10 Historical Fashion Trends That Need to Come Back

Some fashion trends last decades, others last the length of a season. Here are some fashion trends that I think we may have abandoned too soon!

1. 1950s cocktail dresses for women. They were simultaneously decorous and flirty, with their daring necklines, tiny waists, flouncing fabrics, perky petticoats, and gorgeous colors. True, you need the figure of a Cosmopolitan model to pull the look off, but what rewards! SO much classier than the skin-tight, bland, black cocktail dresses they sell today. 

2. Fedoras for men. Can we all agree that men should never have given up fedoras?
They bring out the inner Humphrey Bogart in every man.

3. Top hats for everyone! They were a must for the Edwardian gentleman,
but women wore them for riding and, if I say so myself, totally carried the look off.

4. Zoot suits for men. Seriously, have clothes for men ever been more swag? Those oversized jackets with exaggerated shoulders,those cinched-waist slacks narrowing at the ankle, those short, square-cropped ties!  In this case, there's a reason other than the vagaries of style to explain why zoot suits disappeared: they were actually banned during WW2 due to their "wasteful" use of excess fabric.  More zoot suit trivia: in 1943, so called "Zoot Suit Riots" - conflicts between American sailors and Latino youths (recognizable by their penchant for zoot suits) broke out in California, resulting in several deaths. 

5.  Gowns for women.  When did elegant transform from THIS to what passes for elegance on the runway these days - strips of fabric glued over strategic bits of anatomy? Speaking of which, why do women only wear gowns to inagural balls anymore? What happened to dressing up for dinner and/or theater? Why wouldn't women want to wear gorgeous gowns like this as often as possible?

6. Pantaloons for men. Because a well-turned calf NEVER goes out of style.

7. Striped jackets for men.  Playful, youthful, and gay in the very best sense of the word.

8. Turtlenecks for men (and women). All the old Hollywood stars and starlets were photographed in turtlenecks. What did they know that we've forgotten?  That sometimes sexy isn't what you reveal, but what you don't reveal. Plus, turtlenecks of men remind me of cravats, and I do love a man in a cravat.

9. Fur for women. Now that we have such a vast selection of synthetic alternatives,
isn't it time to bring fur back?  Fur collars, fur stoles, fur cuffs, fur muffs .... so elegant!

10. Straw boaters for all.  I do love the fresh, casual look of a straw boater with a jaunty ribbon.
Add a more feminine bow and the look works equally great on women.