William Brunson Stafford Public Relations

If you like to stay on top of  fashion trends , looking at  runway shows  is a great place to start, but they’re not always indicative of popular trends in countries around the world. Lucky for us, the folks at fashion retailer  Long Tall Sally  researched the  top trends worn all over the globe . Not only is it interesting to see the trends people in other countries love, but the results also provide a little fashion inspiration for your wardrobe. With the help of a trends expert, Long Tall Sally analyzed thousands of global trends via  street style  images, local influencers and Instagram posts. The trends were then cross-referenced with  Instagram  data from the last 12 months. The top trend in each country was determined by looking at the most frequently used trend-related hashtag. For example, in  Seoul, South Korea , oversized sleeves were determined to be the top trend, with 15,638 hashtags. In  Bangkok, Thailand ,  millennial pink  was all the rage, hashtag

The buzz around  New York Fashion Week  is always exciting. It's wonderful to see people from all over the world gather together for their love of fashion. It makes you realize how important fashion is. One of the first things we do in the morning is decide what to wear. Whether we're heading out for a day of leisure or getting ready to make a big sales pitch, our clothes help us tell our story throughout the day. Fashion has always been key to how women have presented themselves to the world, and how society has wanted to present women to the world. From  panniers  that emphasized wide hips to shoulder pads that emphasized "power," the fashion of the time tells our history in great detail. Read Article:   https://www.makers.com/blog/brief-history-womens-fashion-photo-gallery

From humble beginnings to present day, we chart the history of  haute couture . 1858 : English couturier, Charles Frederick Worth established the first haute couture house in Paris, championing exclusive luxury fashion for the upper-class woman and coining the term ‘fashion designer’ – an artist in lieu of the basic dressmaker. 1868 : Le Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture was first established as the safeguard of high-fashion. Designers were required to earn the right to label themselves a couture house according to certain specifications. These were later outlined in 1945. 1908:  The phrase “haute couture” was used for the first time. Read Article:   http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/fashion/fashion-news/news/a31123/the-history-of-haute-couture/

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Men and women alike have been piercing their ears for cosmetic and ritualistic purposes since time immemorial. When did people first start piercing their ears? What reasons have different cultures had for engaging in the ancient practice of ear piercing? How is it that ear piercings have remained one of the most popular types of body piercings throughout time? What types of ear piercings can you get today? We answer these questions and more in this  History of Ear Piercings . Read Article:   https://info.painfulpleasures.com/help-center/information-center/history-ear-piercings

The  skirt  may be a mainstay in the closet of any fashion girl, but the essential wardrobe piece has one of the longest histories in the category of clothing. After the loincloth, the skirt is the  second-oldest garment known to mankind . In ancient times, both men and women wore what we recognize today as a skirt, but over the years, it became predominantly a women’s garment in Western cultures. While its endless iterations can be traced back to the first days that humans decided to dress by tying cloths around themselves, the past hundred or so years are rife with dramatic changes to the skirt from decade to decade. Read More:   http://www.whowhatwear.com/history-of-the-skirt

The wearing of clothing is specifically human characteristic and most human societies wear some form of clothing. There is no information about when we started using clothes but there are ideas why. Anthropologists think that animal skins and vegetation were adapted as protection from weather conditions. Read Article:   http://www.historyofclothing.com/

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From archeological and paleoarcheological evidence, experts hypothesize that shoes were invented around in the Middle Paleolithic period approximately 40,000 years ago. However, it wasn’t until the Upper Paleolithic period that footwear was consistently worn by populations. The earliest shoe prototypes were soft, made from wraparound leather, and resembled either sandals or moccasins. Jump ahead a few thousand years to the beginning of modern footwear. In Europe’s early Baroque period, women’s and men’s shoes were very similar, though fashions and materials differed among social classes. For common folk, heavy black leather heels were the norm, and for aristocrats, the same shape was crafted out of wood. Read Article:   http://all-that-is-interesting.com/fascinating-history-footwear

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The Roaring 20s The end of World War I brought a new sense of freedom and independence to women in the United States. It was during this decade that the “flapper” emerged, a new type of young American woman whose clothing screamed modernity. Prior to the 1920s, American women aimed to look older than their actual age, but with the implementation of the 19th Amendment in 1919, guaranteeing women’s suffrage, women began to strive to look younger and younger. Women began to wear looser fitting garments while hemlines rose to an unprecedented knee-length level, abandoning the more restricting and uncomfortable fashions of the preceding decades. American women of the 1920s often “bobbed”, or cut, their hair short to fit under the iconic cloche, a snug-fit hat made of felt that was worn tilted in order to cover the forehead and, at times, the ears. The flapper style dress and cloche hat were often worn together, particularly during the latter half of the decade. Read Entire Article:  

Have you ever wondered why men wear ties ? Did you ever ask yourself how this style trend evolved? After all, the necktie is purely a decorative accessory. It doesn’t keep us warm or dry, and certainly does not add comfort. Yet men all around the world, myself included, love wearing them. To help you understand the history and evolution of the necktie I decided to write this post. The Origin of the Necktie Most sartorialists agree that the necktie originated in the 17th century, during the 30 year war in France. King Louis XIII hired Croatian mercenaries (see picture above) who wore a piece of cloth around their neck as part of their uniform. While these early neckties did serve a function (tying the top of their jackets that is), they also had quite a decorative effect – a look that King Louis was quite fond of. In fact, he liked it so much that he made these ties a mandatory accessory for Royal gatherings, and – to honor the Croatian soldiers – he gave this clothing piece th

I was really feeling my outfit today (I didn’t have any hot sauce in my bag, but still...swag). I’m in college so my outfit usually consists of sweats/jeans and a t-shirt/hoodie. This is not my “well, I’m in college outfit.” This is my “I have always worn this style” outfit. But, remember how I said I was feeling my outfit today, well...I was until I tried to “do it for the ‘gram” and post my cute outfit of the day post. Fail. The lighting wasn’t right, I couldn’t get the right angle and then I realized that my outfit was quite...”normal.” I had on skinny jeans, grey knitted sweater, checkered black and white cardigan and calf-high boots. Nothing out of the ordinary. First mistake I made was scrolling through Instagram before posting my “feeling myself” outfit. I follow quite a few fashion bloggers and today, they all happened to have posted some really chic, cute outfits. So chic and cute that it made me ask myself, “what the heck is fashion sense?” which was then followed by

While the fashion industry continues to introduce us to new styles every season, the industry would not be where it is today without the help of influential fashion icons. Nowadays, celebrities are able to take pictures of their outfit and share it with friends, family, and fans on social media. However, many of the women who invented these iconic styles didn’t have the same influential opportunities, so the fact that we still consider them fashion icons means they must have known what they were doing! Although today’s celebrities are criticized for what they wear on the red carpet, to the grocery store, and out to dinner, this wasn’t the case for previous generations of stars. Instead, these celebrities whatever they wanted, which is why so many unique trends surfaced during this time. The following 10 fashion icons not only had successful careers, but they also used their keen fashion senses to catapult them into stardom. Here are some of the most influential fashionistas and the

The image of a couple exchanging rings during a wedding ceremony is instantly recognizable, and is held as an ancient tradition. A ring on a certain finger indicates that the wearer is married, but many might be surprised to learn that the double ring ceremony so common today in the western world, in which a couple both exchange and wear rings, is a 20  th  century convention. However, the origins of giving rings to commit to marriage, to pledge loyalty, or to symbolize a heart connection are ancient. Said to be one of the oldest marital customs, it is one which has changed over time and across cultures, and so the true origins of wedding rings are somewhat elusive. Ancient Egypt: Ring of infinity Ancient Egyptians are said to have been the first to use rings in a wedding ceremony, as early as 3000 BC. Rings were made of braided hemp or reeds formed into a circle—the symbol of eternity, not only for the Egyptians, but many other ancient cultures. The hole in the ring’s center

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The era spanning from the 1790s to the 1820s saw an emphasis on elegance and simplicity which was motivated by the democratic ideals of the French Republic but which looked back to classical Greece and Rome for its fashion inspiration. Waists were high, the directional emphasis was vertical, and lightweight white fabrics were at the height of fashions which were so simple that the lady of the time often wore only three garments; a chemise, a corset and a gown! This was an incredible contrast to the clothing of preceding and succeeding periods with their horizontal emphases, multiple layers and often heavy fabrics. Read Entire Article:   http://www.wemakehistory.com/Fashion/Regency/RegencyLadies/RegencyLadies.htm

Ear piercings are one of the oldest forms of body modification, likely because the ear lobe is easy to pierce through, and the healing is fairly speedy. In 1991 the surprisingly well-preserved body of a many who lived approximately 5000 years ago was discovered in the mountains in the border between Austria and Italy. This “mummy”, that was named Otzi, had his ears not just pierced, but also gauged (or “stretched”). This is the earliest proof we have of ear piercings, but it’s likely we have been piercing ears for much longer than the past 5000 years. Read Article:   http://www.fashionisers.com/accessories/ear-piercings-types/

If you ask someone why they wear blue jeans and they reply "because they’re comfortable," they are lying to you in a way that is so total and complete I suspect they are also lying to themselves. Denim is a tough, rugged material meant to withstand time and the elements. Literally any other fabric would feel better against your skin. Generally, when people say that something they wear is "comfortable," they mean it is psychologically comfortable, not physically comfortable. We wear blue jeans because everyone else wears blue jeans, and it’s our nature to want to be part of a group. Read Entire Article:   http://www.racked.com/2015/2/27/8116465/the-complete-history-of-blue-jeans-from-miners-to-marilyn-monroe

On humans and other primates, nails are a flattened version of a claw which likely developed to aid in gripping and climbing. However, they can also act as a visible “health report.” Someone in poor health,  or infected by a fungus , might have yellow, brittle nails, while someone in good health might have strong, long nails. The fact that healthy nails are the sign of a healthy person may have led to people beginning to grow them out, or it could have been simply that long nails are cumbersome when working with your hands, so they were something of a status symbol. Whatever the case, it might surprise you to learn that manicuring nails has actually been around for many thousands of years—dating back at least to 3200 B.C. At the time, Chinese royalty would grow their nails and tint them with things like eggwhites or flower petals. Around the same time, Ancient Egyptians were also painting their nails, this time in accordance with their social classes; richer Egyptians painted thei

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A Brief History of Stockings  The history of hosiery goes back to ancient times (the word sock is from the Latin  soccus , a sort of indoor slipper), but early socks were sewn from woven fabrics. Fast forward to Tudor England, and knitted stockings were coming into fashion. The world's first knitting machine was invented in 1589 by William Lee, and was for making stockings. Successive inventors made improved versions of this knitting machine over the centuries. In 1864 William Cotton patented the machine which was able to automatically drop and add stitches, which enabled the knitted fabric to be shaped and tailored to fit the leg. Read Article:   http://blog.tuppencehapenny.co.uk/2012/12/a-brief-history-of-stockings.html

By  Brunson Stafford You might have spent some time regretting some of your recent fashion choices, but your choices are probably not nearly as bad as some that have been made by fashion designers in the past. These fashion “trends” of the past may seem bizarre on first glance, but when you take a closer look at them things start to get really weird! Many of the fashion trends in the past have focused on making women more  appealing , but they were also used for more nefarious purposes. Some of these fashion trends were actually used as a way to control both women and men alike. Here are some of the worse ones; Crinolines The  crinoline  was a gaudy hoop-like dress worn in the 19 th  century. They were usually made from wood or horsehair, but sometimes they were made from steel! It was fashionable for women to have wide hips in the 19 th  century, and the crinoline was meant to accentuate the hips. Kim Kardashian would be jealous! Unfortunately, many women died

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British Regency, Empire, and Romantic Style Fashion design of the early 19th century is called Regency style, named for Britain's George Prince Regent who ran the country when his father, King George III became mentally ill and unable to perform his duties. The detested and debauched Prince Regent became king in 1830. Ladies' clothing styles of the early 1800's are characterized by the Empire waist dress and classical Greek lines; the styles worn by characters in Jane Austen novels. Included in the Regency period is the Romantic era, influenced by a new romantic sensibility typified by writers like Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott. Read Article:   https://bellatory.com/fashion-industry/Fashion-History-Early-19th-Century-Regency-and-Romantic-Styles

Fashion plates are a classic, even stereotypical angle image from the Victorian era, featuring duos and trios of women modeling the latest looks circa 1877. But how did consumers of the time actually use these images? What did you actually do with a fashion plate, anyway?   Recently released in lavish paperback,  Fashion Plates: 150 Years of Style  is a beautiful chronicle of the form in its heyday. It’s the work of April Calahan, a fashion historian who works in special collections at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, whose holdings the book draws from. (Calahan explained they’ve got around 500 linear feet of materials, about 400 rare periodicals, and something like half a million original designer sketches.) Calahan opted for a vignette approach, rather than a straight-through history of the form sprinkled with illustrations. Each time you turn the page, you’re presented with a specific plate and bit of specific explanation or broader context. (Or both!) “I wanted