Styles by Claudia Blog

A young fashionista, before the 17th century, had a much more difficult time keeping up with the latest trends. Before that time period it was the members of royalty—kings, queens, princes, princesses, dukes and so on that set trends of the day. So if you wanted to actually see fashion at its finest you had to do a little walking and get a glimpse of these royals in person.

It is true that some royals sent their personal tailors around the country side with life-size dolls decked in the latest styles in order to spread the gospel of fashion but something great was brewing in the fashion heaven. It was about 1672 that the FG’s (Fashion Gods) waved their magic wands and POOF! Vogue appeared! NO, sorry, not for another 220 yrs but we did get Frances first circulated fashion magazine, the Mercure Galant. This was the first fashion magazine circulated in France that began to offer its comments on the latest clothing interests. Its popularity spread across Europe.

Later on, the French, being who they are, created “fashion plates”. These plates were sketches or engravings of the latest garments that were then circulated to help guide tailors. It’s not the most resent slang but if you’ve ever heard the term “he or she is a fashion plate”. You’ll understand the term began to describe someone who was always dressed in style. Near the end of that century Parisian printers began selling these fashion plates and the great industry of fashion magazines took off and has not stopped. Then in 1892 the FG’s smiled upon their humble servants and YES Vogue appeared bringing light and beauty to all! (Sorry had to throw that one in)

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