These are random musings of my life journey, the people, animals, places, and events which have woven, and continue to weave, a tapestry that is me. We all know there is no real destination, only the ongoing experiences which blend together, creating the trail. Each step gives a glimpse of what is to come, without allowing me to see the end result. It is exciting. I have a home base that is mine, that gives me a place to rest. This is it. This is where my heart is, no matter where I journey...................

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

TUESDAY TRIVIA

It's all about fashion, isn't it? No matter what our opinions, fashion has an impact in our lives. We may be slaves to it or could be rebellious against it, but fashion is there. So here is something to think about.


FASHION FIRST
1470 - To hide her pregnancy, Queen Juana of Portugal wore the first hoop skirt.

1874 - Levi Strauss begins selling blue jeans for $13.50 per dozen. (OMG!!!)

1913 - Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel opens a boutique in Deauville, France. Her chic and comfortable knit suits usher in the modern era of women's fashion.

1916 - Sneakers are first made in America by the U.S. Rubber Company. They were called Keds.

1923 - The U.S. attorney general declares it is legal for women to wear pants.
(This means my mom broke the law! Of course, many women did. I suppose that it was still considered “poor taste” for a while after that. I have some snapshots my dad took of my mom in the late 20s. On the back he wrote “My Tommy Girl,” a play on the term “tomboy,” I’m guessing.)

1930 - Tennis star Rene Lacoste manufactures a tennis shirt that features an embroidered crocodile. It's believed to be the first time a designer logo appears on clothing.

ABOUT JEANS:
Did you know that blue jeans have been around since the 18th century? Because of their durability, jeans were the perfect outer wear for laborers during that time. Let's learn a little more about the history of jeans...

History of Jeans
18th century - American mills begin producing their own jean. Laborers wear the durable clothing.

19th Century - San Francisco dry goods merchant Levi Strauss produces “waist overalls”—the early name for jeans. They become a hit with gold miners eager to strike it rich in California.

In 1886, Strauss adds a brown leather patch on the back of his waist overalls. The label, which shows a pair of jeans being pulled between two horses, is still affixed to Levi’s jeans.

1940s - American troops pack their waist overalls when they travel overseas to fight in World War II. The trend catches on in Europe. Lee and Wrangler make their own jeans to compete with Levi’s.

1950s - Jeans, no longer called waist overalls, became a symbol of the teenage rebel, particularly after James Dean wears them in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause. Some schools ban jeans.

1960s - Jeans dominate college campuses. Students began to personalize their jeans with paint, embroidery and patches.

1980s - Designer jeans, such as Sassoon, Jordache and Calvin Klein, emerge. Straight-leg, tight-fitting styles give jeans a new look.


ABOUT SHOES:
4,000 years ago the first shoes were made of a single piece of rawhide that enveloped the foot for both warmth and protection.

In the Middle East heels were added to shoes to lift the foot from the burning sand. In Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries heels on shoes were always colored
red.

Shoes all over the world were identical until the nineteenth century, when left- and right-footed shoes were first made in Philadelphia.

Six-inch-high heels were worn by the upper classes in seventeenth-century Europe. Two servants, one on either side, were needed to hold up the person wearing the high
heels.

Boots were first worn in cold, mountainous regions and hot, sandy deserts where horse-riding communities lived. Heels on boots kept feet secure in the stirrups.

The first lady's boot was designed for Queen Victoria in 1840.

(There is an amazing amount of interesting information out there about shoes. Just google "history of shoes," and be amazed. "Chopines" are especially fascinating to me!)

ABOUT SNEAKERS
In the late 18th century, people wore rubber soled shoes called plimsolls. Around 1892, the U.S. Rubber Company came up with more comfortable rubber sneakers with canvas tops, called Keds.

Sneakers earned their nickname because they were so quiet, a person wearing them could sneak up on someone.

In 1924, a German man named Adi Dassler created a sneaker that he named after himself: Adidas. This brand became the most popular athletic shoe in the world.

In the 1950s, kids began wearing sneakers as fashion statements. Even more teens followed the fad after seeing James Dean in sneakers in the popular movie Rebel Without a Cause.

In 1984, Michael Jordan signed a contract to wear a Nike shoe called Air Jordans—the most famous sneaker ever made. Even after Jordan retired from the NBA, his shoes continued to be best sellers.

New sneaker technologies increase performance. Nike’s Air Force used little pockets of gas to create better cushioning, while Reebok introduced The Pump—air pumped into shoes to make them fit more snugly.



I personally like the fashion of we old people .... Comfort First!!! But I've been dressing that way since I was merely a 30-something!

8 comments:

  1. Very intersting.

    I was a little surprised that there was no trivia about Crocs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uhmmm, Caroline, I'm not sure Crocs qualify as "shoes." HEY! Don't throw those old Crocs at me!! OW!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh come on...you know they are made of plastic and don't hurt even when i throw them at full force. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. But I'm getting o.l.d and my skin is t.h.i.n and I b.r.u.i.s.e easily. Meanie!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chopines are totally fascinating! I've firmly been a girl in flats for the last couple of years, but I swore by heels for years. Maybe I'll slip into a pair after this kidlet comes into the world and I get some of my non-pregnant balance back. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Melissa, when I was young, up to a little past your age, I wore high heals, the higher the better and all that. Then a number of things changed for me, including arthritis in my feet, so I went to flats or very low heels on occasion. Honestly, I'll never go back because comfort became more important than style in my life. Don't tell anyone, but when I married my 1st hub, I had something like 70 pairs of heels. Yes, my middle name is Imelda!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. LMAO at Caroline! You crazy girl!

    Ooh i'm still a fan of lacoste but MAN have they gotten expensive! Thank Bob for Thrift Stores!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Patti, Caroline is a hopeless case, I'm pretty sure! And thrift stores are great, aren't they? Yeah!

    ReplyDelete

If you have something to say about it, just stick out your thumb, and I'll slow down so you can hop aboard! But hang on, 'cause I'm movin' on down the road!!! No time to waste!!!