A go at glamour

Fashion has always been cognizant of the social environment, creating styles that reflect the signs of the times. After 9/11, international runways came up with muted colors and practical styles to reflect a despondent economic and social situation. Seventies fashion was marked by loose, free clothing and ragged appearances, the bellbottoms and peasant shirts expressions of a generation discontented with an ongoing war and just beginning to comprehend the reaches of their minds.

Fashion in the Fifties celebrated the end of a war. The world was trying to forget World War II and the destruction it wreaked and decided to make a comeback via an explosive front on the fashion scene. Making up for almost a decade of uncertainty and turbulence, post-war fashion turned experimental and excessive. It utilized the glamour of the Thirties, but turned it into something stronger and more daring.

The designer du jour was Christian Dior who, with his New Look in the late Forties, ushered in a time of glamour during the Fifties. He revolutionized the silhouette of fashion for women, coming up with skirts that were fuller and shorter, and jackets that were larger and boxier. His key pieces – cardigans, skirts in pastel shades, three-quarter- length sleeves, the A-line dress or skirt, and the sheath – have since become staples on the fashion scene. Dior also influenced the way women wore their jewelry. He played trigger-happy with brooches, pinning them to the neck, shoulder, or the waist. Dior wound ropes of pearls around the neck, an unconscious gesture that women now perform when trying to add a classic touch to their evening look. Audrey Hepburn (think Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and Grace Kelly were to be icons of this classic glamour.

Dior’s era of glamour was complemented by women’s obsession with the "doll-like" face and figure. Mattel had just given birth to the Barbie Doll, causing a furor among women scrambling to fit into clothes that were sizes smaller than usual. Advertisements for bras, corsets, and girdles peppered fashion magazines; the popularity of the calf-slimming stiletto heel was unprecedented. Women had rosy cheeks, cherry-red lips, and perfect coifs. Allure took on a mannequin touch, epitomized by Fifties pin-up girl Marilyn Monroe. Her blonde curls, voluptuous curves and cinched waist, and red-smeared lips were the Fifties woman’s aspiration and the Fifties man’s dream.

At the other end of the style spectrum was a fashion statement that was a tad freer and more boisterous. The Fifties, signatured as the rock ‘n’ roll era, had women screaming for Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis in circular skirts with stiff layers of petticoats, belted waists, and tight polo necks. They swooned over Elvis Presley in ratted, flipped hair and tight pedal pushers. They did the "twist" in full, flirty poodle skirts and saddle shoes or white Keds tennis shoes. Knotted scarves, neat ponytails, and cashmere sweaters became part of the teenybopper lifestyle.

Fashion brand Ensembles hearkens back to the fashion explosion of the Fifties with a collection of doll-like colors and slender silhouettes. Expecting a revival of the fab Fifties look, Ensembles dresses the modern career woman in dusty pastels – old rose, smoky blue-grays, blacks and whites, in cropped jackets, and high-waist full skirts. Stripes and cocktail dresses are also part of this Fifties-inspired offering.

While pieces during that era constricted the figure with hour-glass conscious silhouettes, Ensembles’ revival gives glamour a more practical streak. Known for mixing sensibility with style, the brand gives the working women clothes that will suit their hectic lifestyles. Casual daywear, weekend garb, corporate coordinates, and evening formals try to flatter every figure – and don’t require crinoline, girdles, or corsets to do so. Styles combine classic with details inspired by the Fifties such as bows on tops, ruffles, shirring, rhinestone buckles, and polka dots. Pieces easily answer to the mix and match philosophy, allowing for more individual style. Just like the style savvy that marked Fifties fashion, Ensembles encourages the modern working woman to explore and express herself in a whirlwind of fashion.

Ensembles has outlets at SM Megamall, SM Bicutan, Robinsons Galleria, Glorietta 1, Alabang Town Center, and Eastwood Citiwalk.