Myf Warhurst & The Elephant & Beards & The 60s &..

Shhhh it's the ABC we can't acknowledge we live
in a capitalist society! It's not nice..

Don't get me wrong I love Myf (Australian TV peronality in her late 30s), she's a very nice unpretentious person and a self confessed dag. But the tv show Nice and Trendy last night had me perplexed. where was this show sitting? Somewhere between a Sunday magazine article, something a little more intellectually in depth or just a bit of nostalgic fluff where she got to meet some famous people. I was getting frustrated at the beating around the bush of why fashion is cyclical. She nearly got there by asking 'Aren't we going to proverbially eventually disappear up our own fashion arses? Meaning where is the new? how many times can the 20s, 60, 80s even 90s keep returning How the hell are they gonna rehash  the 00s? Anyway are people too scared to hear the truth? It's the ABC (Austaralia's Government owned Broadcastor ala BBC) for Christ's sake, nevertheless the real answer wasn't forthcoming. It was a bit like the Elephant in the room, but we're all too apathetic to acknowledge our own complicity so we just ignore it. People in fashion need to keep making money so predict, go random or rip off the hipster setting trends on the street and then convince a lot of us 'this is what's happening now'. It's an massive industry - the magazines, the models, the designers, the sweat shop owners, they're all in it together. If you have 6 pairs of skinny jeans how are they gonna make money from you next season? They need to tell you that the flared pant is fashion forward. We're not all blind Freddy though but most of us seem to just follow along.

Alistair O'Neill in his book London-After A Fashion said "the demand forever evolving newness forced a distraction from innovation & invention towards a plundering and interpretation of historical styles". So apparently retro/pastiche/postmodernism in fashion started in full around 1966/67. So is this when modernism died? apparently in 1966 A shop opened in London Called Granny Takes a Trip (what a fucking great name) that sold antique clothes as well as new clothes inspired by the past. There were other shops too Cobwebs, Past Caring, Biba, Antiquarius et al. They all sound like shops that could now be in Brunswick St, Gertrude St, Greville St, North Melbourne, Northcote, Brunswick and enter new hip new hip Melbourne suburb here___________. I love those names of the shops. Anyway it looks like we've been disappearing up our proverbial fashion arses since at least 1966.



There is a granny! She's probably more likely to be trippin' over
 than droppin' acid but you never know?



Interior of biba Art Deco met the 60s

Here's my theory - Think of the worst item in fashion (that's not been revived for at least 10 years) in living memory or the living memory of your Mum or Gran and it'll be back sooner than you think. It works with music as well. Many years ago I thought there was never gonna' be any redemption for Elton John then BANG Almost Famous came out as did the Scissor Sisters & other acts that were influenced by him.

He was not so bad after all.

 Here's a personal example around 1999/2000 I decided as a tribute to my idol Dennis Wilson circa 1970s to grow rough beard and sport grown out short hair. Let me tell you people thought that was weird people didn't know how to react to me. The only other beards at the time belonged to old men. A few years later some groups and singers started doin the same. Now bloody footy players are doin' it and people whose heroes don't even have that look.



Didn't go as far as the overalls though.

Another music example is house and techno. About two years ago I thought that was finished and never coming back. I said it to a friend I'll never listen to that stuff ever again. Now it's all the rage again. I'm even listening to a bit of myself admittedly mostly of the vintage variety but I like some of the new old stuff. This is ridiculous!