Para Ti women's magazine, March 13, 1951 issue 1501
The San Telmo barrio of Buenos Aires provides many opportunities for rummaging through mouldy books and stained clothes (in the best possible way, of course). I bought this 1951 issue of Para Ti in a second hand book shop near Bolívar and Estados Unidos.
A selection of blouses
This is the first women’s magazine I have bought in many years, as I find I don’t need any outside help to make myself feel unattractive, unsuccessful, and under-dressed. Sad to say that magazines weren’t much better in 1951, but at least the illustrations are pretty!
An advert for Pond's face cream
“A heavy base ages you!” apparently. “After just one minute of wearing Pond’s as a face mask your skin will look fresh, young, adorable!” Of course it will, dearest.
Loose and fitted coats
Fashion illustration seems so much less aggressive than fashion photography, but maybe that’s just from a nostalgic viewpoint. I do love the red suit!
Sin Amor
No ladies’ mag would be complete without a cheesy love story. It’s all fascinating, and makes me wonder what new ways of getting us to buy face cream they’ll have come up with in another 50 years. See you there, I hope!
The Fashion Barometer has been inspired by a piece on the BBC News Magazine today, which at the start of London Fashion Week, looks back at the trends that scandalised the masses in times of yore (whatever yore is).
After reading the article, I wondered how we can trust our own Fashion Barometers when they are hemmed in by cultural expectations, preventing true expression of our innermost style desires.
Macaroni style - image from Wikipedia
The 18th century Macaroni, the article explains, “adopted the flamboyant continental styles of the French and Italians, but taking every detail to the very extreme.”
According to the article, the Macaronis were vilified in the press as “neither male or female”, and those gendered fashion boundaries are stronger than ever today.
Despite the continual grinding of the trend mill, fashion, particularly for men, continues to have strongly-defined gender boundaries. Here is an interesting piece from feminist magazine The F-Word on gender in fashion, where writer Lorraine Smith discusses the gendered marketing strategies used in the fashion industry.
While the modern casual wear uniform of jeans and a t-shirt has become ubiquitous across the genders, men still risk vilification in many societies for wearing anything more “feminine” than a pastel coloured shirt.
Let’s see what FBF oracle Cher Horowitz of Clueless says on the matter
So okay, I don’t want to be a traitor to my generation and all but I don’t get how guys dress today. I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair – ew – and cover it up with a backwards cap and like, we’re expected to swoon? I don’t think so.
Cher is complaining about a culturally-dictated fashion code, also reinforced in the film by the one homosexual character, Christian, being outed with the evidence “the boy can dress” – so no man who “can dress” could ever be heterosexual.
A caricature of bloomer wearers - image from Wikipedia
The BBC piece describes another gender-related fashion item: the bloomer. Designed by Elizabeth Smith Miller in New York in 1851 and championed by women’s rights activist Amelia Bloomer, the bloomer was originally worn under a skirt, and later on its own, to facilitate such “unfeminine” activities as riding a bike.
It is interesting to see that 100 years apart, the Macaronis wearing bloomers were seen as feminine and women wearing the same item of clothing were seen as unfeminine. Though styles may change, the divide remains evident and dangerous to cross.
For long enough we’ve allowed ourselves to be dictated to by completely arbitrary gender rules, and that’s just in terms of the clothes we wear. What hope is there for the elimination of the millions of other gender stereotypes that affect us every day? And gender is one of many factors in determining what is considered to be socially acceptable clothing.
Tilda Swinton at the Baftas
For a modern example of stereotype-challenging fashion, one never has to look further than FBF crush Tilda Swinton. The Baftas this week saw her killing everyone else’s red carpet outfit dead with her alien-shouldered Celine dress and Bowietastic quiff.
She’s reportedly said of her idiosyncratic style “I follow my nose. It’s as simple as that.” If only it were that simple to overcome our fears of fashion boundaries and embrace true Fashion Barometer authenticity.
Tragically I failed to furnish you with an installment of Fashion Barometer Friday last week, but I was using my time wisely. I had to make a flying trip to Santiago to, among other things, get a piece of paper stamped by five different government offices (this is why most people stay happily in their countries of origin, I imagine, and why immigrants all over the world deserve our compassion).
Zip shop, Rosas
While I was there I took some photos to document my hard-won knowledge of the sewing shops of the city to provide you with a Sewing Tour of Santiago, as I have been meaning to for some time. I hope this will assist any dressmaker expats who make Santiago their home, be that ever so small a number.
Santiago’s most famous fabric district is Independencia, where on Avenida Independencia and surrounding streets you can find a ton of fabric shops worth looking in. I didn’t take any photos of this area for this post because I rarely shopped there. The shops on Independencia mainly cater for women’s fashion fabrics and don’t have much in the way of natural fibres, which is my preferred medium. I sweat a lot.
Rosas sewing machine shops, Santiago
Let us begin at the beginning. Rosas with Bandera is where you can buy your sewing machine, and have it fixed once bought.
Casa Suez, Rosas
Rosas is also the best place for all notions, sewing magazines, and jewellery making accoutrements, if that is your desire. Above, Casa Suez, is my favourite notion shop. They have the widest variety of threads and much of my other sewing shop knowledge came from them.
Just a block east you will find the Galerias Las Flores and Las Rosas, which are home to random craft shops which hold random craft lessons, and a whole lot of buttons. This is where you can buy pattern paper and lingerie notions.
Back down Banderas, also where all of Santiago’s best and cheapest second hand clothes shops are, there are a fair few places that sell fabric by the kilo. I found some lovely stuff in the Telas x Kilos shop above, so don’t be put off by the piles and piles of fabric.
Casa Olivari
Found on Catedral 1115 with Banderas, Casa Olivari is the best of the best. Lots of lovely cottons, fine shirt fabrics, and wool. Unfortunately it was shut while I was there, so you’ll have to make do with this dull photo.
Comercial Leo
Comercial Leo at 1132 Rosas is the fabric shop I patronised during my batik phase. They have a wide range of undyed cotton and canvas, as well as quite a good collection of notions. And they’re really lovely people.
Speaking of batik, there is a mall up in Vitacura called Pueblo del Ingles which is home to Santiago’s only batik shop The Batik & Silk Co, and quite a few art supply, knitting, and tapestry shops too. It’s crafty. It’s a pain in the arse to get to, but it, like me, you have an overwhelming urge to batik, then it’s there.
Most the shops mentioned here are only open during the week and till around 2pm on a Saturday, hence the photos of shuttered shops. This will be a familiar moan to anyone who lives in Latin America, but really I do think it’s nice that people get some time off, even if it stops me buying a reel of thread at inappropriate hours!
Knitting shops
For the knitters among you, there are wool shops around 21 Mayo and Diagonal Cervantes. Also, a nice fountain and loads of fortune tellers and prostitutes.
Cordoneria Alemana
There are a fair few other notion shops scattered around. Cordoneria Alemana is at Merced 788, and there are some in galerias around Tobablaba metro, as well as one in the Tobablaba metro underpass.
Moldes Patrones
The only pattern shop I ever found in Santiago was Moldes Patrones, which has two shops and a website.
I think I must stop here, as this post is very special interest. It took me more than two years to find all this out, and I am sure I don’t know it all. If there’s anyone who wants to know more then do leave a comment. One of the hardest things about being an expat in a new country is having to learn everything from the beginning again, and having all this knowledge to waste – much like all the quotes from 90s films that will take up space in my brain forever.
It has been a looooong week, dressmaker dudes – the kind of week that demands the comfort of a hard-earned musical and a bath full of gin. Wait, what’s that I hear you plead? Can I combine the two with a splash of Fashion Barometer Friday to make an invigorating cocktail? Why yes I can! Just hop into my shaker and I’ll fix you up in mere moments.
For the musical fans among you, I know the mention of a bath full of gin will have had you worried that I’m about to advocate the home perm disaster that is orphan Annie. Not quite, my troubled amigos.
Miss Hannigan hungers for the Argentine
The only thing bearable about watching the saga of overly earnest and high-pitched Annie being plucked from obscurity to a life of luxury, for me, was Carol Burnett as cruel orphanage owner Miss Hannigan. A booze-addled sociopath makes a somewhat unlikely heroine for a pre-pubescent girl, you might think, unless you’ve ever met any of my family.
Miss Hannigan lounges
Who doesn’t want to lie around all day in a silk playsuit and dressing gown, draped in costume jewellery and necking homemade gin from a vase?
Rooster & Lily
Miss Hannigan’s ruthless brother Rooster (the hon. Tim Curry) and his moll Lily (Bernadette Peters) provide further welcome distractions from the saccharine storyline, while Daddy Warbucks’ assistant Grace Farrell (Ann Reinking) also has a charming, if slightly buttoned-up, wardrobe.
Baz Luhrmann’s new adaptation of The Great Gatsby is due for release in December, giving the fashion world a great excuse for a 1920s revival. Flapper inspiration was rife on the catwalks for Spring-Summer 2012 – see the designs at the Vogue Gatsby Glamour gallery.
Clara Bow in beads
All those drop-waist shifts do nothing for my figure, so I’ve never been much of a fan of the 20s silhouette. The shape is perfect for those long-limbed, flat chested model types that one rarely sees in real life (and never in the mirror).
I can’t deny that the decade holds a thrall – I grew up on a diet of Jeeves and Wooster and even once hosted a Brideshead Revisited marathon party – the 14-hour BBC adaptation of course. We don’t acknowledge the Other Version. A word of advice if you’re planning one yourself – don’t get started on the fizzy wine too early.
Brideshead with Jeremy Irons and some other insignificant people
The loose flapper style was undoubtedly a relief for women who’d been trussed up in corsets since god knows when, and represents a flourishing of sexual and social freedom which redefined women’s traditional gender roles, to a certain extent, though breast-binding was often used to get the trendy boyish look. You just can’t win.
Don't forget the gin.
While I respect that cultural significance, I don’t really want to resemble a barrel in a sequined sack. Until I finally get a life-threatening dose of dysentery, 20s style for me will be toned down to its elements: luxury fabrics like chiffon and silk, headscarves, beading, costume jewellery, and a healthy dose of gin.
