History Of Fashion Prints

History of fashion through prints

Well, maxi prints are back again! Yes, because they never went out of fashion. Prints give a touch of creativity and freshness to all outfits and are such a feel good fabric. But when did we start wearing garments with maxi print? If you think about the 50’s you can certainly visualize in your mind the beautiful maxi skirts, exaggerate dresses with plenty of graphic prints and flowers. This bold style actually is linked to the end of World War II. In this period, with the end of rationing, different types of fabrics started to be available, this allowed a new type of fashion to bloom.

Plus War was over and this was the perfect time and place to wear prints. Women started to wear dresses, featuring special fabric and intricate gatherings, pleats, puffy petticoats in the brightest and boldest patterns and colours.

The 60’s as we all know, were characterized by optical prints: bright, swirling colours; psychedelic, tie-dye shirts were everywhere. Woman started wearing super hot miniskirts and men dared wearing tunics and capes. This was a really revolutionary decades that continued to the 70’s. This decade was characterized by the antiwar movement and the arrival of a new music genre which much influenced fashion with glam rock androgynous, disco glamour and the start of women’s tailoring. Between 60s and 70s the Hippie movement gained much momentum, claiming peace and love for all the world and nothing represented peace and love so much as a flower, that is why they were everywhere. Floral patterns were popular on tops and dresses and flower patches adorned skirts and jeans.

The 80’s

80s fashion was all about colour, size, and experimentation. People started wearing blue mascara and yellow eye shadow. Backcombed hair were a must, as well as shoulder pads. This also the time when the lines between men’s and women’s fashion blurred.  Many of the biggest fashion trends of the 80s were unisex: Member’s Only jackets, parachute pants, Converse chucks, Wayfarers, etc. During this period prints were geometrical  and so continued to be in the ‘90s.

Do you remember David’s and Dylan shirts in Beverly Hills 902010?

Well, here we come to 2000’s. Maybe it’s too early to talk about a specific trend since fashion between 2000 and today has seen so many changes and also a mix of many styles from the past such as: animal prints, optical, flower, geometrical prints. That is why some famous fashion brands have started playing again with the styles of past decades to create new trends, such as the Italian brand Iceberg, which often proposes collections inspired to the past.

Creativity in fashion and art in general, is a key element, but inspiration also does. So my suggestion is do not be afraid to get inspired by print history, for your outfit and create something new!