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D4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 8, 2000 SPRING FASHION The philosophy of design "I h a v e a lw a y s c o n s id e re d d e sig n in g an d m a k in g je w e lle ry a m ean s o f p erso n a l e x p re ssio n an d try to c o n v e y so m e th in g o f m y se lf in ev ery p ie ce ," c o m m e n ts L a u rie M c L a ch ian , designer. " A p ie ce o f je w e lle ry m a k es a sta te m e n t. It re fle c ts th e p erso n w ea rin g it as w ell as th e artist w h o d e s ig n e d it. "T h e A rt D ec o sty le ap p e als to m e b ec au se o f its sim p licity o f d esign. In te g ra tin g th is c le a n , c la ssic q u ality in m y w o rk , I try to g iv e it a lo n g e v i ty n o t a lw a y s fo u n d in co n tem p o rary je w e lle ry ." F o r m o re in fo rm atio n v isit L au rie M c L a c h ia n Je w e lle ry d u rin g b u sin ess h o u rs o f W e d n esd ay to S aturday, 10 am to 6 p.m . in th e M iller M ew s, U nit 10, 129 R e y n o ld s S t., o r call 9 0 5 -3 3 8 -8 4 7 5 . Influences on fashion throughout history By Wilma Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR E ver w onder w hat influences fashion? It's not the fashion designers, says Jonathan W alford o f K ickshaw Productions. H ow ever they do have a huge influ ence - if the consum ers buy it. Events in history have proven to have a far greater influ ence, W alford told a recent m eeting o f the Canadian Federation o f U niversity W om en - C FU W O akville. D uring W orld W ar I w om en were forced into entering the w orkforce - w orking in the m unitions factories. T hat resulted in w om en dem anding looser fitting cloth ing and freedom o f m ovem ent, said W alford. "C orseting fell from use during W orld W ar I because w om en needed freer m ovem ent to enable their w ar work, and steel, w hich w as used for corset stays, was needed for w ar production," states Kickshaw P roductions' brochure. W alford o f Fonthill. Ont., launched K ickshaw in 1988 to prom ote the history o f fashion. He w orked at the B ata Shoe M useum in Toronto for 11 years. He left a year ago to pursue his K ickshaw venture full tim e. H is collection con sists o f over 2,000 items, dating from the past three cen turies to the present. However, h e's actively seeking cloth ing designed and w orn for the New M illennium . W alford's presentation, featuring tw o live m odels, was titled C elebrating 50 Years o f W om en's Fashion - in recog nition o f CFU W O akville's 50th anniversary. "A fter W orld W ar II, w om en definitely d id n 't w ear corsets," he continued. The straight fitted suit gave w ay to looser fitting clothing, and "very plain dresses becam e very colourful w ith w onderful patterns. "F abric restrictions w ere still in force," said W alford, adding a m ore fem inine look evolved w ith soft shoulders and bell shaped sleeves. "T he m ore fem inine look reflected the new role o f w om en after the war, with m ore fabrics allow ing for full skirted dresses," said W alford. And, because fashion goes in cycles, the straight fitted suit did m ake a com eback, once w om en m oved from the factory floor to the boardroom . T he "pencil slim skirt" and fitted jacket becam e popular during the late 1940s and 1950s, as did cocktail dresses. Both "em phasized slim ness" - w om en had to w ear gir dles. "T he corset had nothing on the girdle," said W alford, noting the discom fort w om en endured as they squeezed them selves into this tight fitted device. "T he girdle was far m ore evil. It pinched nerves and closed blood vessels." In 1948, a fashionable w om en w ould be seen at a party in a cocktail dress, platform shoes, and her hair sw ept up under a hat. "D u rin g the 1940s, you could do anything with a hat," he said. `It was the `p i e c e the resistan ce' against the N azi occupation" and w orn in protest. "T his is w here the term `piece de resistan ce' com es from ." A nd, "a w om an's self-defense at the turn o f the century consisted o f one item - the hat pin," states W alford's brochure. W alford's presentation w as filled w ith trivia from the fashion w orld. M uch o f his talk dealt w ith shoes, o f w hich the m ost popular are platform s. · Platform shoes m ade their debut as a fashion accesso ry during the m id-1940s, said W alford. "T hey w ere devel oped out o f necessity because o f a lack o f leather. These shoes needed a thicker sole." T hey are still in fashion today. "The stiletto heel em powered women - the heel could be used as a weapon. " - Jonathan Walford Kickshaw Productions By 1957, the platform shoe cam e in tw o styles, pointed or rounded toe, said W alford. "T he round toe m ade the leg appear fatter; the pointed toe m ade the leg look slim m er. So, the pum ps w ith pointed toes sold like crazy." T his led to the introduction o f the `w inkle picker,' "an extrem ely fem inine looking shoe" w ith a high thin heel and very pointed toe. "You could pick w orm s w ith them ," he joked. The "look w as aesthetically right, very slim , with a forced tightening o f the ca lf m uscle." B ut these shoes w ere painful to wear, causing h am m er toes and bunions. "T hey w ere the w orst things for your feet - the w orst shoe ever designed. W om en got perm anently crippled feet from w earing these things." N evertheless, they evolved into the stiletto heels. "T he stiletto heel em pow ered w om en - the heel could be used as a w eapon." · Saddle shoes, w hich are now also m aking a com eback, were first introduced as sportsw ear during the 1920s for w alking and golfing. "T hey w ere popular in the U nited States during the 1920s and 1930s, and they w ere the stan dard issue shoes for teenagers in the U nited States during the 1940s." T hey cam e w hite w ith brow n, black, blue and red, am ong other colours. · "T he sneaker evolved in the 1970s as an athletic shoe, and was part o f the health m ovem ent o f the day. You had to have the right num ber o f stripes . . ." to be accepted. T hat evolved into the dem and for anything bearing the N ike sw oosh. "It created a w hole new m arket geared to kids, w hich peaked during the early 1990s, w hen people paid (dearly) for sneakers. T h at all collapsed w hen the price escalated to $300 for a pair o f shoes. Parents refused to pay it. People learned that all you need is support and com fort - everything else that cam e w ith these shoes w as `eye candy.'" (Please see page D5) ftISS& SS, A0UATALIA ** h A M tJ K. M A D E IN IT A L Y Oakville Place 845-4724 Selected Floor Models % O FF for the month of March 2111 D u n w in D r. (Mississauga) 1 1 /2 blocks w e s t o f Erin M ills P a rk w a y fa c in g D u n d as Fine Children's Furniture Linen and Decor 828-2525