WRITTEN BY SHARRA GREENE
No time like the 90's... it's an era that I'm always profoundly inspired by. Tyra Banks and Susan Holmes in "Thrift Shop Twist" for Elle US May 1993 (left), which inspired the styling for my 2016 "Sartorial Stroll" lookbook featuring Sophia Yeshi. (right).
Credits:
(Left)- Photographer: Gilles Bensimon, Stylist: Todd Oldham
(Right)- Photographer/ Co Creative Director: D. Rice Photography
Model: Sophia Yeshi
Hair Stylist/Makeup Artist: Brittany Main
Styling and Creative Direction by Me
It's no secret that fashion repeats itself. We see it everyday as new, emerging brands reference everything from layering corsets that date back centuries ago, to high waist articles that started around the 70's, meant to accentuate the woman's waist, and everything in between. But the constant recycling of fads from the past is deeper than the rule of "what goes around, comes back around."
Since I was a young stylista, I've always been intrigued by the timeless phenomenon that is vintage style. I would tear into magazine editorials that dated way before my time, seeing them as more than just images of clothes, but more so, artifacts. It was then that I realized that past eras of womens' fashion and style essentially represent a time capsule for the attitudes, lifestyles, and personas of women during a specific time.
Whether it be the excessive glamour that poured out of the women of the roaring 20's, the way the cool girls of the 60's reigned during the mod era, or the artistic legacy that game changing designers like the iconic Azzedine Alaïa created when he took over the 80's and 90's , dressing women in the chicest and most alluring of bodycon realness, when we dress in inspired looks from the stylish women of these times, we're often borrowing some of that attitude that came along with those looks, while adding in some of our own. For instance, there's no way that a woman could wear an Atelier Versace tube dress and not feel the need to carry herself with the sheer confidence and all around sex appeal that 90's supermodels who graced the campaigns did. Same goes for the current resurfacing of the 80's hit we know and love: the bomber jacket, which tends to come along with a cool, tomboy-chic posture.
When people state that "fashion fades, style is eternal", I believe they mean that the shortlived trends that come and go in the fashion world aren't what produce longevity, but the way that people utilize those trends to convey a point of view, mood, persona, or lifestyle in their own orignal way, do instead. That is what makes vintage style so compelling, when we come across it, we're looking back into a certain attitude or story that may or may not still be so apparent in today's world.. yet it's timeless. For that, I am always inspired to reference vintage fashion throughout my work as a stylist, and throughout my everyday wardrobe as a woman.
Sharra,
"The definition of walking art."
P.S. SHOP THE LOOK: Sophia wears a Missguided Jersey Printed Twist Front Playsuit, Lola Shoetique Sultry Touch Denim Thigh High Boots, Bebe choker necklace, Forever 21 cutout circle drop earrings and bangles, and studded satchel from my wardrobe.