Shaggy Furs

After seeing this on the front of the Daily Telegraph magazine a couple of weekends ago, it inspired me to pull out my very own alternative. The jacket above is  £5,000 worth of Ostrich feathers. Exceptional craftsmanship from Giorgio Armani, mine however was a £30 steal from what i think was a hippie/grunge label from the 90's.

I pulled this quote out from a retail magazine, edition by John Lewis in August:

"Fashion revisits its heritage and draws you in with the good bits".

I do find this to be quite true. One of the most common things heard to the ear about fashion is that its all about the new. False. My jacket owns a good 20 years in existence before the engineers behind Armani found inspiration. They may create beautiful wonders, but is there fall 2011 collection really 'new'? 

Much of fashion is about revitalising classic looks, varying a colour combination or placing emphasis on a different part of the outfit. The 90's number is hugely accountable for a great burst of pink and plum colour. While autumn this year is also about berry shades - renamed to Bordeaux and brandy 'boozy colours' - great delicacy is proven by Armani in their use of Ostrich feathers. Emphasis is placed on texture in the designer piece. My affordable alternative shows the influx of grunge, bright colours of the R'n'b&pop music culture and street fashion.

The advent of MTV in the 1980's cemented the link between fashion and music as the music video became as important as the record. TLC? This early 90's image of the trio shows the vibrant colour palette. In releasing four multi-platinum albums is cannot be argued they weren't a successful band. # Don't go chasing waterfalls...

Their image indefinitely helped concrete music taste into a fashion led trend: street fashion. This was an amalgamated outcome of youth cultures like music and the want to create mainstream everyday wear.

Back to the jackets. The two differ in quality and occasion. Club culture also pulled together the two strains of street fashion and high fashion as the inventiveness of nightlife dressing became influential.

So i think my shaggy yeti coat is a fancy item from the 90's casual and dressed down age, and Armani have just triumphed a high end premium version. I may be biased in that i love time-honoured fashion, but it can be proven here that designers do dip into the past for substance to create new.

jacket: vintage, gloves: h&m