In the last article we have spoken about men’s fashion through the decades starting from the late ’60s, in the following one, we will try to do the same but for the women’s fashion, we will analyze the more important and latest women’s fashion trends of every decade.
Let’s start even in this case from the late ’60s to understand a little bit more what the women’s fashion was living and why this moment is important to start from.
Women’s Fashion In The 60s
Everything in life is a consequence of something else, to understand the women’s fashion in the 60’s we have to briefly say that the woman’s figure started to be more independent after the World Wars due to obvious reasons, a lot of men were fighting away.
As soon as everything ended, for a reason or another one, men started to look for more distractions to share with other men or by themselves.
This element has been a historical keystone because women started to do the same, started (I mean in a wider way) to look for their interests, passions, activities, new forms of self-love but also new forms of expression in any field, including the women’s fashion.
We can say that the most important trend or the latest women’s fashion trend in the ’60s was “revealing the skin”. Shorter garments, hemlines, and of course the miniskirt, over the knees!
Women “became” more secure and comfortable to show their femininity without having a society against them.
The embracement of their status quo was described also through their clothing. Low heels or knee-high boots were the most trendy shoes inside the latest women’s fashion styles.
A British designer, Mary Quant, during an interview said: “If I didn’t make them short enough, the Chelsea girls, who had wonderful legs, would get out the scissors and shorten the skirts themselves”.
We can say that the ’60s have been years where people, in general, started to understand more their lives, started to make new steps inside their ideas and how they could have expressed them, even with the garments.
New political and social movements exploded and one of the most famous was the hippie one.
This movement characterizes a lot the 70’s more than others with its colors and shapes, with the materials and patterns but even if it was important for the woman’s fashion styles and trends there were more.
Women’s Fashion In The 70s
It’s hard to describe this decade like the ones before with a single or mostly single style, 70’s seem to be a decade of confusion were so many things started that the latest women’s fashion trends could have been in for few months or several years!
One example at the beginning of the ’70s in women’s fashion was the disco style!
High-waisted pants, flared pants, belts over the dresses, jumper dresses, and turtlenecks became so popular in women’s fashion.
Jeans became extremely popular and also wider to give that fluidity on the movements, shoes got taller heels and new synthetic fabrics enter in the market, giving more possibilities to create new and fancy garments.
If people had fun, if people used to find new ways to have it as well, the women’s fashion wanted to dedicate a segment to a more formal wardrobe.
Women who were working in offices needed more formal and professional garments to wear every day and feel their power, their positions.
This is why the suite-style dresses became one of the most important trends inside the women’s fashion styles. They were expressing femininity, due to the skirt but at the same time the same formality and professionalism of a normal man suit.
In fashion, creativity is always a fun process, and even during those years, weird things happened!
If there were, disco outfits, more colored, more fluid, shinier, there wear also the almost opposite dresses the suite-style ones that were expressing more or less the opposite inside the women’s fashion trends.
Imagine to mix them, imagine to mix something more formal with something more fun which could be the result?
In less than 5 years from the beginning of the 70s, the jumpsuits were everywhere! Formal, casual, fun, comfortable, a dress that was made for so many occasions that almost every woman had one, not just the latest women’s fashion trend not just the latest women’s fashion style, a real keystone in their closet!
The last one but not the least important of this decade was another dress that mixed femininity and embracement of the women’s power: the front buttoned dress!
Leaving the 70’s and their new ideas, their power, their fights and their fun moments, we enter now in a more dualistic phase of the women’s fashion trends: dark vs bright.
Women’s Fashion In The 80s
Same for men, same for women, the 80’s have been divided by this super strong contrast, aggressiveness vs. fun, heaviness vs lightness, etc etc.
It was not a case of the combination of colors, what was more popular was the contrast between black and white!
This dualism created new shapes, for example, pads started to be inserted in jackets, coats dresses inside the women’s fashion, this mix between sweet and tough was everywhere.
The polka dots pattern, like the strongly contrasted garments, help a generation to express themself, 80’s have been a decade of the conclusion of the power embracements made by the garments.
Two more main trends/styles inside the women’s fashion world of this decade: leggings and leather jackets.
Women started to bring out their workout life, outside their gyms those comfortable pants, able to wear them on a lot of occasions, bringing brightness and fun.
Leather jackets at the same time became one of the iconic pieces.
Bigger and larger than the ’50-’60s ones, in a lot of cases bought them in the vintage stores expressed no more the beautiful ideas of protection and freedom of the decades before but became a sign of protest, used by the more rebel ones as a form of rebellion against the systems.
Women’s Fashion In The 90s
After a decade really intense for both of the sexes, the ’90s have been incredibly different, men’s fashion moved to a more cozy direction, a wide one a relaxed one; women’s fashion and its latest women’s fashion trends went to a more minimal and erotic direction.
The swimsuits, with basic and monotone colors took the high hip V-shape.
Dark tartan skirts or patterns with brownish colors instead of the more classic red ones. The grunge musicians, actors, famous people absorbed this trend making it super popular.
Overalls expressed perfectly these years, simple, minimal but at the same time, they were perfect for every season, with long pants during the winter and shorter ones during the summer. Easy to wear, practical but also useful.
The last of the most important trends of the ’90s inside the women’s fashion trends are for sure the slip dress.
Mostly made with silk, following the shapes of the female bodies, sensual but also really minimal.
Actresses, models started to show them everywhere during big events as normal days.
The Decade Of A New Style: 2000-2010
With the end of the Millenium, the new generation started to embrace new styles.
New media started to be promoters of ideas, movies, tv shows seen by everyone all over the world. Globalization was speeding as it never did before and this affected everyone.
A famous movie in Brazil probably was famous too in Korea or a really followed actor in the USA could have been followed too in New Zealand.
This decade, the one between 2000 and 2010 has been signed by the influence of the Millennials and their ideas, connected mostly to memories, fun, and a big nostalgia vibe.
Never like before the word “vintage/second hand” became so important inside of the wardrobe of the women because it was cheaper from a side or because was used to take inspiration from the bigger brands.
Let’s see specifically which were the main and latest women’s fashion trends:
Capri Jeans or Low Waist Jeans
Jeans able to reflect the sexiness of the ’90s, in a way was a consequence of the previous decade mixed with feelings of summer/happiness/seaside and parties.
White Tank Top
Especially in the spring/summer, this garment became super popular, a reminiscence of work garment with a super minimal and simple use that could have been used on so many occasions without any effort.
Dresses Over Jeans/Pants
Using the dresses as long t-shirts/shirts started to be a really successful women’s fashion trend along these years giving in this way more importance to the colors, the meaning, and the shapes of dresses.
It gave the possibility to wear more formal or fancy dresses even during the day with a less amount of power.
Uggs
These boots came out one year and since then they have been part of our culture.
During that decade especially, you used to see them everywhere, from gala nights to the more simple home meetings, day and night, close to a beach or in the middle of the snow.
Juicy Couture Tracksuits
These tracksuits embraced the stereotype of the athletic woman wearing something cozy, sexy but also really practical. Different colors, most of them low waist, were used with fancy bags with big labels, sunglasses and shoes of any kind.
Livestrong Bracelet
This bracelet became super popular and it started to represent the power of the accessories connected to ideas, causes or fights.
Along the decade more companies and brands tried to reproduce this concept with other accessories but inside the women’s fashion trends this little yellow plastic one has remained probably the most famous one.
And what about the trends of the last decade?
Fashion Trends Of The Last Decade
Well for sure the last decade has been the most problematic one to define, the world was almost globalized so trends came out like mushrooms in fall, a little bit of rain, and the following day mushrooms everywhere!
Women’s fashion trends have been so many that it is really hard to define which were the most popular ones but these ones are the main peculiarity of each of them:
Inclusivity (Genderfluid, Unisex But Also Shapeless)
The ideas of inclusivity and genderlessness became so popular inside the women’s fashion trends. Companies created full collections of garments that were made for everyone or usable with 1-2 sizes like size A and size B, without indicating a growing order but simply a different one.
Subcultures Became Mainstream or People Invented Subcultures
This decade was incredible but also crazy, it has arrived to create a NORMCORE women’s fashion trend! What is the normcore? Basically what you could wear “normally” without putting any effort, like jeans and a t-shirt!
Ugly Fashion
The last trend but an important one to analyze is ugly fashion! Even in this case, it is part of the subcultures inside the women’s fashion trends.
For ugly fashion, it is defined everything that looks ugly mixed together that could be fashionable!
About this specific trend, I will not add any photos because it could offend someone, at the end fashion is self-expression but ugly fashion has been a real trend. Maybe it is too early to define it, the decade has just finished.. we will talk about it in a few years and maybe we will add even some photos, in the meantime if you are curious you can read about it online!
Great work…was an amazing read!
Thank you 🙂