Jimmy Paulette After the Parade, NYC, 1991
© Nan Goldin
I am interested in the 90s grunge look: from its history to what classified something as grunge. The androgynous nature of the clothing made it extremely gender fluid while also being a mark of rebellion to gender norms. This photograph by Nan Goldin is just one of an extensive series featuring drag queens and androgynous figures in New York in 1991. The metallic-gold bra over a barely-visible fishnet crop top, paired with the dark smudged eyeshadow underscores the edginess of this movement. Participants of this movement often saw the dark nature of the world and sought to quietly defy the norms with loud fashion. As someone who took part in certain parts of the spectrum of grunge fashion, I can identify with the feelings and narratives that surround the attraction to such ensembles.
Audrey Hepburn wears Paco Rabanne in Two for the Road, 1967
Photo: TM and Copyright ©20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved./Courtesy Everett Collection
Retro-futurist fashion will continue to expand as the years go by. Retro-futurism is defined by a style that is often used in Hollywood films to depict the future of dress and society. Paco Rabanne was at the forefront of constructing some of the most intriguing futuristic designs in his time. This photo of Audrey Hepburn from the film Two for the Road features Rabanne’s a chunky chainmail dress— that became huge trend in 2016 and continues through 2018. I chose to focus on retro-futurist fashion because the definition of “retro” changes with time. With fast fashion in full effect and the society’s evolution becoming evermore exponentially quicker, things that were so ahead of their time (or futuristic) become “retro” just as fast. I have recently been incorporating such style into my work. Since 70s style is coming back into fashion as of recently, I thought it might be interesting to fuel this wave with exaggerated prospects of fashion. Finally, seeing as clothing moves through time and space, it would be astonishing to compare the predictions of future fashion with the reality of current fashion.