Alexis Mabille Spring 2010 Couture Collection

Although some of the looks still had a few ribbons, sashes, and lace details, these looks with straight and clean lines ...Read more]]> The usual frills, bows, and embroidery were conspicuously absent in Alexis Mabille’s Spring 2010 Couture Collection. Instead, Mabille gave us a lot of construction, geometry, and spliced together color blocks:

Alexis Mabille Spring 2010 Couture Collection

Although some of the looks still had a few ribbons, sashes, and lace details, these looks with straight and clean lines were the real scene stealers. The combination of the color-blocked hairstyles, the dresses, and shoes make a strong statement and it really does look like Mabille conducted surgery on the fabric to come up with this collection.

Now the question here is: would you wear color-blocked hair, a dress, and shoes all together at the same time? Can you pull it off? Perhaps the dress and the shoes together some people can still get away with, but the hair…

Color blocking isn’t new. It’s been done numerous times in past decades. However, no other image quite captures the boldness of this design better than the famous Yves Saint Laurent “Mondrian” day dress:

As designer Yves Saint Laurent created this day dress in 1965, he made history as well. The 60s simple shift dress together with Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s 1930 Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow painting produced such an iconic dress that it became much admired and very much imitated even to this day.

Check out these fresh new footwear takes on color blocking, all new styles inspired by the 60s trend:

Dereon Skilled Pump

Donald J Pliner Caly

Marc by Marc Jacobs 674912

]]> http://www.retrovintageshoes.com/2010/02/color-block-at-the-alexis-mabille-spring-2010-couture-collection-fashion-show/feed/ 0 http://www.retrovintageshoes.com/2009/12/5-things-you-should-about-the-vintage-go-go-boots/ http://www.retrovintageshoes.com/2009/12/5-things-you-should-about-the-vintage-go-go-boots/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:02:08 +0000 Roselle http://www.retrovintageshoes.com/?p=401 One of the events that marked the 60′s era was the appearance of Go-Go Boots. Before that period, wearing boots as a fashion accessory was unheard of among women. Boots were used solely for functional purposes – as in wearing one if the weather requires it, during horseback riding, or during rugged activities.

Go-Go Boots from ...Read more]]> One of the events that marked the 60′s era was the appearance of Go-Go Boots. Before that period, wearing boots as a fashion accessory was unheard of among women. Boots were used solely for functional purposes – as in wearing one if the weather requires it, during horseback riding, or during rugged activities.

Go-Go Boots from the Spiegel catalog in 1968

(image from coololdstuff.com)

If you’re wondering how boots became a fashion accessory, here are a few things you might want to know of its history:

1. Andre Courreges was the designer who introduced the Go-Go boots to the world of high fashion, thereby making the boots internationally stylish. By doing so, he made the boots a fashion accessory that can be worn anytime,  anywhere, with anything – very far from the old pre-conceived idea of women’s boots. Soon after, manufacturers started mass producing these boots making it available to everyone.

2. The first type of Go-Go boots was simple in design – calf-high, low heeled (1 inch), with a pointy or round toe, and made of either leather (more expensive) or vinyl (more affordable for school girls).

3. The term Go-Go was adopted after young Go-Go dancers were seen wearing the boots in an afternoon TV show.

4. As the hemlines in the 60′s went up (became shorter), the height of the boot also became higher reaching up to the knees. There was also another reason why the boot height went up – for modesty. Shorter skirts meant more skin shown. With high boots, the women stayed modest-looking as less skin was seen. In the 70s, the lace-up boots came into fashion. And as the years progressed, the attention shifted towards the heel height, making it higher and higher.

A variety of Go-Go boots from the 70s

(image from coololdstuff.com)

5. There is a strong connection between the Go-Go boots and UK’s Kinky boots (black leather knee-high boots with very high heels and pointy toes, ala Dominatrix). But the Go-Go boots came in more variety so it became an easier choice for most.

These days, we no longer call the Go-Go boots by its name. We simply call it ‘boots’. In fact, the boots we have in our closet are the modern day versions of the Go-Go boots. Here are some updated styles that offer a hint of the original Go-Go appeal:

Steve Madden Smokker Boot from Heels.com

Dereon Regal Boot with the lace-up detail from Heels.com

Pastry Galatina Wedge Boot from Heels.com

Betseyville Lucky Boot Grymlt from Heels.com

You can shop for more retro boot styles by visiting Heels.com.