Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
What is a pervasive fashion trend?
A pervasive fashion trend is an element of popular fashion that transcends product lines and categories. It may be details, colors, prints or patterns, textures, lines or shapes, or any other characteristic. A pervasive fashion trend is found in many products, including clothing, accessories and home fashions. Recent examples of pervasive fashion trends include animal prints, geometric patterns (such as chevrons), specific color or palettes, such as bright colors (a la Skittles). Past pervasive fashion trends have included lacing, neon colors, polka dots, and tie-dye.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Why Would Anyone Wear That? Fascinating Fashion Facts by Celia Stall-Meadows, illustrated by Leslie Stall Widener. Published by Intellect Books, 2013. A second volume is in the works.
Recent book presentations and signings:
92Y-Tribeca in NYC on July 10, 2013
Diggin It in McKinney, TX on May 11, 2013
Saks 5th Avenue, Tulsa, OK, Spring 2013
Below are links to an excerpt from the book (pp. 4-5) and a television interview with the author.
http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/MediaManager/File/fashionsupplement.pdf
http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3869257
Monday, January 23, 2012
Available Now: Nonfiction book, "Why Would Anyone Wear That?"
http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3869257
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Hemline Theory: An editorial myth
Media writers often refer to a supposed hemline theory. They may cite economist Paul Nystrom or Professor George W. Taylor as the developers of this theory. These reports lack verification and historical accuracy and have continued to occur because once--a long time ago--somewhere, someone noted a phenomenon and deduced a hypothesis that was incorrectly coined a theory.
The inaccurate information is as follows:
Stock prices move in the same direction as women's hemlines; ie: when the economy is healthy, women's hemlines shorten in a reflection of the good times. When the economy is in a recession, women's hemlines lengthen to reflect the depressed attitudes. Media writers have given credit to Paul Nystrom and George W. Taylor for this concept. In reality, neither this researcher, nor the librarian at Professor Taylor's former university (Lippincott Library, Wharton School of Business) can locate the original source of this erroneous transcription. Moreover, Paul Nystrom's Economics of Fashion book was published in 1928, before the big stock market crash in 1929. Hemlines had only been above floor length for less than two decades, so there were insufficient data and testing to theorize on the topic. While both of these brilliant scholars can claim many important contributions, the stock market/hemline theory is not among them.
An inquisitive master's student at the University of Tennessee created research to test this proposition in 1971. M.A. Mabry wrote her thesis on "The Relationship Between Fluctuations in Hemlines and Stock Market Averages from 1921 to 1971." Her thesis presented instances in which the two moved hand in hand and instances in which the two did not move hand in hand (just relationships, but not cause and effect).
The burning research question is: Is there a significant relationship between hemline lengths and stock market averages since 1971? More than five decades have passed. It is time for another master's student to test the hypothesis and put this very dated and inaccurate assumption to rest, OR affirm the relationship and provide updated and accurate information for media writers to cite.
It would also be an interesting study to trace all the references to this supposed theory and work backwards in time until locating the original source of the error.
You may read more about the hemline theory myth in my textbook:
Stall-Meadows, Celia (2011). Fashion Now: A Global Perspective. NJ: Pearson.
The inaccurate information is as follows:
Stock prices move in the same direction as women's hemlines; ie: when the economy is healthy, women's hemlines shorten in a reflection of the good times. When the economy is in a recession, women's hemlines lengthen to reflect the depressed attitudes. Media writers have given credit to Paul Nystrom and George W. Taylor for this concept. In reality, neither this researcher, nor the librarian at Professor Taylor's former university (Lippincott Library, Wharton School of Business) can locate the original source of this erroneous transcription. Moreover, Paul Nystrom's Economics of Fashion book was published in 1928, before the big stock market crash in 1929. Hemlines had only been above floor length for less than two decades, so there were insufficient data and testing to theorize on the topic. While both of these brilliant scholars can claim many important contributions, the stock market/hemline theory is not among them.
An inquisitive master's student at the University of Tennessee created research to test this proposition in 1971. M.A. Mabry wrote her thesis on "The Relationship Between Fluctuations in Hemlines and Stock Market Averages from 1921 to 1971." Her thesis presented instances in which the two moved hand in hand and instances in which the two did not move hand in hand (just relationships, but not cause and effect).
The burning research question is: Is there a significant relationship between hemline lengths and stock market averages since 1971? More than five decades have passed. It is time for another master's student to test the hypothesis and put this very dated and inaccurate assumption to rest, OR affirm the relationship and provide updated and accurate information for media writers to cite.
It would also be an interesting study to trace all the references to this supposed theory and work backwards in time until locating the original source of the error.
You may read more about the hemline theory myth in my textbook:
Stall-Meadows, Celia (2011). Fashion Now: A Global Perspective. NJ: Pearson.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Fact Sheet on topics: Recycled Textiles; Recycled Clothing; Textile Recycling; Clothing Recycling; Recycle Textiles; Recycle Clothing; Recycling Carpet; Carpet Recycling
The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension has published my factsheet on Recycled Household Textiles and Apparel. The URL is: http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-7411/T-4318web.pdf
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Principles of Fashion
This is my first attempt at blogging. My plans are to post important tips about the business of fashion and related topics of clothing, apparel, and textiles. I'll start with the Principles of Fashion. These should be memorized and applied to fashion business decisions.
PRINCIPLES OF FASHION
Fashion marketers use fashion principles as guides on which to base business decisions. When marketers understand the important principles of fashion, they make educated and profitable decisions. Since crystal balls do not really exist and it is impossible to know what the future holds, fashion forecasters rely on guiding principles to identify the designs most likely to succeed among the targeted consumers. Students of fashion should commit these fashion principles to memory. They are unique to this industry, yet they have a broad application that reaches to just about any product that has an element of fashion. The following section presents a detailed discussion of each principle.
• Fashion is not related to price.
• The consumer is king or queen and decides what will or won’t become a fashion.
• Sales promotion cannot reverse the decline in popularity of a fashion.
• All fashions end in excess.
• Fashion requires imitation of style or look.
• Fashion change moves in a cyclical pattern.
• Fashion change is usually evolutionary; it is rarely revolutionary.
• Fashion is a reflection of the way of life at a given time.
Fashion Is Not a Price
Consumers can purchase a similar fashion look at any price point, regardless of their budgets. True fashion is available to persons from most income levels and being fashionable does not require consumers to spend a great deal of money on clothing. Because of mass media and mass production, consumers can view and purchase similar styles of clothing manufactured at prices to fit their budgets.
The Consumer Is King or Queen
The runways of Paris, Milan, and New York are often the birth and death of some styles; never to be mass produced. A runway designer may introduce a unique style in the hopes that it might become the starting point of a new fashion. But fashion is not a synthetic creation of a powerful designer, a famous celebrity, or a large retailer. They can only introduce it as a worthwhile style, but its ultimate popularity depends on the public’s discretion. Unless a majority of a given group wears a style, the style never becomes a fashion; it simply remains a style. Consumers and their pocketbooks have the final say-so in the success or failure of a fashion.
Sales Promotion Cannot Reverse a Fashion’s Decline
Once a fashion begins the downward slope of its life cycle, it is soon on its way to obsolescence. Marketers cannot change this direction, no matter how much they advertise, display, markdown, or otherwise promote the fashion. They might be able to extend the life cycle if they add new colors, fabrics, or prints to the line before sales begin to decline. However, the downturn in sales generally signals the ultimate demise of the fashion, and marketers should focus the limited resources of the promotional budget on the newer fashions.
All Fashions End in Excess
This statement made by the famous 1920s Paris couturier, Paul Poiret refers to the reason why a fashion declines in popularity and is ultimately discarded by consumers. The term, excess means overdone; too much or too many; or a saturated market. For example, when marketers first introduce skirts above the knee, they are short, but not excessively short. As time progresses, they gradually get shorter. As the fashion gains popularity, the style becomes more extreme—in this case, shorter and shorter, until it is excessively short and the fashion ends due to indecent exposure. Marketers introduce the slightly lower hemlines near the end of the miniskirt life cycle. These skirts gain in popularity as the micro mini wanes in popularity.
A second example of eventual excess or overdone fashion is the introduction of embroidery on clothing. The fashion begins with just a little embroidery on an item, but as time passes, the designs become increasingly ornamented and the excessive embroidery becomes the focal point for the garment. The excessive applied design gets tiresome, so consumers discard the fashion in favor of a new look. A third interpretation of this principle is the notion that when everyone that wants a particular fashion has it, then the market is saturated—that is, an excessive number of people are wearing the fashion. Therefore, the fashion leaders discard the fashion in favor of a newer and more exclusive fashion. Using the idea of excess, fashions die when they become excessively: short, long, wide, narrow, embellished, plain, and excessively adopted.
Fashion Is a Form of Social Imitation
A style requires group acceptance to become a fashion. A fashion begins when the fashion leader’s style is copied. If imitation does not occur, the style remains a personal style, but is not called a fashion.
Fashion Is Cyclical
Fashion tends to run in cycles. Companies introduce a style and then it becomes popular, fades in popularity, and disappears for a while. After a few seasons or years of being out of fashion, the style is reintroduced. Consumers gradually popularize a style and continue to wear the fashion for a time, ranging from months to years. As a fashion declines in popularity and slips into obsolescence, it remains in hibernation, until a new generation of consumers, or some other renewed interest brings it back into focus. Marketers may not be able to predict the exact date a style or trend will become popular, but a close analysis of previous fashions will give some indication of the likelihood of popularity.
Fashion Change Is Usually Evolutionary; It Is Rarely Revolutionary
Consumers simply cannot afford to completely change their wardrobes each season. From a psychological standpoint, although consumers like change each season, they do not like too much change. They prefer something new and slightly different from last seasons’ fashions, but not radically different. The gradual change is likened to a slow pendulum swinging. The pendulum represents the changing fashion as it moves toward one direction. When it moves as far as it can to one side, it represents the fashion as an extreme. When this happens, the fashion changes move back toward the middle or a more moderate appearance. As the pendulum swings toward the opposite side, it represents a movement toward a different extreme. Each point on the pendulum swing continuum represents a fashion that is similar to the fashion at the points on either side. Historical continuity refers to the notion that new fashions evolve from the most recent fashions. They are most valued if the fashions slightly vary from the previous mode and only if they fit into a sequential pattern that includes both the fashions that have come and gone, and the fashions yet to come. This means that the most current fashion is really just a derivative of the past fashion.
Fashion Is a Reflection of the Way of Life at a Given Time
Fashion recurs, but never in exactly the same way, because each era has its own unique characteristics. Retrospectively, a student can look at the clothing for a previous decade and it seems perfectly appropriate for its time. If a designer attempted to exactly recreate that same apparel style for contemporary times, the result would probably be unsuccessful because of the differing environmental conditions between the eras. Successful fashion designers, product developers, and marketers learn to interpret the cultural signals and create fashions that are exclusive to the current era and not a duplication of the bygone eras.
Fashion is an embodiment of Zeitgeist and reflects the environmental factors that shape a culture’s current values and beliefs. Students of fashion can identify a fashion mix of colors, prints, fabrics, details, and styles as belonging to a specific era. Even if one or two of the fashion mix variables, such as style and print, are line for line copies of a style and print from a previous decade, the other variables in the mix will represent contemporary life.
PRINCIPLES OF FASHION
Fashion marketers use fashion principles as guides on which to base business decisions. When marketers understand the important principles of fashion, they make educated and profitable decisions. Since crystal balls do not really exist and it is impossible to know what the future holds, fashion forecasters rely on guiding principles to identify the designs most likely to succeed among the targeted consumers. Students of fashion should commit these fashion principles to memory. They are unique to this industry, yet they have a broad application that reaches to just about any product that has an element of fashion. The following section presents a detailed discussion of each principle.
• Fashion is not related to price.
• The consumer is king or queen and decides what will or won’t become a fashion.
• Sales promotion cannot reverse the decline in popularity of a fashion.
• All fashions end in excess.
• Fashion requires imitation of style or look.
• Fashion change moves in a cyclical pattern.
• Fashion change is usually evolutionary; it is rarely revolutionary.
• Fashion is a reflection of the way of life at a given time.
Fashion Is Not a Price
Consumers can purchase a similar fashion look at any price point, regardless of their budgets. True fashion is available to persons from most income levels and being fashionable does not require consumers to spend a great deal of money on clothing. Because of mass media and mass production, consumers can view and purchase similar styles of clothing manufactured at prices to fit their budgets.
The Consumer Is King or Queen
The runways of Paris, Milan, and New York are often the birth and death of some styles; never to be mass produced. A runway designer may introduce a unique style in the hopes that it might become the starting point of a new fashion. But fashion is not a synthetic creation of a powerful designer, a famous celebrity, or a large retailer. They can only introduce it as a worthwhile style, but its ultimate popularity depends on the public’s discretion. Unless a majority of a given group wears a style, the style never becomes a fashion; it simply remains a style. Consumers and their pocketbooks have the final say-so in the success or failure of a fashion.
Sales Promotion Cannot Reverse a Fashion’s Decline
Once a fashion begins the downward slope of its life cycle, it is soon on its way to obsolescence. Marketers cannot change this direction, no matter how much they advertise, display, markdown, or otherwise promote the fashion. They might be able to extend the life cycle if they add new colors, fabrics, or prints to the line before sales begin to decline. However, the downturn in sales generally signals the ultimate demise of the fashion, and marketers should focus the limited resources of the promotional budget on the newer fashions.
All Fashions End in Excess
This statement made by the famous 1920s Paris couturier, Paul Poiret refers to the reason why a fashion declines in popularity and is ultimately discarded by consumers. The term, excess means overdone; too much or too many; or a saturated market. For example, when marketers first introduce skirts above the knee, they are short, but not excessively short. As time progresses, they gradually get shorter. As the fashion gains popularity, the style becomes more extreme—in this case, shorter and shorter, until it is excessively short and the fashion ends due to indecent exposure. Marketers introduce the slightly lower hemlines near the end of the miniskirt life cycle. These skirts gain in popularity as the micro mini wanes in popularity.
A second example of eventual excess or overdone fashion is the introduction of embroidery on clothing. The fashion begins with just a little embroidery on an item, but as time passes, the designs become increasingly ornamented and the excessive embroidery becomes the focal point for the garment. The excessive applied design gets tiresome, so consumers discard the fashion in favor of a new look. A third interpretation of this principle is the notion that when everyone that wants a particular fashion has it, then the market is saturated—that is, an excessive number of people are wearing the fashion. Therefore, the fashion leaders discard the fashion in favor of a newer and more exclusive fashion. Using the idea of excess, fashions die when they become excessively: short, long, wide, narrow, embellished, plain, and excessively adopted.
Fashion Is a Form of Social Imitation
A style requires group acceptance to become a fashion. A fashion begins when the fashion leader’s style is copied. If imitation does not occur, the style remains a personal style, but is not called a fashion.
Fashion Is Cyclical
Fashion tends to run in cycles. Companies introduce a style and then it becomes popular, fades in popularity, and disappears for a while. After a few seasons or years of being out of fashion, the style is reintroduced. Consumers gradually popularize a style and continue to wear the fashion for a time, ranging from months to years. As a fashion declines in popularity and slips into obsolescence, it remains in hibernation, until a new generation of consumers, or some other renewed interest brings it back into focus. Marketers may not be able to predict the exact date a style or trend will become popular, but a close analysis of previous fashions will give some indication of the likelihood of popularity.
Fashion Change Is Usually Evolutionary; It Is Rarely Revolutionary
Consumers simply cannot afford to completely change their wardrobes each season. From a psychological standpoint, although consumers like change each season, they do not like too much change. They prefer something new and slightly different from last seasons’ fashions, but not radically different. The gradual change is likened to a slow pendulum swinging. The pendulum represents the changing fashion as it moves toward one direction. When it moves as far as it can to one side, it represents the fashion as an extreme. When this happens, the fashion changes move back toward the middle or a more moderate appearance. As the pendulum swings toward the opposite side, it represents a movement toward a different extreme. Each point on the pendulum swing continuum represents a fashion that is similar to the fashion at the points on either side. Historical continuity refers to the notion that new fashions evolve from the most recent fashions. They are most valued if the fashions slightly vary from the previous mode and only if they fit into a sequential pattern that includes both the fashions that have come and gone, and the fashions yet to come. This means that the most current fashion is really just a derivative of the past fashion.
Fashion Is a Reflection of the Way of Life at a Given Time
Fashion recurs, but never in exactly the same way, because each era has its own unique characteristics. Retrospectively, a student can look at the clothing for a previous decade and it seems perfectly appropriate for its time. If a designer attempted to exactly recreate that same apparel style for contemporary times, the result would probably be unsuccessful because of the differing environmental conditions between the eras. Successful fashion designers, product developers, and marketers learn to interpret the cultural signals and create fashions that are exclusive to the current era and not a duplication of the bygone eras.
Fashion is an embodiment of Zeitgeist and reflects the environmental factors that shape a culture’s current values and beliefs. Students of fashion can identify a fashion mix of colors, prints, fabrics, details, and styles as belonging to a specific era. Even if one or two of the fashion mix variables, such as style and print, are line for line copies of a style and print from a previous decade, the other variables in the mix will represent contemporary life.
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