AUTHORS: AMELIA BAKER AND ROSA MARCELO
Fashion is constantly evolving. The clothing design, production, accessories, hair, and makeup have changed a lot over the past 50 years.
Different cultural movements and moments in history can be seen in the trends of each decade. Looking back, we can see the women who became style icons, creating the look that came to define the decade.
What separates a style icon from the it-girl of the moment? Longevity and innovation. Style icons define the decade because they move fashion forward from the past decade and help to set the trends of the new one.
Princess Diana
Princess Diana, known as the “Queen of Fashion,” portrayed herself through her style, which included skirts, pantsuits, hats, and bold jewelry, at times defying conservative royal etiquette rules and the royal family. “I like to be a free spirit. Some don’t like that, but that’s the way I am,” the princess said in the past.
Diana had separate outfits for her humanitarian travels that she called her “caring wardrobe,” This consisted of high fashion clothes and accessories that celebrated the countries she visited during royal tours. Diana wore cheerful, colorful clothes because she wanted to be considered approachable and warm to the public. She didn’t wear gloves because she liked to hold people’s hands. She would sometimes wear chunky jewelry so that the children she visited could play with them. She even used fabrics as a way to connect with people if she was visiting hospitals for the blind, she would often wear velvet so that she would feel warm and tactile.
Jennifer Aniston
From her days acting as the fashion icon Rachel Green in friends to her red carpet appearances, Jennifer Aniston is one of the most influential fashion icons from the ’90s, and her fashion sense is still popular two decades later. Despite her celebrity and wealth, she’s always worn clothing that the average person could easily incorporate into their own lives.
Jennifer Aniston’s 1990’s looks are iconic throwbacks, she can do it all showing us her model-off-duty style to her dressier more sleek style. Jennifer Aniston popularised layering slip dresses and shirts, one of her most iconic looks is a black slip dress with a white tee under. Many of the biggest fashion trends of the ’90s all stemmed from her; strappy sandals, cargo pants, baby tees, and monochromatic looks.
Britney Spears
The 2000’s, a decade of low-rise jeans and tracksuits. Britney spears rise to fame started in the 1990s on Disney channel, she sooner expanded and became a worldwide pop star and is referred to as the “princess of pop”. The 2000s brought highs and lows for Britney, her music career skyrocketed but her personal life became not so personal. Many of Britney’s iconic fashion pieces came from her music videos, toxic, I’m a slave 4 you, lucky and so much more.
For 3 decades Britney gave us jaw-dropping music videos as well as fashion. Who can forget her iconic all-denim look in the 2001 music awards. Because of her celebrity status she could take part in all the trends of the time. Although she never aspired to set trends, Britney still managed to make an impact all the same.
Kendall Jenner
Ah yes, the 2010s. This is the decade where Instagram really starts to become a big thing and begins to have an influence over the fashion industry. It’s where we see the rise of the Kardashian/Jenner clan and the whole influencer community. Kendall Jenner is a model, who really found her influence on Instagram, and has really shaped the fashion of the last decade, with the biggest trend being the way that athleisure has become a big part of fashion even when not exercising. She gets a chance to be in everything from gorgeous designer dresses to a t-shirt and jeans she styled to be paparazzi ready.
zendaya
While we don’t have definitive fashion icons for this decade yet, We know that the influencer effect will continue. If I had to guess, I’d definitely put my money on Zendaya being a possible style icon in the decade to come (she’s definitely been one in the past decade). She wears a lot of fun dresses and more androgynous looks in bold colors and is always on the best-dressed list for red carpets due to her risk-taking styles.