“Fashion is out of fashion” Stella McCartney COP26 International Climate Conference Glasgow 2021

The 20th century was inaugurated with glory and honors in 1900 at the World Fair in Paris during the Belle Époque and made a spectacular exit on the night of the Millennium at a global party. In the meantime, many events occurred: Wars, revolutions, and uprisings gave birth to political, social, philosophical, and artistic movements, which in turn were reflected in fashion; the echoes of events were accurately recorded in the stitches of seams and permeated the lining of garments.

Music, dance, painting, cinema, philosophy, literature, poetry, pop culture, and counterculture shaped the stylistic avant-gardes of the 20th century, which inevitably culminated in seasonal fashions. From the abolition of the Victorian corset by Paul Poiret to its reappearance by Jean Paul Gaultier, and from the runways of haute couture to street style, fashion adapted to the circumstances of each era and need, swirling in salons and walking the wildest streets, copying and being copied.

Today it is the second most polluting industry on the planet. Teddy boys wore tight trousers with cuffs at the ankle, fitted jackets or half-coats with velvet lapels, brocade vests, shirts with high collars, and thin ties or bolo ties. They sported sideburns and styled their hair in the shape of a banana, keeping it glossy all day long, as even in public restrooms there was an automatic vending machine for pomade.

Their shoes were well-polished Oxfords, Chelsea boots, or thick-soled brogues. They shopped for suits from fallen aristocrats at thrift stores and adapted their style to dandies, spending their salaries on baroque pocket watches and velvet bow ties. They added sartorial elements from Marlon Brando in The Wild One or James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.

Excerpt from the book