Layered retro

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Women are mysterious creatures. For example, my friend Masha. The other day he declares right from the doorway:

- Not only is it terribly called, but it still does not suit me!

- Who is it - it? - I clarify.

- Are you still asking? She says. - Frill!

“So don't wear it,” I suggest.

- I can't, - Masha sighs. - Fashionable …

And indeed, fashionable. If you walk through the city center, even along the Red Square itself, in the neat windows of every second boutique you can find a slender mannequin in a blouse with a stylized frill. Becoming a fashionable attribute is a simple matter. Such "bison" of fashion as Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander McQueen set the tone. They presented autumn collections based on playing with a long-forgotten element of clothing - frill. The idea was adopted by a variety of designers, and it started: dozens of well-known brands and thousands of rootless fakes with variations on the theme of this very frill filled the surrounding space.

At first it seems that this does not concern you - you never know what was announced as a trend. Then in a restaurant or theater you pay attention to "that young lady" with strange frills on her chest, then another one, and then a colleague comes to work in a frill - and that's it, you need to react somehow. Take some action. But, frankly, something in this very "frill" confuses. I recall something from my mother’s or even grandmother’s wardrobe, something so archaic and completely unthinkable. There is something in these ruffles on a tightly buttoned high collar, not just strict, but even a teacher. Imperious and undeniable. Can you safely put it on yourself without risking looking ridiculous? And do you like the very idea of such an extravagant piece of clothing?

In my opinion, this is very interesting - the return to everyday life of a thing that was written off a long time ago. Well, who else a couple of years ago could have imagined themselves with flounces around their neck?

Like many useful things (like voting rights or leadership positions), frill came to us from the male world: from the European costume of the 17th century. The name itself comes from the French word "jabot" and translates as "bird's goiter", hinting at the height of the collar.

Jabot - finishing of a blouse or dress in the form of a multi-layer frill made of fabric or lace, going down from the neck down to the chest. It came into women's fashion already two centuries after its appearance, in the 19th century. And it came triumphantly. This piece of clothing still retains the spicy flavor of European sewing traditions: there is a lot of hidden sexuality in the outer severity.

The image created by this piece of clothing is as controversial as any notable cultural phenomenon: in a frill, you can easily imagine the impeccable Mary Poppins, or you can also imagine the mischievous Harlequin. Severity and at the same time frivolity. Going shopping, my friend Masha and I decided to share the images: she aimed at Mary Poppins, I - at the Harlequin. Having put on a closed white blouse with frills in three rows, I left the fitting room and showed myself to Masha.

“Hmm,” she said, “in this blouse you look like a china cat.

- We will search, - I remembered the textbook formula. - The same, but with mother-of-pearl buttons …

While shopping, I thought that many forgotten things have returned to fashion: long beads, shoes with round toes with high thick heels, large brooches and even leggings - a symbol of our 80s. Incidentally, one of the most bizarre designer combinations this fall: frill collars paired with leggings. And brooches can be safely attached to such collars, and, preferably, vintage ones, seasoned with a beautiful family legend.

I'm still waiting for the hats to come back. Decorative, of course. So you want to walk around in a wide-brimmed hat or, you know, in such a neat hat from the 20s of the last century, while fitting into a fashionable context. If the miracle of return occurs with wavy collars, then what prevents hats from being seriously revived?

Masha and I still managed to choose blouses decorated with waves on the chest. Dark with a high, dense collar, modest two-tiered ruffles along the buttons and strict sleeves with cuffs. And light-colored with multi-layered small laces along the wide round collar and lantern sleeves. It would be nice to match them with strict straight midi skirts or floor-length skirts, with flounces that echo with frill collars, but Masha and I went to drink coffee. I had to figure out where to wear all this wavy beauty now.