Friday, April 18, 2008

Vogue, September 1986

Without an authority figure or sense of direction at my gig at the Historic Costume and Textile Collection, I sauntered on down to the basement to see if any magazines needed putting away. ;)

While there, I found this striking geometry-focused fashion editorial in Vogue from Sept 1986. One of my favorite things about vintage Vogues? Their "news" section, laid out like a newspaper, on happenings and trends of the moment.


Those jewels remind of you of like-- every garment available for sale this past winter?

Looks like we have pre-yoga Christy Turlington here in a boat-necked column dress, jazz shoes (just like the ones I picked up last weekend!), sheer black hose (mark my words. these will be the hotness this fall!), the most amazing pair of wayfarers I've ever seen, and fierce, poodle-themed accessories. De-planing no less! This is a fashion photo.


Click on this pic to see the details a little clearer. Such a precise, "I am verking on zee aht" look! The wide shoulders don't look over the top, and the tunic length loses its ubiquitous casualness with the stiff cut. I love the pants, as well, with their slim --not skinny-- silhouette hitting at the ankle, further highlighted by the banded slides. This is an outfit about wrists and ankles and your one huge hoop earring. Love it.


Turbans seemed to be the glamour-standard for headgear in the Eighties. I saw lots of 'em! I think turbans are elegant to the extreme, but if not done by someone who knows how, turbans can smack of the C-word. Here, it is a sleek counterpart to the triangularized hourglass shape of this shirtdress. This triangle repeats in the lone (!) earring.

The thing that struck me most about this photo is how unabashedly and beautifully large boobed and hipped this model appears in her menswear-ish dress. This model is truly statuesque, strong and gorgeous. I'm inspired!




[images via Vogue (09/1986) and the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection at The Ohio State University]

1 comment:

J.M. Powell said...

wow, how insane is that cover. those earrings are out of this world, ha!