top. The red hat society hats Christmas ornaments hang from a 3 inch loop of red stain ribbon.
Changes in Fashion.
Fashions considered appropriate of men and women have changed as standards of masculinity and femininity have changed. Until the late 1700’s, upper class European men dressed as elaborately as women. It was acceptable for men to wear brightly colored or pastel suits trimmed wit gold and lace, hats decorated with feathers, high heeled shoes and fancy jewelry. By the mid 1800’s, men had abandoned color and decoration in favor of plain, dark colored wool suits. People considered this new fashion democratic, businesslike and masculine. Until the early 1900’s standards of feminine modesty had changed to the point that women began to wear both trousers and shorter skirts.
A clothing style may become fashionable over time with many different groups. For example, people began wearing blue jeans in the 1850’s when Levi Strauss and Co. sold tough cotton work pants to gold miners in California. In the 1940’s and 1950’s, American teenagers adopted blue jeans as a comfortable, casual youth fashion. Young people during the 1960’s wore blue jeans qas a symbol of rebellious political and social beliefs. By the 1970’s people no longer considered jeans rebellious and expensive designer jeans became fashionable.
Politacal events seldom cause fashions to change. However, political events do sometimes speed up changes that have already begun. For example, during the French revolution, 1789-1799, simple clothing replaced the extravagant costumes made fashionable by French aristocrats. Simple styles had become popular years earlier when men in England started wearing practical, dark suits instead of elegant, colorful clothes. English people identified these plain suits with political and personal liberty. Because many French people admired English liberty, this style was already becoming fashionable in France before the revolution.
Occasionally, foreign wars or voyages of exploration have introduced people to new styles of clothing. For example, European soldiers brought back rich silks and other fabrics from the Crusades, military expeditions to the Middle East during the 1100’s and 1200’s.
The Industrial Revolution that occurred during the 1700’s and 1800’s caused rapid changes in the development of fashion. The invention of mechanical looms, chemical dyes, artificial fabrics and methods of mass production made fashions affordable to many more people. In addition, new means of mass communication spread European and American fashions throughout the rest of the world. The Industrial revolution caused people throughout the world to dress more and more alike.
Since the 1800’s the fashion industry has operated on two levels, couture and ready to wear. Couture refers to expensive, one of a kind clothes created for rich customers by high fashion designers called couturiers. Before couturiers design new fashions, they try to guess which styles will be popular in the future. Manufacturers of ready to wear clothing copy couture designs that prove successful. Ready to wear clothing is produced in large quantities and sold for lower prices.
Giorgio Armani.
Giorgio Armani is leading Italian fashion designer. He designs for both men and women. Armani’s clothes have a soft, fluid silhouette that became his signature and one of the most important fashion trends of the late 1900’s. Armani uses beautiful textiles to give special distinctions to his clothes.
Armani was born in Piacenza, Italy. He began his career as an assistant buyer for a major Italian department store. He then worked with Italian designer Nino Cerruti in 1961. After free lancing for a number of manufacturers, Armani introduced his first menswear collection in 1974. The collection created a sensation with a style known as the “unconstructed” jacket, a loose fitting jacket with no lining or shoulder pads. Armani adapted his style for a line of women’s clothes in 1975 when he formed his own company with Italian businessman Sergio Galeotti. To ready to wear clothing, Armani’s company brought exceptional fabric quality, elegance and a revolutionary emphasis on comfort and informality in tailoring.