Princess Diana’s style evolution, and why some decades are just better at fashion than others – Telegraph.co.uk

The 80s were such a polarising decade, politically, culturally so its not surprising that the fashions still split the jury. In the week of Princes Williams and Harrysdocumentary about their mother Diana, the fault lines have clarified: those who look back on the decades clothes fondly tend not to have been around when it was actually unfolding.

Those who shudder at the clunky proportions, unsophisticated footwear and mullet-ant hair tendencies are generally those who had to live through them first hand. I hated fashion in the 80s and I still do. But that could just be me.

It does raise the question of what makes an era classic the 1950s and what leaves it in the dung-heap of curiosity. Time is a huge factor. In 1937, James Laver, the art historian and V&A curator, worked out a 150 year timeline for fashion. To prcis, he suggested that a design that was ten years ahead of its time is generally considered indecent, while ten years after its moment, its usually regarded as hideous. Twenty years after, its dismissed as ridiculous; 50 years makes it appear quaint, 70 years charming, 150 years, and its back to being beautiful

Laver was evidently onto something, even if his time line has itself, suffered from time warp. Revisions happen much faster now.

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Princess Diana's style evolution, and why some decades are just better at fashion than others - Telegraph.co.uk