Old timers - tell me about fashun before the internet

It's certainly annoying, but the actual content of his posts is often so marsupialed that people feel the need to focus on that while overlooking the obnoxious formatting.

Skins were all the rage:

http://pro.corbis.com/images/IH17586...-04fe01f63c32}

Most of the major players (Armani, Versace, Ferre, etc.) have had collections since the 1980's, but really the explosion in menswear choices happened late 1990's early 2000's. Jil sander started her menswear line around 1997, as did Prada (+/- a few years). After that, lots of places that had been womens lines distinctly bought up their licensed menswear and really started to try to make it "top tier." Dior, Givenchy, YSL, Balenciaga, etc.

As well, smaller companies that had been making collections for a while, like Helmut Lang, got bought up by bigger companies that allowed them to expand (McQueen did too, for example). Other big names fizzled out, scaled back (Thierry Mugler, for example), or overlicensed (Calvin Klein, anyone?)

It's really funny to find a GQ from 1997 or thereabouts just to see the ads, the layouts, and the types of fashion there are. It feels like that was a million years ago, given where we are now.

I think my first "high fashion" purchase was in the mid 90's and came thanks to a visit to Oak Street and Michigan Ave in Chicago. It was a Versace sweater from their "sport" line. I felt so cool. haha

I have a GQ from 1994 and the Etro and Burberry's ads are pretty funny. They look more like current Paul Stuart.

Originally Posted by SoCal2NYC

Click to expand...

I have a GQ from 1994 and the Etro and Burberry's ads are pretty funny. They look more like current Paul Stuart.

My favorites are the various Italian-made Bill Cosby sweaters (with names like "Bugatchi" or "Sobralto" or something) here and there with dorky looking "manly men" wearing them with pleated khakis.

The styles come and go, but the modes of information transmission are the big difference. I remember visiting Paris as a teenager in the early 80s in the spring, and watching men walk or scurry across certain parks to the tents of the ready to wear shows. I remember the harem pants with the crotch dropped down to the knee. Now, these are back, if only for a moment. The means of transmission were much more limited. Youth fashion you could see on American Bandstand, and later MTV. For more tailored clothing, you had to look at magazines. There have always been guides to dress. I remember hitting the midtown menswear gulch of Mad Ave and mentally ticking off boxes from an early Flusser book: BB, Paul Stuart, Chipp, Press... In the 80s, there was more attention to street style. i-D magazine started as a booklet zine of London street fashion, for instance. You could link this to the style revolutions of punk, New Wave and New Romantic movements there. Even so, there was much more regional variation because you just couldn't know what everyone was doing at every moment. As a historian once wrote, its relatively easy to determine what people knew at a particular time. What is hardest to recapture is their ignorance.

I remember brands like Gaultier, Katherine Hamnett, Moschino, Thierry Mugler, DKNY being more prominent in the mid 90s I remember APC looking for "designer" in the 90s, rather than Banana Republic+ the way they do now Paul Smith was always awesome then, as now Tommy Hilfilger actually had a brilliant tailored line that was Italian made full-canvassed suits in slim British style cuts around 1998 My first "high fashion" purchase was a shirt from agnes b in 1994. My first real "designer" purchase was Paul Smith gear in 1995, back when his mainline was still all made in England Prior to that, the late 80s to early 90s was all Fred Perry and Levis

Originally Posted by Get Smart

Click to expand...

My first "high fashion" purchase was a shirt from agnes b in 1994. My first real "designer" purchase was Paul Smith gear in 1995, back when his mainline was still all made in England
It's fun to think back to our first purchases and see how our style has changed. I found Helmut Lang jeans quite early, though after my Versace sweater, my next two purchases were DolceGabbana and Gaultier. I think there may have been a Gianfranco Ferre pair of pants thrown somewhere into the mix.

yea one of my "what was I thinking" purchases was a sweater from Versace's "Istante" line back in 97. at the time I thought it was the coolest thing ever....i was wrong. But thankfully I didnt have too many "WTF" purchases during that time.

I was talking with Jet a few months ago and I totally forgot but remembered there used to be a Jil Sander boutique at the South Coast Plaza in SoCal that had a huge mens section

I remember a pair of black Versace boots I got back in the mid 90's. They were ******* expensive I thought they were the raddest thing ever and would age like a great pair of old motorcycle boots. They ended up bumming me out with gross creasing and cracks. I realize now that there were corrected grain garbage.

I was into denim early on due to a few friends that were big in the early vintage jeans trade to Japan - buying at garage sales and thrift stores and selling at the Rose Bowl. I still have a pair of LVC 47 and Denime skinny jeans that I got at Fred Segal in the 90's. I also had a pair of Helmut Lang jeans back then. I also got some Costume National pieces around 2000-01, including a pretty cool pair of ankle boots that were probably made by one of the high end Italian makers. They're still in top shape - I should post a pic sometime.

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

For you old timers on the board, I have many questions for you. Some might be dumb.

I guess 50 qualifies me as an old timer. At least my kids think I am.

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

Were there always lots of designers and clothing lines before 1998, the way it seems now? Or was clothing largely dominated by a few big players in New York and Europe?

Yes, there were always a lot designers out there. But without the internet word of them was much slower to spread.

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

Were there many clothing boutiques?

Just as many as now but with a more regional appeal.

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

Before the internet, how did you learn about various lines, or discover new designers?
That amazing invention called the magazine. GQ and Esquire always good.

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

Do you think the internet has made any impact on the industry over the years? Has the culture around clothing changed?

Yes, the internet has definitley spread the word faster and more effectively. All of us country boys in the midwest were just embracing a style that was already gone in CA and NY. I don't think the culture has changed much. Information is spread faster but the people are still the same.

Originally Posted by SoCal2NYC

Click to expand...

It's just become much more visible and accessible.

Unless as you get older, your eyesight starts to deteriorate

Originally Posted by Egdon Heath

Click to expand...

What's your definition of an old-timer? If it's me, then the answer to your first three questions are no, no and no. As for the internet questions, before the internet we discovered new designers by popping the trunk on some dood's car in the Sears parking lot and rifling through the shopping bags. Of course this was before Chess King.​

Chess King....hilarious. Makes me think of Z Cavaricci pants with about 1,000 pleats on them.

Originally Posted by robin

Click to expand...

For you old timers on the board, I have many questions for you. Some might be dumb.

Were there always lots of designers and clothing lines before 1998, the way it seems now? Or was clothing largely dominated by a few big players in New York and Europe?

Were there many clothing boutiques?

Before the internet, how did you learn about various lines, or discover new designers?

Do you think the internet has made any impact on the industry over the years? Has the culture around clothing changed?

What the hell is up with this place?

In the 90's I would visit this streetwear store where my buddies girl worked. She would show me Stussy and Freshjive lookbooks of the upcoming season, photocopies of course. Next level.