Traditional Costumes in the World of High Fashion

Fashion designers adopt typical clothes from different countries and add them to their collections. These garments are worn by famous models on the catwalks of Pars, London, New York, San Pablo and Buenos Aires.



Kimonos, for example, are traditional Japanese style clothes. "Kimono" meant "something you wear" originally. Long ago, people in Japan wore kimonos every day. Now, people only wear a kimono for special occasions such as formal ceremonies.

A kimono is a robe shaped like a "T". Normal kimonos reach to the ankles, and have very long sleeves. Kimonos for women usually have colourful designs of flowers and butterflies. People wear a wide belt called an obi with their kimono. Obi belts are also colorful.

Women's kimonos are all the same size. Ladies fold them and tuck them to make them the right size. People who are very tall or heavy have to have kimonos especially made for them.

There are different types of formal and casual kimonos. Kimonos are usually made of silk, but there are cotton and polyester kimonos as well.

Kenzo, the famous Japanese fashion designer, introduced the kimono in his fashion shows and John Galliano showed kimonos in one of his last collections for Dior.



A sari is a type of clothing for women. It is mostly used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is a very long strip of cloth which women wrap around their body. There are different kinds of saris for different occasions.

British model and actress Elizabeth Hurley wore a 4000 pound ($7800) pink silk sari for her traditional Indian-style wedding to Indian businessman Arun Nayar. The costume had been created by Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani. She required her dames of honour to wear a pink sari too. Chanel also included saris in their last Paris collection.

A kilt is a traditional Scottish garment, usually in a tartan pattern. It is worn by men and its origin has to do with the heavy rains that fall in Scotland all through the year. By wearing skirts, men did not get their trousers dirty! In the XX century, the kilt began to be worn by women and fashion designers incorporated them in their collections as well. British designer Vivienne Westwood revolutionized fashion by adopting kilts and traditional elements of Scottish design such as tartan fabric in her collections.

A poncho is a garment designed to keep the body warm, or if made from a watertight material, to keep dry during rain. It was created by the Peruvians and is now known in over 150 countries over the world. Alternative ponchos are now designed as fashion items. They are the same shape but of different material. They are designed to look fashionable and provide warmth while remaining breathable and comfortable, rather than to ward off wind and rain. These are often made out of wool or yarn, knitted or crocheted. Some fashion designers have even created them in fine materials such as silk or velvet. Enchanted Emerald Forest offers bridal ponchos made in chiffon in a variety of delicate colours such as white, lavender, ivory, baby pink and mauve and some other audacious hues such as red, purple, powder blue, royal blue, black and fuchsia pink.

Espadrilles are casual flat or high-heel fashion sandals wich usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of rope or rubber material moulded to look like rope. They were typically worn by gauchos and by workers but today even most Hollywood celebrities have at least one pair of them in their wardrobe. Floral print espadrilles for men became a sensation last spring. High-heel canvas espadrilles have been popularized by Stella McCartney in momochromatic or tropical print versions.

Fans look typically Spanish but they really have an Oriental origin. Japanese and Chinese fans are made of paper on a bamboo frame, usually with a design painted on them. In the 15th century, Portuguese traders brought fans to Europe from China and Japan. Top fashion designers have used fans as accessories for their haute couture dresses. Victorian fans made of delicate lace are commonly incorporated in bridal collections. Fans made of white feathers are also used to complement wedding apparels.

Last year the French firm Louis Vuitton and Spanish actress Rossy de Palma co-designed limited edition fans. The actress is an ambassador to OrphanAid Africa to where a portion of the fans' proceeds were donated.

Very British: The Deerstalker

The deer·stalker is a tight-fitting hat with visors in the front and back, originally worn by hunters. It is popularly associated with the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.

Cool Links:

More about the deerstalker:

Deerstalker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Garter Belts: Why Do Men Love Them?

Sharing this discussion I opened on the COLOURlovers forum:
Garter belts: why do men love them?

Cool Link:
More about garters and their history at
Garter (stockings)

Very British: The Royal Ascot

Ascot is a village of south-central England southwest of London. The Royal Ascot horseraces, initiated by Queen Anne in 1711, are held annually in June on Ascot Heath.
The Royal Ascot is one of the world’s most famous race meetings, and dates back to 1711. The Queen attends the meeting, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage. It is a major event in the British social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. The Royal Enclosure has a strict dress code—male attendees must wear full morning dress including a top hat, whilst ladies must not show bare midriffs or shoulders and must wear hats. Outside the Royal Enclosure the dress code is less severe, but many people choose to wear formal dress anyway. To be admitted to the Royal Enclosure for the first time one must either be a guest of a member or be sponsored for membership by a member who has attended at least four times. This continues to maintain a socially exclusive character to the Enclosure. Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this Europe’s best-attended race meeting. This leads to a split among racing fans, some of whom are glad to see racing in the spotlight, and getting more attention, while others do not like the meeting despite the quality of racing.
Ladies' Day is held on the Thursday of the Royal Ascot week.

Fashion Rules at Royal Ascot

Top hats, expensive champagne, strict dress codes and posh accents - it could only be Royal Ascot. Fashion is still the main preoccupation for most ladies when they're not watching the horses. Strapless tops, short skirts and visible panty lines are banned. "Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and/or mini skirts are considered unsuitable," the Ascot website says. "Midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour."
Men are also subjected to strict scrutiny, with only those wearing black or grey morning dress, waistcoat and top hat allowed in.
If you pass the dress test and enter the Royal Enclosure you have the chance to rub shoulders with the Queen, who owns the Ascot estate. There are plenty of flower-filled restaurants with crisp white tablecloths serving champagne and canapes. For those stuck outside in the general admission areas, style is still important. There are bars willing to serve STG195 bottles of champagne or STG19 jugs of Pimms while you watch the horses line up in the parade ring. The Ascot "tailgate" picnics in the parking area have nothing to do with sandwiches or barbecue - but more likely champagne and lobster consumed from the back of a limousine.
The highlight of the week, in the fashion stakes, is Ladies' Day on Thursday, when you can even place a bet on what colour the Queen's hat will be. The Royal Ascot gathering is well known for designer outfits, elaborate headpieces and spectacular hats with rabid press coverage of who wore what on Ladies Day.

Cool Link:

BBC Sport - How to impress at Ascot

Fashions of the Past: Bobby Socks & Saddle Shoes

A saddle shoe is a shoe in which the toe and heel are of one colour and the middle part is of another colour. They are usually black and white, and were fashionable in the late 1950s, especially worn with bobby socks (type of sock, especially fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s, which had thick uppers that were turned down to form sort of a thick cuff at ankle height) and full skirts.

Fashion & Style: Boaters

A boater is a stiff hat made of straw. Boaters are often thought of in connection with rich young men at university in Britain in the early part of the 20th century.
A boater (also basher, skimmer, katie, or sennit hat) is a kind of hat associated with sailing and boating. It is normally made of sennit straw and has a stiff or soft flat crown and brim, typically with a ribbon around the crown, which is often in colours representing a school, rowing crew or similar institution. Boaters were popular as summer headgear in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and were supposedly worn by FBI agents as a sort of unofficial uniform in the pre-war years. Nowadays they are rarely seen except at sailing or rowing events, period theatrical and musical performances (e.g. barbershop music) or as part of old-fashioned school uniform, such as at Harrow School.
Inexpensive foam or plastic skimmers are sometimes seen at political rallies in the United States.
In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa the boater is still a common part of the school uniform in many boys schools, such as Shore School, Knox Grammar School, Maritzburg College, South African College School and Wynberg Boys' High School.

Boaters in fashion collections

Vintage boaters were used by wardrobe remixers to spice up their creations. Boaters were included in the March 2009 Marc Jacobs collection. The Marc Jacobs hats are cute, sort of crumpled and flat but totally adorable. They come in different colours: from furious yellow to sober blue. They are also expensive: over $300, which, like most designer stuff, is totally crazy.

Audacious Colours & Patterns for Kids

Gone are the days when children wore pale and delicate pastels. Manufacturers of clothes for kids nowadays incorporate a palette of unusual colours that children would have never worn years ago.
Traditionally baby boys were dressed in blue and baby girls in pink. Though colours for today’s babies are still soft, most of them have acquired more intense shades: lavender, tea green, mauve, sapphire blue and cream are some examples. Both babies and children now dare to wear unconventional hues that would have been unsuitable for them in the past: warm oranges (like carrot, tangerine and peach), citrusy yellows, bold shades of pink (salmon, cherry, fuchsia, bubblegum), crimson, electric blue, turquoise, green and all its variants (lime, grass, mossy, pistaccio), extreme browns (like coffee and mustard) and even neon and fluorescent colours. Dark tones like plum, aubergine purple, smoke grey and -scary as it may seem- black are the “in-thing” for kids.
Patterns have also changed. In the past, designers of kids’ clothes featured all kinds of animals: zoo species, jungle inhabitants and kindergarten types such as candid elephants, frogs in love, friendly butterflies, bees buzzing round honey pots and the forever classical teddy bears. Clothes for girls generally gave prominence to romantic designs (hearts, flowers), balloons, fairy-tale princesses and castles. Though these motifs were chiefly used in by-gone days, they are still part and parcel of the ones which are stamped on children’s clothes. However, a significant change has taken place: the patterns on contemporary clothes for kids have now acquired a more adult-like approach. Designs formerly reserved for adults -such as mili camo, skulls, spooky castles, roller skates, surfers, urban landscapes, retro milkshades, pirate flags, electric guitars, rock and roll mottoes, Harley Davidson motorcycles, hip hop and punk transfers, computer mice, ecological and good-will messages and even audacious legends in Coca-Cola letters- have been boldy incorporated resulting in wild mixtures, sometimes sophisticated, sometimes amusing...
Traditional patterns (tartans, stripes, polka dots) used to be combined with plain colours; now this matching rule is no longer respected; anarchy reigns: it seems “anything can match anything”. Fabrics that would have never been used for kids before are also becoming trendy: leather, organic cotton, nylon, corduroy, combed cotton and even fishnet and tulle.
Times are a-changing... and so are clothes for the little ones!