A consideration of the alleged shoulder-pad revival

[anna_wing]

Apparently 1980s fashion is back. The admirable Dame Joan Collins' modelling career has suddenly restarted, and shoulder-pads are now again being discussed in the fashion press. I can only hope that micro-minis and bubble-skirts do not follow. The ankle-length bubble skirt aka balloon skirt has an honourable pedigree going back a good century to

Comments

[sartorias]

Micro minis have never gone away.

HOW I loathe shoulder pads. I would never wear them--hated looking at them. Can't watch a lot o forties films because of the ugly hair and clothes.

[anna_wing]

Micro-minis around here have only been for teenagers and gentlewomen of negotiable affection for a very long time. Shoulder-pads I found useful in the days before I took a couple of years' worth of riding lessons and acquired decent shoulder and back muscles.

I've never cared for the forties look either. Late teens and twenties styles I love, and have paid dressmakers and tailors to duplicate, and some of the more interestingly-cut thirties stuff too.

[sartorias]

Yes! Me too!

I cherish an actual silk flapper dress handed down to me. Silk doesn't last--it's unwearable--but I love just looking at it.

[anna_wing]

I have one that I bought in the Porte de Vanves fleamarket nearly twenty years ago. It's not flapper, it's early 1920s, so long and loose, with real celluloid sequins. Also two sets of the Chinese export silk pyjama sets popular in that era. They look like these https://i.pinimg.com/736x/7b/b8/e6/7bb8e6ddac72b77e1e5900b1338bbfc8.jpg

I had one set lined with Habutai silk so that I could actually wear it, then considered how to clean it and never had the nerve.

You could get your dress copied in a modern fabric. That can work quite well. There are even Indian companies on line that could duplicate the embroidery and beadwork if you give them a picture and your measurements.

[anna_wing]

I know, 20s clothes were the most beautiful ever, not to mention the most comfortable. The current Western preference is for a tight fit, but the sleek, straight, no-waist line of the 20s has no equal for comfort and ease of movement. And it accommodates pockets very well. The current fad for a waist-bag is a revival of a 20s alternative to a handbag.