I have been feeling really old recently. As in ‘Remember Blossom? And Fraggle Rock? And cassette tapes? And Slap bands?’ kind of old. This feeling is only exacerbated by the ladies of the blogosphere who seem to have a 90’s obsession going on that puts me in danger of repeating fashion mistakes that I only recently forgave myself for. Fops and Dandies has me wanting to wear daisy prints and chokers and Fashion Toast has me digging my Doc Martins and pleated kilt out of the cupboard in a tribute to Cory from Empire Records. I recently wrote about 90’s fashion in my Beverly Hills 90210 post and laughingly joked about mini-back packs and matt lipstick while secretly I was wondering where I could purchase some cakey mulberry lip colour.
This got me thinking – If someone took a picture of what I was wearing right now and showed it to me in 10 years time would I be embarrassed? Or tempted to revisit?
I found this little gem that may answer my question. This timetable was created by James Laver and I found it in a book called the Language of Clothes by Alison Lurie. ‘Laver’s Law’ supports the theory that the same outfit will be…
Indecent – 10 years before its time
Shameless – 5 years before its time
Daring – 1 year before its time
Smart – —————
Dowdy – 1 year after its time
Hideous – 10 years after its time
Ridiculous – 20 years after its time
Amusing – 30 years after its time
Quaint – 50 years after its time
Charming – 70 years after its time
Romantic – 100 years after its time
Beautiful – 150 years after its time
This timetable is in reference to a whole outfit dedicated to a particular era, not single articles of the trend. This timetable is basically saying that every outfit will at some point be considered beautiful and ugly. It’s the year that people are viewing it in that makes the difference. So what I am wearing today will be regarded as ‘hideous’ in ten years time. Excellent…
Just for fun lets see what everyone thought of this lovely outfit of Madonna’s from 1985. And what they will think of it in the future…
1975 – Indecent
1980 – Shameless
1984 – Daring
1985 – Smart
1986 – Dowdy
1995 – Hideous
2005 – Ridiculous
2015 – Amusing
2035 – Quaint
And so on…
So according to this formula it’s best to be either right in fashion all the time with out ever letting yourself slip for even one year or you risk being ‘dowdy’. The other option is to only dress according to the fashions of 50 or more years ago. Otherwise you will be ‘ridiculous’ or ‘hideous’ or the very patronising ‘amusing’.
It’s a pretty nifty little code and it makes me giggle to think that in 2135 Madonna’s ensemble will be regarded as ‘romantic’.
What are your thoughts ladies? Do you think Madonna’s outfit is fugly whether it’s 1985 or 2035? Or that there is some merit to the madness of Laver’s Law? And do you give a toss either way?
Love Lady Smaggle
xxx