Charleston... and all that jazz!

With fashion week in the past, I couldn't help but reflect upon a few looks that really caught my eye. Among these looks is one that I have always found to be quite costume-y in nature, but provokes an inner-urge to display elegance, glamour and sophistication... all while being completely wearable. I have stressed the lack of charleston-inspired fashion in current fashion trends and feel that a change needs to be made. We have focused on the revival of many eras from disco to beatnik, yet the 1920's, a time of social uproar and menacing yougsters, brings nothing to our times. Besides a few measly cameos on the red carpet, the silver screen and broadway are our only hopes to provide inspiration to fashion followers worldwide to find an alternative to the redundancy of 1950's-1980's revival. Many might argue that fashion from other times have no relevance to our current times and that the way in which people dressed themselves in certain times simply would not be able to survive now, given the practicality of current options (T-shirts, cardigans, leggings, etc).

Be that as it may... I have made a startling discovery with Alberta Ferretti's spring collection for 2009. I couldn't help but fantasize over the possibility that model Mina Cvetkovic would break out into song and dance, just the way Catherine Zeta-Jones did in Chicago in 2002.

The dress really speaks for itself. There isn't much that we are able to deconstruct in terms of reasons why this dress is relevant today. It's sexy, fun, brings out a youthful shine and is the response to the woman looking for the ultimate party dress. No questions asked. "One of the reasons why I chose fringe (most importantly) is that when a woman puts it on, it moves according to her movements, according to the moods, according to the pose that she takes and the attitude that she has and that is what I was trying to accomplish utilizing these fabrics that move on their own", says Ferretti on her spring collection. While Ferretti admits to admiring the jazz age, her collection was inspired by the modern woman. She brings out elegance and femininity in the modern woman by channeling that opulent energy through light moveable fabrics.

Whether jazz-age fringe is making its comeback or designers opt for moveable fabric to express themselves, there is movement (albeit slow shifts) in reestablishing iconic uniforms in modern day dress. What we once saw as costume or outdated can now be look at as a serious fashion statement, from the bland to the daring.