Tangs Rise and Shine

X-wen of Fash-Eccentric invited me to a fashion event at Tangs the other night and it was a fun 50’s swinging retro-style mini fashion show showcasing local Singaporean designers and companies. So the thing with fifties fashion is that women dressed very lady-like back then and the look was very tailored. I’d say that the key points to pulling off a 50’s look would be:

Kitten heels
Wrist gloves
Swing dresses (pouffy skirts)
Pencil-style skirts
Dainty clutches
Pearl necklaces
Little hats with veil and feathers

The main historical fashion milestone at the time was The “New Look”, launched by Christian Dior. This fashion style brought women out of post-war austerity and celebrated a woman’s curves, emphasizing her hourglass-shaped figure. Back then, the men were all serving the army and fighting the war, leaving women behind in their home countries working factory jobs etc. As you can imagine, those women probably wore cotton overalls daily and since times were tough, forget about doing your hair or dressing up or all that high-maintenance stuff. Upon the end of the war, the men returned and women reverted to being feminine again. :P

The signature shape of The New Look was characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, soft shoulders, large bust (which had fallen from style in 1912), and small waist. The New Look was very influential and considered revolutionary at the time. It was a very important occurrence in fashion history and its influence are still visible everywhere today. (This bit I learned in History of Graphic Design class, because apparently the new feminine silhouettes had crossed-over and influenced graphic design trends at the time as well.)

What I personally love about the 50s is hands-down the HAIR STYLE! ♥ ♥ ♥ I dunno, there’s something really chic and ladylike about the hairstyles of that time which I super duper adore. For women in the 1950s, curly hair was in fashion. If your hair was straight, the simplest way to curl it was to wear many small hair curlers (and/or rollers) in the hair, and then let them set over the course of hours, or even a night’s sleep. Women even curled their bangs to match the rest of their hair. Maybe I will blog about this next time, as this is a style which I truly adore (and have always wanted to recreate on my own limp fine Asian hair – but never quite pulled off successfully without a major fumigation of hairspray). :X

Okay, on with the Tangs fashion show…

Singapore's Most Popular Fashion Blogger | Tangs Shopping

Featured brands: Chalk, Fred Perry, Martina Pink, Noel Caleb, n. tyler, Studio Tangs, egg3, Gabs, Chomel, Dolce Donna, and make up by M.A.C..

And while I was there, I ran into an old buddy of mine, Les from forår — if you’re looking for vintage mid-century furniture, check out the gorgeousness on his website. Les and I go waaaaaaaayyyy back, so be sure to tell him that Moonberry sent ya! :)