fashion updates

Beauty tips 4 you

2011-03-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

HONEY

Dilute one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of water then heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds. When it’s cooled, apply on your lips and leave for 10 minutes. To dry out pimples, pour out a teaspoon of honey into a bowl. Dip a cotton bud into the honey and apply on the spots......

PAPAYA:Mash half a ripe papaya with two teaspoons of honey. Apply to areas of face that are prone to wrinkles such as between the brows and along the sides of the nose. Leave on it for 10 minutes.

EGGS:For a temporary facelift, use just the eggwhite. Mix it with a tablespoon of honey and spread over face and throat in an upward motion. Leave on for 15 minutes and rinse off with warm water. Whisk egg yolk with a tablespoon of olive oil and leave on your hair for a few
minutes before your shampoo. It makes a great hair conditioner.

CHERRIES:Run about 10 unripe cherries in a blender. Mix the juice with a tablespoon of dry
oatmeal and use as a five-minute facial mask.For the body; mix cherry juice with a tablespoon of sea salt and massage over damp skin.

SUGAR:For a three-in-one pre-bath treatment; blend two tablespoons of brown sugar with
one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and two to three drops of olive oil. Rub the paste over rough areas like the knees and elbows. Citric acid from the lemon unclogs the pores, skin-polishing sugar gets rid of surface dirt and olive oil moisture the skin.

TURMERIC:Mix two teaspoons of turmeric powder and one teaspoon of honey with just enough warm water to make a thick paste. Spread the mixture all over your face and leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes. Rinse off with water.

MILK:Soak a cotton pad with cool fresh milk and press it gently all over your face.Besides protein to feed your face, it gets rid of dirt thoroughly.Chill a cup of milk in the fridge before pouring the contents into a clothes spray.Use it like a spritzer over inflamed skin.Warm a bowl of milk in the microwave for half a minute and pour contents into a clothes basin. Soak your feet for half an hour and then give it a good hard brush to remove dead skin.

GINGER:Chop ginger and mix it with body lotion for a facial scrub. Avoid the sensitive eye area.

MAYONNAISE:Massage mayonnaise into your hair after shampoo. Leave it on for a few minutes before rinse off. You can also use mayonnaise as a lip mask. Leave it on for 10
minutes before removing with cold water.

AVOCADOS:Mash a ripe one and use it as a facial mask; rinse off after 10 minutes. To get rid of puffy eyes; use a linen cloth, make a “moneybag” filled with mashed avocado.Dab it gently on eyes.

APRICOTS:Pound the kernel and add body lotion to blend into smooth paste. Use it as a gentle exfoliator for face. Note the pip is the rough “seed” and the ivory kernel is what you need when split open the pip.

TOMATO:Peel a tomato and chop it finely before spreading on face. Work as an effective
cleanser and gentle astringent to tighten pores.

ORANGE:Squeeze juice of an orange and mix with a tablespoon of plain yoghurt. Apply on
face, avoiding the eye area. Rinse off after 10 minutes and splash face with cold water.

POTATOES:A great way to get rid of dark undereye circles. Run a large potato in a blender.
Squeeze the pulp to get rid of excess juice and form two patties from it. Place the patties over your eyes and keep them there for 10 minutes.

LEMON:For sparkling teeth, mix one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice with one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and half teaspoon of salt. Use like toothpaste once a week. Lighten the skin and smoothens rough edges of elbows and knees. Cut a lemon into two halves and rest your elbows in each half for 15 minutes. Or squeeze juice of lemon and apply on your knees.

OLIVE OIL:Heat a cup of olive oil in the microwave for a few seconds. Massage onto dry areas of your skin.Heat enough olive oil to fill half a small clothes basin. Soak your hands in the oil
for about 10 minutes, followed by the feet.Use it as a conditioner by leaving warmed olive oil on your hair for 15 minutes before shampoo.Remove all traces of mascara by dipping an overused mascara wand into some olive oil and use it to apply on your lashes the way you would mascara.

TEA:Steep a pair of Earl Grey teabags in boiling water, run them under a tap and place over eyes for 10 minutes before night out.Use four bags of chamomile tea. Leave them to steep for 5 minutes then hold your face over the bowl.Freeze cooled chamomile tea in an ice-cube tray. When set, remove cubes and run over your face.Soak some gauze in cooled green tea and apply on skin the way you would a toner.

The brigand's bride a tale of southern italy

2011-03-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

The Italian peninsula during the years 1859-60-61 offered a particularly tempting field for adventure to ardent spirits in search of excitement; and, attracted partly by my sympathy with the popular movement, and partly by that simple desire, which gives so much zest to the life of youth, of risking it on all possible occasions, I had taken an active part, chiefly as an officious spectator, in all the principal events of those stirring years. It was in the spring of 1862 that I found matters beginning to settle down to a degree that threatened monotony;
and with the termination of the winter gaieties at Naples and the close of the San Carlo, I seriously bethought me of accepting the offer of a naval friend who was about to engage in blockade-running, and offered to land me in the Confederate States, when a recrudescence of activity on the part of the brigand bands in Calabria induced me to turn my attention in that direction. The first question I had to consider was, whether I should enjoy myself most by joining the brigands, or the troops which were engaged in suppressing them. As the former aspired to a political character, and called themselves patriotic bands fighting for their Church, their country, and their King--the refugee monarch of Naples--one could espouse their cause without exactly laying one's self open to the charge of being a bandit; but it was notorious in point of fact that the bands cared for neither the Pope nor the exiled King nor their annexed country, but committed the most abominable atrocities in the names of all the three, for the simple purpose of filling their pockets. I foresaw not only extreme difficulty in being accepted as a member of the fraternity, more especially as I had hitherto been identified with the Garibaldians; but also the probability of finding myself compromised by acts from which my conscience would revolt, and for which my life would in all likelihood pay the forfeit. On the other hand, I could think of no friend among the officers of the Bersaglieri and cavalry regiments, then engaged in brigand-hunting in the Capitanata and Basilicata, to whom I could apply for an invitation to join them.Under these circumstances, I determined to trust to the chapter of accidents; and armed with a knapsack, a sketch-book, and an air-gun, took my seat one morning in the Foggia diligence, with the vague idea of getting as near the scene of operations as possible, and seeing what would turn up. The air-gun was not so much a weapon of offence or defence as a means of introduction to the inhabitants. It had the innocent appearance of rather a thick walking-cane, with a little brass trigger projecting; and in the afternoon I would join the group sitting in front of the chemist's, which, for some reason or other, is generally a sort of open-air club in a small Neapolitan town, or stroll into the single modest cafe of which it might possibly boast, and toy abstractedly with the trigger. This, together with my personal appearance--for do what I would, I could never make myself
look like a Neapolitan would be certain to attract attention, and some one bolder than the rest would make himself the spokesman, and politely ask me whether the cane in my hand was an umbrella or a fishing rod on which I would amiably reply that it was a gun, and that I should have much pleasure in exhibiting my skill and the method of its operation to the assembled company. Then the whole party would follow me to an open space, and I would call for a pack of cards, and possibly--for I was a good shot in those days pink the ace of hearts at fifteen paces. At any rate my performances usually called forth plaudits, and this involved a further
interchange of compliments and explanations, and the production of my sketch-book, which soon procured me the acquaintance of some ladies and an invitation as an English artist, to the house of some respectable citizen.

So it happened that, getting out of the diligence before it reached Foggia, I struck south, and wandered for some days from one little town to another, being always hospitably entertained, whether there happened to be an albergo or not, at private houses, seeing in this way more of the manners and customs of the inhabitants than would have been otherwise possible, gaining much information as to the haunts of the brigands, the whereabouts of the troops, and hearing much local gossip generally. The ignorance of the most respectable classes at this period was astounding; it has doubtless all changed since. I have been at a town of 2000
inhabitants, not one of whom took in a newspaper: the whole population, therefore, was in as profound ignorance of what was transpiring in the rest of the world as if they had been in Novaia Zemlia. I have stayed with a mayor who did not know that England was an island; I have been the guest of a citizen who had never heard of Scotland, and to whom, therefore, my nationality was an enigma: but I never met any one--I mean of this same class--who had not heard of Palmerston. He was a mysterious personage, execrated by the "blacks"and adored by the "reds." And I shone with a reflected lustre as the citizen of a country of which he was the Prime Minister. As a consequence, we had political discussions, which were protracted far into the night, for the principal meal of the twenty-four hours was a 10 o'clock P.M. supper, at which, after the inevitable macaroni, were many unwholesome dishes, such as salads made of thistles, cows' udders, and other delicacies,which deprived one of all desire for sleep. Notwithstanding which, we rose early, my hostess and the ladies of the establishment appearing in the early part of the day in the most extreme deshabille. Indeed, on one
occasion when I was first introduced into the family of a respectable citizen, and shown into my bedroom, I mistook one of two females who were making the bed for the servant, and was surprised to see her hand a little douceur I gave her as an earnest of attention on her part, to the other with a smile. She soon after wards went to bed: we all did, from 11 A.M. till about 3 P.M., at which hour I was horrified to meet her arrayed in silks and satins, and to find that she was the wife of my host. She kindly took me a drive with her in a carriage and pair, and with a coachman in livery.It was by this simple means, and by thus imposing myself upon the hospitality of these unsophisticated people, that I worked my way by slow degrees, chiefly on foot, into the part of the country I desired to visit and I trust that I in a measure repaid them for it by the stores of information which I imparted to them, and of which they stood much in need, and by little sketches of their homes and the surrounding scenery, with which

I presented them. I was, indeed, dependent in some measure for hospitality of this description, as I had taken no money with me, partly because, to tell the truth, I had scarcely got any, and partly because I was afraid of being robbed by brigands of the little I had. I therefore eschewed the character of a _milordo Inglese but I never succeeded in dispelling all suspicion that I might not be a nephew of the Queen, or at least a very near relative of "Palmerston" in disguise. It was so natural, seeing what a deep interest both her Majesty and the Prime Minister took in Italy, that they should send some one incognito whom they could trust to tell them all about it.

Meantime, I was not surprised, when I came to know the disposition of the inhabitants, at the success of brigandage. It has never been my fortune before or since to live among such a timid population. One day at a large town a leading landed proprietor received notice that if he did not pay a certain sum in black-mail,I forget at this distance of time the exact amount,his farm or masseria would be robbed. This farm, which was in fact a handsome country-house, was distant about ten miles from the town. He therefore made an appeal to
the citizens that they should arm themselves, and help him to defend his property, as he had determined not to pay, and had taken steps to be informed as to the exact date when the attack was to be made in default of payment. More than 300 citizens enrolled themselves as willing to turn out in arms. On the day preceding the attack by the brigands, a rendezvous was given to these 300 on the great square for five in the morning, and thither I accordingly repaired, unable, however, to induce my host to accompany me, although he had signed
as a volunteer. On reaching the rendezvous, I found the landed proprietor and a friend who was living with him, and about ten minutes afterwards two other volunteers strolled up. Five was all we could muster out of 300. It was manifestly useless to attempt anything with so small a force, and no arguments could induce any of the others to turn out: so the unhappy gentleman had the satisfaction of knowing that the brigands had punctually pillaged his place, carrying off all his live stock on the very day and at the very hour they said they would. As for the inhabitants venturing any distance from town, except under military escort, such a thing was unknown, and all communication with Naples was for some time virtually intercepted. I was regarded as a sort of monomaniac of recklessness, because I ventured on a solitary walk of a mile or two in search of a sketch,--an act of no great audacity on my part, for I had walked through various parts of the country without seeing a brigand, and found it difficult to realise that there was any actual danger in strolling a mile from a moderately large town.

Customs and Fashions in Old New England,

2011-03-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

Courtship And Marriage Customs

In the early days of the New England colonies no more embarrassing or hampering condition, no greater temporal ill could befall any adult Puritan than to be unmarried. What could he do, how could he live in that new land without a wife? There were no housekeepers--and he would scarcely have been allowed to have one if there were. What could a woman do in that new settlement among unbroken forests, uncultivated lands,without a husband? The colonists married early, and they married often. Widowers and widows hastened to join their fortunes and sorrows. The father and mother of Governor Winslow had been widow and widower

seven and twelve weeks, respectively, when they joined their families and themselves in mutual benefit, if not in mutual love. At a later day the impatient Governor of New Hampshire married a lady but ten days widowed. Bachelors were rare indeed, and were regarded askance and with intense disfavor by the entire community, were almost in the position of suspected criminals. They were seldom permitted to live alone, or even to choose their residence, but had to find a domicile wherever and with whomsoever the Court assigned.In Hartford lone-men, as Shakespeare called them, had to pay twenty shillings a week to the town for the selfish luxury of solitary living. No colonial law seems to me more arbitrary or more comic than this order issued in the town of Eastham, Mass., in 1695, namely:

"Every unmarried man in the township shall kill six blackbirds or three crows while he remains single; as a penalty for not doing it, shall not be married until he obey this order."

Bachelors were under the special spying and tattling supervision of the constable, the watchman, and the tithingman, who, like Pliable in Pilgrim's Progress, sat sneaking among his neighbors and reported their"scirscumstances and conuersation." In those days a man gained instead of losing his freedom by marrying."Incurridgement" to wedlock was given bachelors in many towns by the assignment to them upon marriage of home-lots to build upon. In Medfield there was a so-called Bachelor's Row, which had been thus assigned. In the early days of Salem "maid lotts" were also granted; but Endicott wrote in the town records that it was best to abandon the custom and thus "avoid all presedents & evil events of granting lotts vnto single maidens not disposed of." This line he crossed out and wrote instead, "for avoiding of absurdities." He kindly, but rather disappointingly, gave one maid a bushel of corn when she came to ask for a house and lot, and told her it would be a "bad president" for her to keep house alone. A maid had, indeed, a hard time to live in colonial days, did she persevere in her singular choice of remaining single. Perhaps the colonists "proverb'd with the grandsire phrase," that women dying maids lead apes in hell. Maidens "withering on the virgin thorn," in single blessedness, were hard to find. One Mistress Poole lived unmarried to great old age, and helped to found the town of Taunton under most discouraging rebuffs; and in the Plymouth church record of March 19, 1667, is a record of a death which reads thus:

"Mary Carpenter sister of Mrs. Alice Bradford wife of Governor Bradford being newly entered into the 91st year of her age. She was a godly old maid never married."

The state of old maidism was reached at a very early age in those early days; Higginson wrote of an "antient maid" of twenty-five years. John Dunton in his "Life and Errors" wrote eulogistically of one such ideal"Virgin" who attracted his special attention.It is true an old (or superanuated) Maid in Boston is thought such a curse, as nothing can exceed it (and looked on as a dismal spectacle) yet she by her good nature, gravity, and strict virtue convinces all (so much as the fleering Beaus) that it is not her necessity but her choice that keeps her a Virgin. She is now about thirty years (the age which they call a Thornback) yet she never disguises herself, and talks as little as she thinks, of Love. She never reads any Plays or Romances, goes to no Balls or Dancing-match (as they do who go to such Fairs) to meet with Chapmen. Her looks, her speech, her whole behavior are so very chaste, that but once (at Govenor's Island, where we went to be merry at roasting a hog) going to kiss her, I thought she would have blushed to death."Our Damsel knowing this, her conversation is generally amongst the women so that I found it no easy matter to enjoy her company, for most of her time (save what was taken up in needle work and learning French &c.) was spent in Religious Worship. She knew time was a dressing-room for Eternity, and therefore reserves most of her hours for better uses than those of the Comb, the Toilet and the Glass."And as I am sure this is most agreeable to the Virgin modesty, which should make Marriage an act rather of their obedience than their choice. And they that think their Friends too slowpaced in the matter give certain proof that lust is their sole motive. But as the Damsel I have been describing would neither anticipate nor contradict the will of her Parents, so do I assure you she is against Forcing her own, by marrying where she cannot love; and that is the reason she is still a Virgin."Hence it may be seen that though there was not in Boston the "glorious phalanx of old maids" of Theodore Parker's description, yet the Boston old maid was lovely even in colonial days, though she did bear the odious name of thornback.An English traveller, Josselyn, gives a glimpse of Boston love-making in the year 1663.On the South there is a small but pleasant Common, where the Gallants, a little before sunset, walk with their

Marmalet-Madams till the nine o'clock bell rings them home to their respective habitations."

This simple and quaint picture of youthful love in the soft summer twilight, at that ever beautiful trysting-place, gives an unwonted touch of sentiment to the austere daily life of colonial New England. The omnipotent Puritan law-giver, who meddled and interfered in every detail, small and great, of the public and private life of the citizen, could not leave untouched, in fancy free, these soberly promenading Puritan sweethearts. A Boston gallant must choose well his marmalet-madam, must proceed cautiously in his love-making in the gloaming, obtaining first the formal permission of parents or guardians ere he take any

step in courtship. Fines, imprisonment, or the whipping-post awaited him, did he "inveigle the affections of any maide or maide servant" by making love to her without proper authority. Numberless examples might be given to prove that this law was no dead letter. In 1647, in Stratford, Will Colefoxe was fined £5 for "laboring to invegle the affection of Write his daughter." In 1672 Jonathan Coventry, of Plymouth town, was indicted for "making a motion of marriage" to Katharine Dudley without obtaining formal consent. The sensible reason

for these courtship regulations was "to prevent young folk from intangling themselves by rash and inconsiderate contracts of maridge." The Governor of Plymouth colony, Thomas Prence, did not hesitate to drag his daughter's love affairs before the public, in 1660, by prosecuting Arthur Howland for "disorderly and unrighteously endeavouring to gain the affections of Mistress Elizabeth Prence." The unrighteous lover was fined £5. Seven years later, patient Arthur, who would not "refrain and desist," was again fined the same amount; but love prevailed over law, and he triumphantly married his fair Elizabeth a few months later. The

marriage of a daughter with an unwelcome swain was also often prohibited by will, "not to suffer her to be circumvented and cast away upon a swaggering gentleman.On the other hand, an engagement of marriage once having been permitted, the father could not recklessly or unreasonably interfere to break off the contract. Many court records prove that colonial lovers promptly resented by legal action any attempt of parents to bring to an end a sanctioned love affair. Richard Taylor so sued, and for such cause, Ruth Whieldon's father in Plymouth in 1661; while another ungallant swain is said to have sued the maid's father for the loss of time spent in courting. Breach of promise cases were brought against women by disappointed men who had been "shabbed" (as jilting was called in some parts of New England), as well as by deserted women against men.But sly Puritan maids found a way to circumvent and outwit Puritan law makers, and to prevent their unsanctioned lovers from being punished, too. Hear the craft of Sarah Tuttle. On May day in New Haven, in
1660, she went to the house of a neighbor, Dame Murline, to get some thread. Some very loud jokes were exchanged between Sarah and her friends Maria and Susan Murline--so loud, in fact, that Dame Murline testified in court that it "much distressed her and put her in a sore strait." In the midst of all this doubtful fun Jacob Murline entered, and seizing Sarah's gloves, demanded the centuries old forfeit of a kiss. "Wherupon,"writes the scandalized Puritan chronicler, "they sat down together; his arm being about her; and her arm upon his shoulder or about his neck; and hee kissed her, and shee kissed him, or they kissed one another, continuing in this posture about half an hour, as Maria and Susan testified." Goodman Tuttle, who was a man of dignity and importance, angrily brought suit against Jacob for inveigling his daughter's affections; "but Sarah being asked in court if Jacob inveagled her, said No." This of course prevented any rendering of judgment against the unauthorized kissing by Jacob, and he escaped the severe punishment of his offence. But the outraged and baffled court fined Sarah, and gave her a severe lecture, calling her with justice a "Bould Virgin." She at the
end, demurely and piously answered that "She hoped God would help her to carry it Better for time to come.And doubtless she did carry it better for at the end of two years, this bold virgin's fine for unruly behavior being still unpaid, half of it was remitted.Of the etiquette, the pleasures, the exigencies of colonial "courtship in high life," let one of the actors speak
for himself through the pages of his diary. Judge Sewall's first wife was Hannah Hull, the only daughter of Captain Hull of Pine Tree Shilling fame. She received as her dowry her weight in silver shillings. Of her wooing we know naught save the charming imaginary story told us by Hawthorne. The Judge's only record is
this:

"Mrs. Hannah Hull saw me when I took my Degree and set her affection on me though I knew nothing of it till after our Marriage."

She lived with him forty-three years, bore him seven sons and seven daughters, and died on the 19th day of October, 1717.

Of course, though the Judge was sixty-six years old, he would marry again. Like a true Puritan he despised an unmarried life, and on the 6th day of February he made this naive entry in his diary: "Wandering in my mind whether to live a Married or a Single Life." Ere that date he had begun to take notice. He had called more than once on Widow Ruggles, and had had Widow Gill to dine with him; had looked critically at Widow Emery,and noted that Widow Tilley was absent from meeting; and he had gazed admiringly at Widow Winthrop in
"her sley," and he had visited and counseled and consoled her ere his wife had been two months dead, and had given her a few suitable tokens of his awakening affection such as "Smoking Flax Inflamed," "The Jewish Children of Berlin," and "My Small Vial of Tears;" so he had "wandered" in the flesh as well as in the mind.Such an array of widows! Boston fairly blossomed with widows, the widows of all the "true New England men" whose wills Sewall had drawn up, whose dying bedsides he had blessed and harassed with his prayers,whose bodies he had borne to the grave, whose funeral gloves and scarves and rings he had received and apprized, and whose estates he had settled. Over this sombre flower-bed of black garbed widows, these hardy perennials, did this aged Puritan butterfly amorously hover, loth to settle, tasting each solemn sweet,calculating the richness of the soil in which each was planted, gauging the golden promise of fruit, and perhaps longing for the whole garden of full-blown blossoms. "Antient maides" were held in little esteem by him; not one thornback is on his list.
Not only did he look and wander, but all his friends and neighbors arose and began to suggest and search for a suitable wife for him, with as officious alacrity as if he needed help, which he certainly did not. In March Madam Henchman strongly recommended to him "Madam Winthrop, the Major General's widow." This recommendation was very sweet to the widower, who had turned his eyes with such special approval on this special widow, and further and warm encouragement came quickly.

Fashion in the Digital Age

2011-03-30T00:59:00.000-07:00

If digital technology defines the current era for music, globalization defines it for fashion. The growing web of communications networks bringing the world closer together radically has redefined the ways in which fashion designers interact, trends spread throughout the world and the fashion industry organizes itself.

The impact of digital technologies has been far less earth-shattering on the fashion industry than on the music industry, as digital advancements drastically have eroded the music's economic and organization structures. Digital technologies have made the distribution of fashion design images instantaneous, and broadened their reach. They also have helped accelerate the production and distribution cycles for lower-priced, trendy, commodity goods, as evidenced in the discussion of H&M and Zara. However, unlike music, which now is divorced from any physical product, apparel and accessories have not entered fully into the virtual realm (thankfully, we've heeded our childhood morality tales of emperors and their clothes). Certainly, some avant-garde designers and computer engineers are attempting to fuse apparel and consumer technology, but these experiments still are relegated to the margins, more at home in museums and universities than on the street.Thus, while music has been transformed from a tangible product into a digital one, fashion remains a utilitarian, physical good. Technology may accelerate fashion's business processes, produce new ways of cutting patterns or develop a more breathable alternative to polyester, but it doesn't divorce the expression of the design from the design itself. Fashion is tactile and physical, necessarily rival and excludable, an indelible fact of its creation that separates it from music.Technology also creates a living archive of design, ideas and styles in the microscopic chronicling of the fashion industry by the media. It creates the opportunity for broader "sampling," as seen in the rapid production of Academy Awards dress knockoffs, but it is also a valuable tool for the social regulation of "theft," as described in the case of Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga. As one journalist notes:

Designers have always looked to the past for inspiration; most famously, Christian Dior based his landmark New Look collection on memories of his mother, but in those days the past was not so minutely archived by the media and he could pass the belle époque off as his own.

The major change caused by digital technologies in fashion today is its globalization, which has drastically increased the already high tempo of the fashion world – accelerating production and consumption, and shortening the shelf life of trends. However, digital technologies also have a paradoxically inverse effect – sustaining the long-term shelf life of products and designs that may have disappeared much more quickly into fashion's fickle ether. Also thanks to new technologies and communications networks, the traditional dichotomy between consumer and producer, already fragile in America since the 1960s, has deteriorated even further. Fashion consumers, like music fans, have become much more adept at creative consumption, mixing high and low to create new street trends. Fashion consumers today think nothing of combining a Chanel jacket with Levi's jeans, Converse sneakers and a Hermès Birkin bag. Similarly, music fans increasingly are likely to combine several songs and albums into larger playlists, often played in "shuffle" mode, creating a controlled chaos in which R&B, opera and Celtic jigs may rub shoulders, producing unexpected and often aesthetically gratifying results.Clothing at one time served the exclusive purpose of shielding people from the elements – keeping us warm in colder climates, protecting us from the sun in tropical climates. With our current control over our physical environment – thanks to air-conditioning, indoor heating and commuting – our exposure to the elements is greatly reduced. As a result, traditional designs originally produced to protect their wearers, like those with socially denotative functions from other cultures, can be appropriated in new reconfigurations, detached from their original meaning or intent. Globalization, with its ever expanding circulation of images, defines this practice. Suddenly, images of apparel, both traditional and new, high end and low, are available effortlessly and instantaneously. The fashion industry and community borrow freely from this global circulation of images, remixing and reconfiguring them in a persistent and expanding commons.

Fashion Community and Commons

2011-03-30T00:51:00.000-07:00

As with music, fashion encompasses a large gray area between the extremes of consumers and producers. This gray area, in which creative thinkers draw upon an ever growing and constantly circulating pool of common memes, is arguably the source of new ideas and trends within the fashion industry. Sociological literature on innovation describes it as an interactive process, dependent upon cumulative knowledge and the capacity for interchange between individuals, institutions and organizations. Academic research on fashion echoes this definition. As Vincent B. Leitch writes, "innovation in fashion is less a matter of creativity ex nihilo than of mutation and pastiche. In fashion today,innovation continues to thrive as its central practices foresight, flexibility and cooperation flourish in a fairly open and unfettered creative commons.

While fashion, like music, is a global community fragmented, multifaceted and highly stratified it also is tied to an industry that reaps the benefits of agglomeration economies, or the types of spatial concentration that create advantageous economic conditions, resulting in sustained or increased concentration.31 Thus, Paris has remained a central node in the global fashion economy, along with New York and Milan, and London, Tokyo and Los Angeles serve as a second tier. Designers tend to live and work in one or more of these cities, as do buyers and merchandisers, and design schools such as Parsons School of Design in New York and College of St. Martin's in London are located in these fashion centers. Of course, the actual production of most clothing, with the exception of haute couture or signature collections, is outsourced to the third world, mainly to Asian countries.
The career of most designers is a peripatetic one, moving between companies every few years. Fashion design, like entertainment, depends more and more on blockbusters. One bad collection can sink a design team. As Richard Wheeler, an accessories designer at Ann Taylor, commented, "Teams don't stay in place for more than a few years. If there is a bad season, it's always seen as the designer's fault. You fire the designer and hire a new team. This approach helps to create a community that is fairly fluid, with talent, ideas, individuals and aesthetics constantly recirculating within a relatively limited sphere.
Both music and fashion owe their existence to globalized creative communities, which thrive on the continual circulation of ideas and mining of the creative commons. Unlike technological or industrial development, in which new objects and ideas may be discovered or invented both music and fashion rely on innovation the reshuffling of known elements into unique and surprising patterns for creative advancement.Thus, in order to innovate effectively, musicians and fashion designers must operate within environments that grant them access to ideas and the permission to use them in new and creative ways. Neither community exists in a vacuum. Both function within highly structured industries that have emerged over the years to enable and exploit the fruits of creative endeavor. These industries have a constraining effect on the creative communities by continually pitting the financial, legal and structural imperatives of their own continuance against the needs of the artists themselves. Often, this means restricting access to the creative commons. In order to understand how market forces came to exert such control over music and fashion, it is useful to examine the histories of these industries.

Makeup Remover and Moisturizer

2011-03-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

1/2 cup paraffin

1 cup mineral oil

1/2 cup water

2 tbs. alum

Slowly heat paraffin with the oil in a double boiler. In a separate saucepan, heat the water until it simmers, then dissolve the alum in it. Let cook, then add to the warm mineral oil and paraffin mixture. As everything cools, the paraffin will rise to the top. Drain off the water. The residue is your makeup remover.

Lemon Pie Soap

2011-03-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

Melt 1 pound of white soap in a double boiler.
Fragrance with ½ teaspoon of Lemon Poundcake Fragrance Oil.
Color with 4 drops of Cosmic Color Canary Yellow.
Pour into a 8 inch metal pie pan.
Cover with plastic wrap.
Melt 1 pound of white soap in a double boiler.
Fragrance with ½ teaspoon of Lemon Poundcake fragrance oil.
Color with several drops of cosmic color canary yellow (you will want this layer much darker in color than the first layer).
Uncover the pie pan and spritz the soap with a light layer of rubbing alcohol.
Slowly pour the second batch of soap into the pie pan.
Help the layers blend slightly by briefly running a knife through the mixture.
Allow the soap to harden.
Melt ¼ pound of soap and color it a dark caramel color. Pour on top of the mold. This will become your pie’s crust.
Allow the soap to harden.
Place the hard soap and mold in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will allow the soap to shrink slightly and then come out of the mold more easily.Some soap bases will not tolerate being placed in the freezer. Wholesale Supplies Plus has a soap base that can be placed in the freezer without damaging the soap.
Take the soap out of the freezer and unmold. If the soap is difficult to unmold, turn upside down and run warm water over the mold.
Once out of the mold set aside.
Melt ½ pound of white soap in a double boiler.
Add ¼ teaspoon of cosmetic glitter to the melted base.
Leave the soap in the melting pan and mix with an electric mixer. Start with the lowest speed possible and work up slowly.
Once the soap base is thick and bubbly, place spoonfuls of the base on top of the unmolded pie.
Immediately freeze for 15 minutes.
Allow to return to room temperature.
Cut into pie pieces the next morning.

tips of Jewelry Repair

2011-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Jewelry repair is a profession just like other technical professions and you’ll need both equipment and training to do the work well. You may want to entrust this work to the professionals, especially for your engagement ring or family heirloom.Provided below are damage prevention and repair tips for simple damages.You should only attempt the repair if you’re confident. And again, don’t try this on your family heirloom!

Disclaimer: We cannot be held responsible for any damage that may occur on your side. Try this at your own risk!

To reduce the need for jewelry repair, do periodic inspection and evaluations. Inspect your jewelry every two to three months or more if you are very active and like to wear your jewelry often.

Check to see if your jewelry is becoming worn or dull. Invest in magnifying glass or jeweler's loop so that you can find problem areas.Check for flat or worn-out spots where constant rubbing can happen.Inspect for thinning or cracking that can lead to bigger problems later.

The number one cause of lost gemstones is worn or broken prongs or tips.Check for rattling or movement among gemstones. Inspect in all areas around stones to see if settings are tight and secure. Use a pair of tweezers or a toothpick and gently nudge stones to check for any wiggle or movement. In some cases, impacted dirt under gemstone settings can actually keep stones intact under pressure until they are cleaned, then they can become very loose and fall out if not inspected.

Some precious metal jewelry tarnishes easily. To remove tarnish, use a liquid jewelry cleaner with a dipping tray or a spray bottle. Read the instructions on the cleaner first. Wear gloves to protect yourself from the strong chemicals and work in a well-ventilated area. After rinsing the jewelry in warm water, dry it with a towel, then with a polishing cloth.

For broken clasps, go to a jewelry supply store or a craft department and purchase a replacement clasp, "jump" rings, and fastening tools. These may also be purchased online in jewelry repair kits.

To flatten a chain, lay the piece down on a desk with a layer of cloth and roll a round pen or pencil over the area until it becomes straight.

Some tools such as a chain nose (needle nose jeweler's pliers) or other pliers may be helpful. When you need to attach a clasp, a jump ring (loop of gold) may be used to hold parts together. The pliers allow opening and closing the loop. Open a jump ring by moving one side towards you and the other away from you. Twist open then simply twist back the same way to close.

If you have a ring that has lost its roundness, you can try to gently put it back in shape again. Find a dowel, metal or wooden handle of a kitchen utensil or any other sturdy, round item that your ring will fit on. Using a rawhide or resin hammer, gently tap the ring back into shape around the round handle. You can also cushion the ring with a towel. Be careful not to damage the ring with the head of the hammer!

Jewelry Care and Storage Tips

2011-03-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Did you know that some jewelry boxes can actually do more harm than good? Are you storing your jewelry the right way? Improper storage may cause damage to your engagement rings and other jewelry. Here are some tips on storage.

Jewelry Boxes Tips

Although it is ideal to keep your precious pieces in a jewelry box, you have to choose a suitable one. Some jewelry boxes do not have securing areas to keep your jewelry from rolling, scratching or bumping into each other, so always separate your jewelry during storage. If possible, wrap them up individually in a soft cloth or pouch before storing. It is also important to make sure that the jewelry box is suitable for your type of jewelry. For example, some jewelry boxes are designed specifically for rings, some for necklaces and bracelets.

Storage Tips For Silver Jewelry

Many people know that sterling silver jewelry tends to tarnish easily. Tarnish is the result of a natural reaction between silver and the air and environment. So, to slow down the tarnishing, you can store your silver jewelry in an airtight container or zip lock bag. Other tips to consider:

Store silver jewelry together with anti-tarnish strips. These will absorb the agents that cause silver to tarnish.

•Anti-tarnish pouch and cloth are also available from jewelry stores. Basically, they function like anti-tarnish strips.

You can also use silica gel as it will absorb the moisture in the air and slow down tarnishing.

Storage Tips For Necklaces And Bracelets

Storage Tips For Earrings

Each pair of earrings should be in its own compartment or hang on hooks. Earring posts or clips can bend and rings can wear if they are not secured to a display or insert.

Jewelry Care and Cleaning Tips

2011-03-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

Fine jewelry can very easily become tarnished, dirty and dull. To keep your favorite pieces shiny, sparkling and new, proper jewelry care is the key. The wrong method of cleaning can also cause permanent damage to your jewelry! Please consider the following recommendations to ensuring a long and beautiful life for your jewelry. This list is not all inclusive and only provides warnings for some of the most common mistakes in cleaning jewelry.

General Cleaning.'

1. Before you start cleaning jewelry always do a quick visual check to see if there are any loose or damaged gemstones; cracked or broken metal; bent or warped prongs/tips; discolored or pitting metal. You wouldn’t want to cause any further damage.

2. Jewelry should be removed before showering or cleaning. A film can form if the soap is not washed off completely. This film will then become a magnet for dirt, dust and other contaminants.

3. Use a nub free, 100% cotton cloth and gently wipe the piece clean using only the soft pads of your fingers.

4. You can also purchase jeweler's cloths from jewelry stores. Be sure to use fresh cloths since the dirt and grit left on the cloth from a previous use will now leave scrapes and pits in the piece you are trying to clean and polish.

5. Commercial cleaners can be purchased at jewelry stores. Always remember to read the instructions on the commercial cleaners first before you attempt cleaning.

6. Never clean your jewelry in bleach! Doing this will literally breakdown your jewelry. Bleach as an oxidizing agent that will react to the metal, causing it to become very brittle. Similarly, avoid swimming pools and bathing in hot tubs as chlorine products are added to prevent bacteria growth.

7. Besides chlorine bleach, denatured alcohol, turpentine, acetone, and ammonia are harmful too. These chemicals can dull or even pit the surface on softer gemstones.

8. For best results, polish silver or gold with a jewelry polishing cloth. Use of tissue or paper towels can cause scratches because of the fibers in these products.

9. An old toothbrush is very handy. Make sure that you use an old, soft bristle brush. Lightly brush at hard to reach areas while frequently applying cleaning solution.

10. Never use toothpaste or other abrasives to clean metal or stones. Some websites recommend toothpaste as a cleaner, but this is not an accepted practice by fine jewelers. The abrasives in toothpaste can damage the
surface of the metal. Toothpaste will also abrade the surface on amber, lapis, turquoise and other soft stones.

11. An ultrasonic vibrating cleaner may be appropriate for some jewelry, but always read the instructions first. Ultrasonic vibrating machines can loosen or damage precious gemstones while cleaning the jewelry. And the
chemicals are not recommended for pearls and many other fine stones. Also never ultrasonic different metals at the same time, silver can tarnish gold if cleaned together.

12. Be careful when cleaning costume or vermeil jewelry, as it's very sensitive to any cleaning solutions. Costume or vermeil jewelry is a base metal with another layer of more precious metal (e.g. Gold) plated over or absorbed into it. This layer is not made for abrasive cleaning.

13. Always use warm not HOT water. Cleaning agents can be absorbed and react to very hot water causing jewelry to discolor. Sterling silver is especially sensitive to hot water and can discolor in a heartbeat.

14. Be very careful when using any soaking method to clean jewelry that has soft stones such as amber, lapis lazuli, or turquoise. Extended soaking in any solution may harm the polish on the stone and cause it to discolor.

Fashion Industry History

2011-03-26T23:08:00.000-07:00

For centuries, clothing design and production were under the purview of mostly anonymous dressmakers and seamstresses, and were not yet dictated by the proclamations of famous, individual designers. In the 18th and 19th centuries in the U.S. and Europe, clothes had not only symbolic influence but also economic currency. For many working-class families, clothing comprised a significant percentage of their material worth. In France, a suit purchased at the time of a young working-class man's marriage literally was expected to last a lifetime, and worn to church, weddings and funerals. In England, clothing was somewhat limited to the working classes, and low income families formed clubs to save enough money to purchase clothes.40
Until the 18th century, fashion was the province of the upper class, and production was done by hand. Advances in technology and industrial manufacturing in mid-18th century Europe engendered the rise of the textile and apparel industries. The industrial revolution also meant a rising standard of living for the working and middle classes, suddenly allowing them to buy much less expensive, mass-produced versions of Parisian haute couture.At the end of the 19th century, with the advent of mass production, clothes became even cheaper and more accessible to the working classes. As a result, clothing and fashion first became democratized, and, as Diane Crane argues, this evolution was most evident in the United States because of its fluid social structure.41 By the early 20th century in America, consumers were buying haute couture copies in the recently founded department stores and retail catalogs. Some were sold as approved "reproductions" of European designs but the majority consisted of unauthorized knockoffs.Despite France's dominance in the decorative arts (e.g., furniture, porcelain and silver), it was Charles Frederick Worth, an Englishman living in Paris in the mid-19th century, who first established the concept of the fashion designer as an autonomous artist. Worth founded his maison couture, the House of Worth, a name that simultaneously established the centrality of the designer to fashion and conferred brand-name status on the designer himself.Succeeding Worth at the forefront of fashion design was Paul Poiret, who not only waged war against the corset but also established what is now thought of as haute couture. In the 20th century, many of today's most famous and most expensive brands were established, including Chanel, Balenciaga and Dior. As with Worth and Poiret, these brands almost were inseparable from the designers, who often expanded beyond haute couture into other artistic disciplines and entertainment endeavors. For example, Coco Chanel often dabbled in costume design. She designed the costumes for Jean Cocteau's 1924 operette-danse, Le Train bleu, and again for Gloria Swanson in the 1931 film Tonight or Never. She also collaborated with Jean Renoir in 1938, designing the costumes for La Marseillaise.Thus, like music, fashion design is an aesthetic practice taking place within artistic communities. However, unlike most music, fashion must meet the added requirement of functionality.42 Over the past century, fashion has undergone a transformation in everything but name. The history of the fashion industry in the U.S., in contrast to that of music, reflects a continuing resistance to oligopolistic control and strict intellectual property controls. While there is a widening gap between music's social origins and its commercial role, in fashion the two coexist in relative peace.

For many decades, haute couture dictated fashion trends as designers, on high, came down from the proverbial mountain twice a year to dictate to their upper-class customers, decreeing the height of their hemlines, the silhouette of their shoulders, and the appropriateness – or not – of pleats. Design houses usually were owned by their designers, clothes were still produced by craftspeople domestically and the fashion community was fairly small, centered in Paris. Thus, while styles changed from season to season, the fundamental structure of the business remained stable.By the 1960s, haute couture's stranglehold on fashion was beginning to weaken. Hollywood films, television, rock music, youth culture, the women's movement, revolutionary politics all served to destabilize the top-down fashion paradigm, with trends generated by consumers (particularly the younger ones) rather than the large couture houses. The further democratization of fashion during this time could be seen in the establishment of numerous casual wear companies such as the Gap (1969), Ann Taylor (1954) and J. Crew (1983). Such changes in the fashion industry were precipitated by the underlying cultural, political and social shifts following World War II. American consumers, finally liberated from the shackles of the Great Depression and infused with a sense of self-sufficiency and national pride, adopted a far more active role. They no longer were content simply to accept the dictates of Paris, Milan and New York. Consumers were usurping the autonomy of producers, and the relationship between the two has been complex and tenuous ever since.If these changes reflected social evolution, they also were enabled by legal developments. During the 1940s in the United States, several crucial legal decisions established the validity and value of knockoffs, sampling and reappropriation in the fashion industry in the name of healthy competition. For instance, in 1940 the Millinery Creators' Guild v. FTC decision determined that piracy in fashion triggers a downward force on pricing, making it a socially desirable form of competition. Similarly, a year later, the judge in Cheney Bros. v. Doris Silk Corp. rejected a request to prohibit design piracy on the grounds that such a prohibition would grant a de facto monopoly to designers, who formally are denied patent and copyright protection. Thus, the fashion industry consistently and intentionally has been denied the legal protections afforded to other design industries, in order to maintain a healthy creative ecosystem and the continuing availability of diverse, inexpensive products to the American consumer base.

The changes in the fashion industry during the mid-to-late 20th century contributed to a creative climate in which designers influence and draw influence from one another. Fashion is a chaotic if highly stratified industry, and the directional flow of aesthetics is now top-down, bottom-up and side-to-side. Ideas flow in every direction, so any attempt to pinpoint the creative forbears of any given garment (unless it is an exact copy) is an exercise in frustration and futility.

The advent of the modern media system in the 20th century also had an enormous impact on dictating fashion. Cultural icons such as musicians, actors, celebrities, royalty and political figures came to influence trends. Today, newspapers, magazines and Web sites report daily on what Beyoncé, Cameron Diaz and the Bush Twins are wearing. The role of media and entertainment as mediators between designers and consumers, in the form of the myriad magazines, TV shows and even films about fashion, cannot be understated. While the aesthetic inflection points between celebrity and fashion are beyond the scope of this article, suffice it to say that the constant flood of entertainment-focused media has turned celebrities (and their stylists) into the new authorities on fashion trends.

Thus, the music and fashion industries evolved quite differently, despite their similar origins. The music industry grew to exert ever more rigid and consolidated control over musical expression, to such a degree that the creative needs of musicians and music listeners have taken a back seat to the financial needs of the marketplace. The fashion industry, however, has evolved with a healthier balance between creative and economic demands, offering consumers and aspiring designers a greater degree of control and agency than they enjoyed a century ago. These divergent paths have produced significantly different legal, economic and organizational structures, which we will now examine.

Fashion and Society

2011-03-25T06:39:00.000-07:00

While music derives much of its power from its invisibility, fashion is one of the most visible markers we have in contemporary society to express affiliation, lifestyle choice and identity. Yet paradoxically, its utter ubiquity also affords it a status – similar to that of music – beyond questioning or criticism. We may make decisions about what clothes to buy, or what shoes to wear, or cattily dismiss someone's choice of apparel, but few of us ever stop to wonder why fashion exists, why it changes so rapidly or what those changes mean about our society.A hat is never just a hat.Consequently fashion, like music, enjoys a social power that far exceeds its apparent role in our lives. A hat is never just a hat, and we rarely wear one simply to guard against the cold. Arguably fashion is by definition the symbolic coding of social power through apparently innocuous means such as shape, texture or color. This is evident in the breadth and scope of its social functions. It has been used as an index of social rank in Victorian England, and as a gauge of social mobility in 20th century America. It has been used to express ideological conformity and allegiance, as in the case of the Mao Suit, and social unrest or nonconformity, as in the case of the 1960s Flower Power movement. Throughout time, fashion has been used to communicate a dizzying array of social signifiers, such as class, gender, occupation, regional identity and religion.18 The brilliance of fashion is that, for the system to work, all people have to do is wake up in the morning and get dressed.Although fashion may seem innocuous and simple on an individual level, religions, governments and other large organizations long have seen the value of fashion as a form of social control, dictating uniforms and dress codes, and prescribing and proscribing everything from shoes to hats to underwear. In the Middle Ages in England, for example, livery – uniform clothing or the badge or cloak color of the lord's family – was heavily regulated. If a person took a nobleman's livery, he became his servant and owed him loyalty and other required services. A liveried servant also shared his nobleman's identity to a certain extent, granting him legal privileges he would not have enjoyed otherwise.Similarly, during Elizabethan times, Sumptuary laws restricting lavish dress were passed in order to maintain the boundaries between the nobility and the rising bourgeoisie. Elizabethan lawmakers feared that "letting anyone wear just anything must lead inexorably to moral decline. If you couldn't tell a milkmaid from a countess at a glance, the very fabric of society might unravel."19 Fashion, like music, was redefined by the advent of modern capitalism. In contemporary society, fashion serves as a commercial entity, driven by the same forces of manufactured demand and planned obsolescence that characterizes everything from movies to breakfast cereals to presidential candidates. This commodification of fashion historically has interacted with America's social mobility and class competition, in effect producing an almost feverish obsession with fashion among many Americans, particularly women.In the last few decades, as more traditional notions of social class have given way to increasing fragmentation based on cultural interest, consumers have had greater freedom to construct their social identities based on other parameters, such as participation in certain fashion-related lifestyles. Leather-clad dominatrix, polo-wearing Connecticut preppie and So-Cal surfer all are accessible identities to anyone with a credit card. To paraphrase Hamlet's Polonius, "the clothes make the man." This change, from class identification to lifestyle articulation, suggests that fashion offers a greater level of individual agency today than in earlier eras. In contemporary culture, "consumption is conceptualized as a form of role-playing, as consumers seek to project conceptions of identity that are continually evolving."20 Thus, both music and fashion act as social stealth agents, regulating and reflecting cultural roles and expectations while eluding scrutiny through their ubiquity. Music's stealth is aided by its literal invisibility, while fashion functions in spite of, and because of, its hypervisibility. In contemporary society, both music and fashion generally are regarded in primarily capitalistic terms. Songs and apparel are conceived of as products, and most people relate to them as consumers. However, both music and fashion originate within creative communities, which are built on a different kind of relationship: that between an artist and a work.

Shose history

2011-03-25T05:42:00.000-07:00

Shoes are a beautiful necessity of life; they have been around for so long that no one can say, with absolute certainty, what the first pair of shoes even looked like, but it is assumed that they would have been made from thick leaves or wood to protect from the rough terrain. Footwear is mentioned in the Bible, so it can be dated at least as far back as that, as well as other similar dated writings. What is known, is that today’s society has a love of shoes and the average person owns at least three pair; the norm being a pair of dress shoes, a pair of tennis shoes, with a third pair being either sandals, boots or flip-flops. While that is average, there are those who have a shoe obsession, and may own dozens of shoes! In the news, there have even been reports of women who own hundreds of shoes. It is clear that shoes have certainly left their print on history, style, and society.

Some people are very into fashion, and will wear whatever is in vogue at the moment; they will do so at the expense of both their pocketbooks and their physical health. To them cost is no option, even if their feet are cramping and their backs are aching, they must and will have the shoes that are most stylish, from high-end designers to pricey couture footwear. A woman may have started wearing 4-inch heels when they were young, and as an adult can’t imagine wearing anything else. Often such choices end with having to endure hammertoes and bunions when they are older, but even knowing that may not deter them from purchasing a smart shoe over a more fashionable style. Other people most concerned with comfort; they may say they like sensible shoes, and may even choose to wear slippers at times, but often they wear shoes of necessity, or shoes and boots that have either protective or practical use in the work they do each day. Whatever the reason for buying particular shoes; for practicality, sports, sophistication, or pleasure, one thing is sure; Shoes have transformed from simply a necessity, to a way of displaying a person's taste and style on their feet.

Middle Ages

square toes, but later versions were pointy toed and could be curled up at the toe. They were boot-like, flat and soft, but not inexpensive, so during the warmer seasons, most people would walk barefoot through the streets and marketplaces. In some areas, it was not uncommon for people to wear wooden shoes, which were basically two pieces of wood that went under the foot and up the back of the leg and than were wrapped in fabric of some sort. Other forms of wooden shoes, such as clogs, were also worn, but it seems that whatever they wore, most people were often never really comfortable in their footwear.

1970

Shoe styles and a boxier squared off shoe were common in the 70’s. Shoes like the earth shoes, which had a heel that was lower than the toe, were widely popular. Shoes were comfortable for the most part. A wooden slip on shoe from Doctor Scholls comes out at that time as well. For the disco lover, platform shoes were the way to go, some were chunky, and most all flamboyant, either in color or decor, some went so far as to have small aquariums in the high wedge heel.

1980

Slips on tennis shoes, or skate shoes, are huge in the 1980’s, and just about any other kind of low-rise tennis shoe. Ballet flats as shoes and Jellies were new to the 1980’s. Jellies are a gel or plastic-like shoe that is usually clear, colored, and has some sort of sparkle to them. Also popular among young people on the 1980s were lace up platform boots and another black boot that looked almost military. Beatle boots and Clunky Mary Janes, which are low heel dress shoes with a thick ankle strap, were common as are strap up the leg heels. The 80’s seemed to have a combination of light and comfortable to dark and utilitarian when it comes to shoes.

1990

This decade is best known for bulk, if it was a chunky shoe, it was fashionable. Grunge took over everything from clothes to shoes. Platform sneakers, Doc Martens and Mary Janes were some of the styles. Most shoe styles from the 80’s carried over into the 90’s, with boots or boot-like shoes considered the most awesome !~!

Present Day Shoes

The shoe styles of the early 2000’s up until now are basically a mix and match of styles from all other decades. While the bulky shoes of the 90’s have pretty much faded away, they still hold for some people as a symbol of their favored time and style; but one can expect to see anything from sneakers to heels, and from loafers to classic laced shoes when out and about.

Women Get Fashion Makeovers .......

2011-03-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Women Get Fashion Makeovers At Welfare To Work Program

philadelphia (ap) - traditional black or navy blue pinstripes? geanetta gary just can't decide which business suit she likes better. "both of them look real nice," she says, holding up both outfits. "it's a tough decision." finding a stylish look is a challenge for most women, but for gary, 35, it's much harder. a single mother of 10 children, she has been out of work for months and living on child support. she usually buys her clothes at thrift stores, but today she has come somewhere new to get a suit for job interviews. gary is trying on clothes, shoes and accessories at the working wardrobe, a philadelphia nonprofit that provides business clothes to women trying get off welfare and find jobs. wardrobe's basic philosophy is that clothes make the woman - or at least give the woman a much needed boost."this helps motivate us to let us know we have possibility," said gary, who is here with a group of women from a city-sponsored program called workwise. "it gives us a jump start." since opening in 1995, working wardrobe has dressed about 20,000 women. the two locations, in center city philadelphia and suburban west chester, work with women referred by social service agencies, like domestic violence, substance abuse or job assistance programs. wardrobe helps women who are trying to start over with a new job and just need the pizzaz of a fitted black skirt, a soft cream silk blouse or some simple black pumps. executive director sheri cole said that the group tries to teach women "that in order to get a job you have to look the part. you can't come in off the street in jeans and a t-shirt and expect to be taken seriously." women who are referred to the wardrobe get an interview suit on their first visit and when they get a job they can come back for two more business outfits. local women donate most of the clothes and wardrobe also receives items from charming shoppes, the corporation that owns fashion bug. the organization's annual budget of about $250,000 is made up of contributions from foundations, corporations and private donors. cole said there are about 50 similar organizations nationwide, located in most major cities, and they do an important service."we're working in difficult issues, but there is so much hope here," she says.

"the women leave so excited." wardrobe's philadelphia office is set up like a clothing boutique with racks of suits in black, grey and pink along the wall. blouses, pants and skirts hang on circular rails across the floor and shoes are neatly stacked in a corner. the clothes are a mix of basic and more upscale names - ann taylor, the gap and liz claiborne. gary and about a dozen other women scour the racks intently, giggling, trying things on in the two small dressing rooms and modeling before the three-paneled mirror. "i have an interview at sears," says 20 year-old denise milton, who is searching for a size 2 dress. "my baby is a year old. i've got to get a life for us." she leaves, beaming, with a gray knee-length shift dress and matching jacket. danielle white, 21, is nine months pregnant, exhausted and worried she won't find anything that fits. after a few tries she comes out of the fitting room in a black suit with a skirt. "it goes around my stomach," she says, relieved. "it's nice." but gary is clearly the most gleeful shopper. after she picks the pinstripe suit she finds a pair of navy and white heels.she fills out her paperwork so she can take her new getup home. "i'm going to say, 'look what mommy got and (my kids) will say 'what thrift store?' and i'll say, 'it was better than a thrift store.'"

European fashion trends

2011-03-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

The trends in the fashion industry change on a daily basis. Past is already gone and people start looking at the future. The recent developments in the world have changed the mindset of all individuals and so has the dressing style of the people. The European fashion trends have revolutionized the fashion industry. The contemporary way of dressing is now a thing of the past and people have now drifted to a modern outlook and vision. The trends of fashion today are a modern yet a captivating look that one wants to carry.

The European fashion trends are much talked about today in the fashion industry. They have given a new life and meaning to fashion. You can find some great European clothing in great designs and fabric. You can find some top class brands in the world selling the European clothing which makes you look smart and stylish. There are various styles of European clothing. Some of the styles are very classy while others are very sophisticated. You will find ethnic styles of clothing when it comes to European fashion trends. The ethnic style has been an inspiration of the Eastern countries. The European style of clothing is a mixture of different kinds of cultures and countries. That is the reason why the world appreciates their fashion trends and anyone can easily accommodate to it. The masculine weaving classics have been beautifully carved for a feminine look. These are much liked by women of today.

Quality has become a preference for people today when they set out for buying anything. They prefer style and a good sense of mix and match. You can learn a great deal about the European fashion and the fashion trends of what they were in the past and how they have changed today. You can also get a lot of fashion tips and also know what to wear and when. Today fashion is not just about choosing the right kind of clothes for you but also matching those with the right kinds of accessories that give you a perfect look and that are what European fashion is all about. Choose what makes you feel comfortable and also your best that is what fashion is all about.

Fashion Trend in us

2011-03-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

Fashion trends in US can be described as well as in other countries that fashion never ceases to change. How the fashion trend in American this time?

If the fashion trend in American fashion can be described in one word then it is none other than clothing, and it could be a variety, not just one. The reality is that the clothes had not since the boom in recent years. Kimono sleeves, dresses closed, dressed like a doll baby [courtesy-Paris Hilton], dress shirts, dress shirts and much more an expression of the new innovations that emerged in the fashion industry in America.

Spring blouse is the latest trend for women in America and became very popular in this season. Puff sleeve blouse, graphics printing and sleeves are very popular in various circles of women in America. All types of clothing can be combined with the employer or blouse and the designer had to ensure availability for you. Combinations can vary, for example, can be combined with the end of pecans jeans or jacket can be worn with a formality to show. In this season, the combination of black and white color is very much in the fashion world discovered. This is because these two colors are two color combinations of the most popular especially in America.

The other popular trend of man fashion industry is the American coat. The Cardigans have always been a permanent garment for women, but coupled with cardigan is a clothing label is a unisexual. In the U.S., cardigans men earned a designer of revival and have become the hottest topic of fashion for children this season. Man’s jacket is not new for Americans, since they were used by many celebrities of the twentieth century. These figures include American comedian Bill Crosby and not to forget the rock star Kurt Cobain. The males’ cardigans are worn by both sexes for ages now, thus fashion trends in U.S.

A combination of trends

2011-03-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

What impression does it retain such a mix of influences from Northern Italy with the Milanese designer Raffaella Curiel, Sicily with Marella Ferrara, Sardinia with Silvio Betterelli and Artistic Director Gina Broke, picture maker of Madonna, or of the East with Syrian fashion designer Rami Al Ali, Lebanese Abed Mahfouz?

Vertiginous heels : The crisis tends to make the chosen of your heart too down to earth? Nothing prevents you from taking up to convince him to ask you in marriage. Anyway, the man with horror the half-measure … If you feel that defy the laws of gravity on the heel and platform sandals 12 cm, you have seen nothing yet! Now the shoes, slippers and sandals are “very high” with heels 15 cm.
Everything will be mini : If the global economy is struggling, you are there for nothing. Understand Your Man is to take a minimum of forms by reducing the lavish spending to the bare minimum! Gone are knee length and place baby dress “, held at very short highlighting the legs. Even along offers double vision mini front and dragging behind.

Shoulders completely denuded : To see the dock in your shoulder after a stormy night in a disco or electronic thunderbolt in the magnetic Bear, be sure to have available an abundance of free shoulder tops and halter pleated at the waist which reveal cleavage and bare shoulders.

Flowers and butterflies: You do not want to joke about the environment, but rather to forage in transforming you into bucolic butterfly? Do not worry; it will be the predominant patterns in many collections of ready-to-wear. Large flowers on the straps of cloth or applied on the dresses of organza and butterflies painted on silk.

Pale and pastel colors: This is proved; the brain of woman is more sensitive variation in color than men. A good reason to teach the one you like the shades of meaning! This year, pink, orange, blue, light green, but black or white text, not to mention gold, silver and glitter.

Transparencies: The future looks increasingly blurred? Never mind, the materials become evanescent layers able to project yourself into this, rid your shapes and curves soften the winter. Place the tulle, veils and cloths ethereal dresses with the effect of jellyfish and the effects Mini top embroidered “I see everything I see nothing”.

Jeweler’s bling-bling: not be a woman president or CEO has finally many benefits! Like to wear flashy jewelry and more flashy, created innovative materials or ethnic, semi-precious and precious stones. Nobody will be accused of wasting public money!

Relying on his taste for ownership trends

What does it matter after all if only similar fashion, some of the wearing of brands and whether the marks are supposed to dictate how a luxury reserved for the most wealthy: those who know the crisis in the pages of vaguely laminated magazines in their beauty salon and can allow himself any tantrums in front of their mirror.

For all others, when the purchasing power makes a wry face, the real luxury is in the ownership trends of the season! It can be adorned with simple, sometimes fake, always daring, but never hesitated. Provided of course seek the ultimate agreement between his personality and the times and be attentive to his own inspiration.

Fashion Solutions

2011-03-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

Fashion Solutions for Women with Broad Shoulders

The shoulders are narrow and sleek is the dream of every woman because they look more sexy and feminine. Then it is a problem for women with broad shoulders. They tend to be uncomfortable in regulating the appearance because it has broad shoulders which are a masculine trait. Therefore we need a Fashion Solutions for Women with Broad Shoulders so they can look sexy in every opportunity too.

Basically, women with broad shoulders has several advantages, among others, she is no longer wearing shoulder pads in the clothes that they use so that the broad shoulder may actually be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on how you look at it. But for those of you who think that the broad shoulder is a disadvantage, you can follow solutions fashion for women with broad shoulders below:

Choosing the right blouse or dress: one of the options the right blouse or dress for women with broad shoulders is a halterneck dress. Helterneck dress to adorn a shoulder and make her look more slender.

Avoid the use of shoulder pads: the use of shoulder pads will attract more attention in the form of broad shoulders as it will increase the volume and draw attention to the shoulder.

Avoid thin-strapped dress: thin-strapped dress (spaghetti style) has a tendency to create a contrast between the physical size and the dress straps. You need to know that the strap dress basically not intended for women with broad shoulders.

Choose clothing with the right neckline: dress with a neckline that is right for a woman with broad shoulders is clothing with V-shaped neckline Dress. With V-shaped neckline will make the chest area and overall physical look narrow.

Be careful in choosing a fashion accessory: the right fashion accessories for women with broad shoulders are a long necklace because this accessory can help draw attention to the bottom and extend the body shape. This is the fashion solutions for women with broad shoulders who can we provide to you.

Find Clothing access

2011-03-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

A Review To Help Find Clothing Such As Women Clothing

When you are shopping for clothing such as women clothing you have to pay close attention to the various sizes. This is important because, unlike men, women have a lot of different shapes and sizes and curves to the body and not everything this every woman. This is especially true when you are buying something special and you need to know your wife a loved one exact size, so you can make sure you are getting something that fits.

When you are doing the shopping for that certain woman in your life, you have to keep in mind that there is a difference between something fitting right on down to something looking right on them.this is why when you do go out shopping for them. You have to be precise and accurate about her size, and you have to know your woman’s natural body.

Something as small as the right time can stop a very big argument from taking place. It is one thing to have an idea of what she likes, but you better make it a priority to know what she looks good in it.

You may have to tell her how good she looks in it, but that should not be a problem if you buy what looks god to you. You are the one who has to look at her so make sure she stays looking her best, and do not be shy about letting her know how your feel every chance you get.

Tall slender women are some of the hardest women to shop for, because they may be everything in the store, but due to their small frame, everything does not fit them right. They tend to look better in clothing that complement the frame they do have light tight dresses or skirts. By doing this, they get to show off what they have. Instead, I have immediate behind overwhelming articles of clothing.

Medium sized women with more curves can be a hard task to shopping for as well. When you are shopping for this type of woman you want to be careful and gave sizes that are a little more accurate. A woman can have a small breast size, and a large waist size or vice versa, which will make it very hard to shop for. So when you are shopping for damn you want to make sure you have the best idea of the actual size.

If you have done all you can to find the right size, and you are still confused, feel free to ask any store clerk they should be more than willing to answer any questions you may have. It is better to be safe than sorry, so if you have a concerns please take care of it, to avoid future problems.

Shopping for clothing such as women clothing can be a nightmare and a dream so do all that is in your power to make it a dream, or at least a pleasant experience. Even if your shopping experience is a unpleasant one the smile that is on your woman’s face when you give her your gift it will wipe away any bad feelings you had at the store.

Elements such as design, size, fabric, color and durability are all key factors of women’s clothing. Women’s clothing should be fashionable and fun, as well.

Fashion journalist Hindol

2011-03-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Fashion journalist Hindol Sengupta comes with a warning from the Indian fashion experience.........

While India marked its Independence Day on August 15, a smattering of Karachi's journalists and fashionistas headed to The Second Floor (T2F) to hear Indian journalist Hindol Sengupta speak about the oft talked about but little acted upon concepts of building brands in fashion. The event was put together by the editor of Xpoze magazine Andleeb Rana to have people from the fashion industry listen to her friend Hindol who she cites as having learnt a good deal from during her years working in the industry. T2F has become a crossroad for art, culture and music to meet - given how large scale events are being canceled, the more cozy, intimate events at T2F are incredibly enjoyable and bring together an exciting mix of people! Hindol's talk was no exception - in audience were Faiza Samee, Sonya Battla, Sadaf Malaterre, Amin Gulgee, Ammar Zaidi (of Daku fame) and the three big fashion retailers were well represented. Zahir Rahimtoola of Labels, Asad Tareen of The Designers and Shehrnaz Hussain of Ensemble were all there. While the audience sipped their cold coffees and caught up on news from the world of Pakistani fashion, the mood was definitely set for an
interesting evening. The buzz in the air was about Karachi Fashion Week (KFW), taking place a day after Hindol's talk, and Andleeb's laughing disclaimer 'Hindol is not here to cover Karachi Fashion Week!' was part of her introduction for her guest. While Hindol seemed enthused to be in Pakistan and looked every bit the desi in his kurta pajama and waistcoat, his audience was quite attentive too!

He may not have been here to cover KFW, but his talk was a perfect prelude to the event. During his talk, Hindol Sengupta spoke about principles that will guide the world of fashion to a more competitive era, that may be textbook to any one who's studied entrepreneurship or marketing, but sadly is still unknown to the vast chunk of our designers! Hindol wavered between concepts of retailing and brand building, peppered with hilarious anecdotes and unique examples from India. His key themes focused on designers moving to prêt wear lines and creating more affordable lines to hook new consumers on with, building a brand beyond a designer's name and personality, and effective marketing. While he says this is still something Indian designers need to adopt, (and Pakistani, may we add!) Hindol's been doing research for his new book and has the facts to back his theories up! For example, Indians in rural areas recognize the Manish Malhotra brand - only because he is 'the' designer to Bollywood and that's how they have been exposed to Manish's clothes. That's effective marketing for Manish, and once this market segment moves up and wants to spend cash - Manish Malhotra will be the designer they go to. Hindol also talked about how designers are not looking into creating any products for such newly rich potential consumers to mark their first brand-name purchases. The same thing is so true for Pakistan - where in the past few years people have gotten rich overnight (thank you, Karachi Stock Exchange) and would like to spend money on brand names but don't know where to start with. While we do have examples of Amir Adnan and Ammar Belal who are actually creating brands and moving beyond bridal wear such as Adnan's FnkAsia that caters to a younger market, the rest of the lot are still selling on the basis of their name. And this is what Hindol highlighted as well. The question 'can your brand outlive your name?' is very pertinent in the region, where designers are selling on the basis of their fame. Hindol pointed out that with global brands already coming into India, with an onset in Pakistan sooner than later, designers have to start looking at their operations in a more business oriented way - have a brand name and philosophy, that people can associate with as opposed to a person's name that could die the day the business wraps up. For this, Hindol says, designers have to capitalize on the strengths that are available to us in the subcontinent: the superior textiles, skill sets, tailoring, labor etc. After all, as Hindol rightly pointed out, if foreign brands such as Roberto Cavalli can outsource and have their clothes manufactured in India using Indian skill sets, why can an Indian designer not get the same out of their labor? Moreover, the business sense for running a retail operation effectively needs to happen, and fast - before global brands hit the Indian Ocean and blow local designers away by their relative affordability, superior quality, and business sense. As Hindol said, once Zara comes in and changes their shop windows five times in a month, and Louis Vuitton buys out Indian designers who don't know what their business is, most designers will lose any edge they have in the market! With this interesting combination of business and fashion, Hindol Sengupta was a treat to listen to - having written about both industries in India for years, he has a great understanding of where fashion needs to head to. In terms of business acumen, Hindol laughingly pointed out that we have the most to gain from the example of Hashmi Kajal being wildly popular in Mumbai simply through word-ofmouth! With gossip being the favorite pastime of all and sundry in the subcontinent, word of mouth marketing, using innovative icons, names and mediums will be how brands get introduced to new consumers! The highlight of the talk was his example of Sula Wines - an Indian wine brand that has the sun god as its logo and is merely capitalizing on the fact that its wine from India - which people will recognize because of that iconic logo (Hindol: "Even if you show a blind man that sun logo he'll think India!"). Most of the audience was rather shocked that there was even a wine industry in India - but there you have it - its unique, new, and capitalizes on its strength: where it comes from. Hindol's point is this is what Pakistan and India need to do as well - capitalize on our skill sets and quality. Answering a question from Amin Gulgee as to why should designers stop doing bridals, Hindol said that he agreed that they shouldn't, but designers need to use their ability at making great bridal
couture into making great prêt wear as well. The talk was quite interesting since it was the held the evening before KFW kicked off in the city, which on Day One focused heavily on bridal wear and resembled a fashion extravaganza as opposed to a show catering towards attracting buyers and moving to retailing. Designer Bibi Russell echoed Hindol's thoughts when she said after the show 'There were some good things, but I wish it had been more unique, more prêt.." It remains to be seen whether Pakistani designers will heed to the buzz in the air, but here's hoping for great things to kick off from small beginnings like these!

Ethnic Trends in 1970 Fashion

2011-03-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

In the 1970 every type of ethnic image set a trend.

A peasant fashion for eyelets with lacing, oversized ric rac braid with false bib parts of blouses became universal. Real blouses began to appear beneath short bell, or just above elbow knitwear. The lower sleeves became fuller and fuller so that by the late 1970 they were similar to Victorian engageantes. Sometimes they were left open and were known as an angel sleeve. The edging of the sleeve was often of the bordered fabric used in the main body of the garment. Richly patterned, border print fabrics were perfect for some of the simple garment shapes of the fashion era.The ethnic influence was so strong that it revived craft skills from far flung places. Macramé bags and bikinis from the Greek Isles and crochet waistcoats and shawls from Spain were all high fashion. The poncho was short lived and soon became a children's style. Gypsy tops with drawn up necklines trimmed with bells and puffed sleeves were made in cheesecloth or light cottons. In the year of 1978, Broderie Anglaise made a brief appearance as trimmed petticoat hemlines designed to show beneath peasant style skirts. At about the same time, Tibetan and Chinese quilted jackets and square armhole waistcoats, in mix and match prints were teamed with softly pleated skirts. Sometimes they had stylised patchwork print effects and were a very pretty feminine fashion. Indian imported cotton voile dresses overprinted in gold by Phool were often worn with quilted jackets. The colours were vivid and striking bright pinks, sea greens and wonderful shades of cornflower blues. Indian silk scarves of similar designs abounded. It was only in the 1980 when it was widely reported in newspapers that the dresses were quickly flammable, that they lost favour.It was during the 1970 that friendship bracelets first became fashionable. These hand braided bracelets made from coloured yarns were initially made by teenagers. As the 1970s fashion for teaching friends how to do it flagged, street sellers started to make income from the craft by weaving bracelets to order, as customers waited. The bracelets started as fine strips no wider than 6mm, but by 2001 they were often as wide as 2cm.

Fashion - a real treasure for you

2011-03-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

What could be better than reading an exciting magazine in the spare time? It's easy and charming fiction, which helps to relax and while away an hour or two reading the enjoyable notes. Of course, reading shiny magazines - is the choice of the female, still, and modern men rare say no to look through the colorful magazine. Sorry to say, when we have the free time for reading, not always exciting magazine is at hand. Fortunately, today there are analogues of glossy magazines in the Internet. For lovers of fashion magazines it is a real treasure, because there is no one or two magazines, a vast number of publications in the most diverse types. There are such a themes as cosmetics, health, secular news, style you can find a lot of information on any of the listed topics. For instance, if you are inveterate fashionable (or coxcomb), then you will appreciate a vast selection of articles about fashion. Because of these articles you can find many interesting things, such as: what style of dress preferred fashionable in Japan, or some new names appeared in the fashion world in latest times, what will surprise fans celebrated couturier in the new season and so on. Of course, blindly copy all the fashion styles should not, or you become a notorious "fashion victims". But reading fashion magazines and sections about fashion helps you find your own manner, which will be to the person right for you. Though, not only fashion coverage in the pages of countless online publications. Any person who is not alien to the sense of beauty, is always interested in articles about interior design. In the end, each of us to afford to make their own home into a stylish and comfortable house, which does not yield to the colorful pictures in the magazine. What be more, often it is not necessary to have at your disposal the millions or invite famous interior designers. Many magazine articles put forward tips on how to inexpensively change your home. Here we come to the aid of creative skills, our own sense of style and ability to do something with my hands. It's no secret that the manual work today is very much appreciated, and, furthermore, thanks to your efforts, your house or apartment will become truly chic and unique look. As you can see, reading logs can be not only interesting, but also a very useful exercise.

Latest Fashion In India & Pakistan

2011-03-16T01:14:00.000-07:00

latest fashion and trend which is present among Pakistani girls and Indian girls. Pakistani girls usually want to wear Shalwar Kameez but Indian girls want to wear Saree after marriage but on the other hand Pakistani girls love to wear Shalwar Kameez after marriage.

Some girls from India and Pakistan wear Jeans and T-Shirt but amount of Indian girls and Pakistani girls wearing jeans and T-Shirt is very less.

As a Fashion Designer I want you peoples to see what is going on in this world about Fashion.

I visited lot of sites but didn't found any good information about latest fashion in India & Pakistan so I created my own sites so that if somebody wants to know about new Fashion in Pakistan and India then they can found easily what they are looking on net. These two web sites are hundred percent free to use no Credit Card or any type of payment through bank accounts or through phone call just log in to see what type fashion is updating India & Pakistan.

And one thing more that these two sites are secured and approved so don't you worry about anything just log in to these sites and enjoy the latest fashion. You can also make friendships on these sites can take email ids and can share your point of view about upcoming new fashion in Pakistan & India

If you have any type of idea to improve these sites or to tell us more about new upcoming fashions then you can also write to us without any type of problem like banned name or fake email id because I told you earlier that these sites are 100 % secured for you peoples. You can also create your own account and can mention your new fashion ideas or can submit your fashion ate pictures on your own account . so don't wait for anything just log in to these sites and enjoy the new fashions in Pakistan and India.

As you know now a days there are lot fashions mostly fashion come in India because India is having biggest market of fashion and also the fashion in India is different from Pakistan.

If you see fashion in other countries except Pakistan and India you will find that in other countries fashion is growing high because of high demand in the market. You will also see that fashion in those countries is totally different from fashion in India and Pakistan because they are modern and having very high fashion demands in their market.

Fashion of Pakistan in 2011

2011-03-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

Pakistani fashion dresses 2011 and clothing have ostensibly been, and still are, the exclusive domain of women. Fashion and haute couture are synonymous, at least in Pakistan, with women. In the Western world, though, men did not spend all that much on clothing till the December of 2001, who unlike their counterparts in Pakistan, were very much fashion savvy. Even in the 16th century men were very conscious of what they wore. Clothes even then were a statement, not necessarily a fashion statement, but a statement nevertheless. The aristocratic class distinguished itself from the common class through their clothes, shoes, hairstyles, and mannerism.
Pakistani men, on the other hand, have been less conscious of their clothes until the media blitz. It was something which men till recently did not take an active interest in. Men throughout time have

worn basically the same traditional outfit – the awami suit or the shalwar-kameez as it is popularly known. Gone are the days of being patriotic!
Shalwar-Kameez is a complete dress, like a trouser-shirt combination. Shalwar is a pair of thin cotton trousers, baggy but tapered at the ankles. It has a draw-string at the waist acting as a belt; and a long tunic like shirt down to the knees, which is called Kameez. Nowadays men, too, like the women wear the Shalwar-Kameez in a variety of tasteful colors and designs, making it trendy and in vogue.

Designer Rashid Ali Khan says, "The basic ensemble changed from province to province. In Punjab it is the kurta-shalwar that is dominant, while in Karachi it is kurta-pajama, and in NWFP and Balochistan, it is shalwar Kameez."

The feudal landlords had theirs embroidered and well-starched while the ordinary man just donned the outfit, even if not properly ironed. He only dared to wear a starched awami suit or even an embroidered one on happy occasions of Eid or his wedding.

The Punjabi natives mostly sport unstitched clothes called Lungis or Dhotis. Lungis or Dhotis are skirt like nether garments, which are wrapped and tucked around waist. It is worn with the Kameez in formal settings, and with a short waistcoat vest-like shirt in informal gatherings. Pathan men also wear sleeveless embroidered vests over the Shalwar-Kameez. In addition, they wear caps of various shapes and designs; the most common being the Pukul Hat which is a flat round wool cap. The Balochis wear Turbans which have the clothes tied in such a way that symbolize their tribal identity. In Sindh highly decorative caps are common. Hats and caps vary in cut and shape, as well as embroidery stitches and patterns, according to the tribe or peoples of the particular area. Their wearers may thus be immediately identified as to their ethnic origin, economic standing and social status.

Prior to the media bang, the rich and the famous were the trend setters. "Fashion starts from the high class," says Rashid. In fact, in the good old days, men's fashion generally consisted of trends of the rich and famous. The film stars, politicians, industrialists, and business tycoons were those who were always

abreast with the latest in men's fashion. They could afford the brands and newest of styles. They were the ones who had only the latest in their wardrobes. It is a luxury for just a limited number of men to be able to enjoy the cost of being fashionable. Not everyone could afford to follow the latest fads and trends.

"The rich can afford to change their wardrobe every month or so and the new wardrobe reflects their changing tastes thereby setting new trends," he says. When people who have status start to wear new or different clothes a fashion trend may start. People, who like or respect them, may start to wear clothes of a similar style.

In the male political class, the Jinnah sherwani as well as the achkan churidar is the official dress code at all ceremonial and official state functions. The new set of politicians is now opting for the formal three-piece western suit for formal functions. The trend of wearing the sherwani among the common class is restricted to weddings. The sherwani comes in a variety of colors, like black, blues, greens and browns with the elegance of embroidery using semi-precious stones. Pure silk Jamewar turbans and embroidered shawl complete the attire making the groom look like a member of the royal courtyard of the Maharajas and Emperors.

At the beginning of the 20th century, fashion magazines began to include photographs and became even more influential. In cities throughout the world these magazines were greatly sought-after and had a profound effect on public taste. High fashion did not become popular among the general population until it started

getting featured on television. The prime reason for successful universality of men's fashion is the media exposure. Boys are aware of the latest trends. They all want to ape their favorite movie or television star. Sports fans would go to any length to copy their icon's fashion trends – from head to toe.

The music channels have made the youth more conscious of fashion. The music buffs would get their hair do, body pierced and tattooed, their clothes wearing – all in accordance to what is done by their music icon. Today men's fashion is not limited to aping the clothes worn by the glamour men, but also their entire style. Their hairstyle and all else is a part of the fashion world of today's man.

However, Rashid disagrees that more music channels means more fashion exposure. "Films and prime time soap operas are the major trend setters. Music videos are of short duration and as such have little impact on fashion. Soap operas are now becoming lengthy and the fashion can be closely observed."

In the west, the fashion of the 70s was in vogue among the men. Wearing leisure suits, funky disco shirts, wild vintage disco men's platform shoes, and fun polyester disco pants was the order of the day.

"The 60s was the trend setter in Pakistani male fashion. Waheed Murad and Nadeem looks were very popular. Men started to wear boot-cut trousers, big collars and tight fittings," Rashid further elaborates.

The youngsters who wanted to be fashionable but had no means of looking for the latest trends, minutely observed the local boys of the neighborhood who were fashionable. Going to the cinemas and seeing the dressing of the male cast was adopted. The Michael Jackson era of the 80s was closely followed. White socks,

half-cut shoes, leather pants and sunglasses were adopted. "Nowadays, the 60s Waheed Murad-Nadeem looks are very much in vogue," says Rashid.

Men's fashion around the globe has taken a turn. Most men even today do not lust after fashion as obsessively as their female counterparts and simply do not spend enough money on clothes. They are just interested in looking good, and want to wear cool clothes and be individual looking.

In Pakistan's fashion scenario, men's fashion is a booming business, no matter what the level of its existence may be. The fashionable man has arrived in every household. He spends hours shopping, unlike a time when the word shopping made him fret. He is more aware of himself and makes every attempt to make an impact, no matter from which strata of society he hails from. He spends hours in a month at a spa, and gets his pedicure or facial amongst other services. They are overly concerned about how they look, what they wear, and how they present themselves. And all this is due to the media boom.

What is Shalwar Kameez ?

2011-03-06T03:07:00.000-08:00

Shalwar (Trouser)

Trousers, capris, culottes and flappers are very much in instead of shalwar. It gives Pakistani and Indian fashion a new and a modernize look. Traditional shalwar kameez got a complete new and a modern look by replacing shalwar with trousers. It gives it a different stylish and elegant look yet it still looks traditional.

Kameez (Shirt)

Both hand and machine work is very much in fashion. Heavy Resham embroidery work and thread work in bright colors are back. Fabric borders on kameez Damen (front bottom) and sleeves are latest in fashion along with embroidery. Shape of kameez is still the same as before, but to give it more style and modernization designers are giving it a modern touches by making it sleeveless which was not very common before.

DUPATTA

When women wear the Trouser kameez, they usually wear a long scarf or shawl called a dupatta around the head or neck. For Muslim women, the dupatta is an alternate to scarves. The dupatta is useful when the head must be covered, for hijab or for prayers. For most women, the dupatta is simply a stylish accessory that can be worn over one shoulder or draped around the chest and over both shoulders