|
THE RUDI GERNREICH BOOK |
|
Resort 1967, Miss Hip. Gernreich's fashion ideas of that year included Siamese harem dresses that folded diaper-fashion between the legs, clear vinyl bands on knitted dresses and swimsuits, cossack clothes, boots with white feathers, and pantyhose and scarfs printed not with Gernreich's name (so-called signature scarfs printed with designer's names were at the height of their popularity) but an alphabet of scrambled letters that said nothing. As Gernreich put it, "the unsignature scarf." He proved his seeing powers again in May with a statement that other designers were later to second. "The era of fashion dictatorship is gone," he announced in a news release for those attending his fall collection, "and with it the authoritarian approach to clothes. There is worldwide confusion about everything and this includes fashion. Everywhere structures are breaking down. The confusion can be felt everywhere and the designer must work with it and against it. It's interesting, but it's an awful mess. We have discovered that nakedness isn't necessarily immoral, that it can have a logical and decent meaning. The body is a legitimate dimension of human reality and can be used for a lot of things besides sex. Slowly, the liberation of the body will cure our society of its sex hangup. Today our notions of masculine and feminine are being challenged as never before. The basic masculine-feminine appeal is in people, not in clothes. When a garment becomes sufficiently basic, it can be worn unisexually." He ended his statement by declaring the skirt was finished, that pants and tunics with tiahts had replaced it. Women's Wear Daily disagreed. Gernreich, not the skirt, was the endangered fashion species, according to a story that ran June 12, 1968. "Rudi Gernreich has boxed himself right into a corner. For years, he's been America's most avant-garde designer and has been praised for it. But this season, Rudi misses with his gimmicks and costumes and jokes of past seasons. His mini tunics over laced-up leg coverings, his layered look which adds pounds and his inflated bloomers don't look today or tomorrow. Rudi says we need fun and games during these times, but his collection looks more like a comedy of errors." The fun and games stopped on October 16, 1968, when Gernreich announced he was taking a year's sabbatical. In a brief statement to the press, he said, uit's not a big deal. I just think it's time to take off for a while. I just want to rest."
|
