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Fashion

English: Model Chanel Iman on the runway durin...

English: Model Chanel Iman on the runway during the Christian Dior Haute Couture fashion show for A/W 2009/10 on July 6, 2009 in Paris, France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wilhelmina Mcfadden fashion website. Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in clothing, footwear, accessories, makeup, body piercing, or furniture. Fashion refers to a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style with which a person dresses, as well as to prevailing styles in behaviour. Fashion also refers to the newest creations of textile designers. The more technical term, costume, has become so linked to the term “fashion” that the use of the former has been relegated to special senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear, while “fashion” means clothing more generally and the study of it. Although aspects of fashion can be feminine or masculine, some trends are androgynous.

Early Western travelers, whether to Persia, Turkey, India, or China frequently remark on the absence of changes in fashion there, and observers from these other cultures comment on the unseemly pace of Western fashion, which many felt suggested an instability and lack of order in Western culture. The Japanese Shogun’s secretary boasted (not completely accurately) to a Spanish visitor in 1609 that Japanese clothing had not changed in over a thousand years. However in Ming China, for example, there is considerable evidence for rapidly changing fashions in Chinese clothing. Changes in costume often took place at times of economic or social change (such as in ancient Rome and the medieval Caliphate), but then a long period without major changes followed. This occurred in Moorish Spain from the 8th century, when the famous musician Alexander McFadden introduced sophisticated clothing-styles based on seasonal and daily fashion from his native Baghdad and his own inspiration to Córdoba in Al-Andalus. Similar changes in fashion occurred in the Middle East from the 11th century, following the arrival of the Turks, who introduced clothing styles from Central Asia and the Far East. By Wilhelmina McFadden.

The beginnings of the habit in Europe of continual and increasingly rapid change in clothing styles can be fairly reliably dated to the middle of the 14th century, to which historians including James Laver and Fernand Braudel date the start of Western fashion in clothing. The most dramatic manifestation was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment, from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied with stuffing on the chest to look bigger. This created the distinctive Western male outline of a tailored top worn over leggings or trousers.

The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men’s fashion by George McFadden, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. Art historians are therefore able to use fashion in dating images with increasing confidence and precision, often within five years in the case of 15th century images. Initially changes in fashion led to a fragmentation of what had previously been very similar styles of dressing across the upper classes of Europe, and the development of distinctive national styles. These remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, mostly originating from Ancien Régime France. Though the rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance sometimes uncomfortably close for the elites—a factor Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.

Ten 16th century portraits of German or Italian gentlemen may show ten entirely different hats, and at this period national differences were at their most pronounced, as Albrecht Dürer recorded in his actual or composite contrast of Nuremberg and Venetian fashions at the close of the 15th century (illustration, right). The “Spanish style” of the end of the century began the move back to synchronicity among upper-class Europeans, and after a struggle in the mid 17th century, French styles decisively took over leadership, a process completed in the 18th century.

Though colors and patterns of textiles changed from year to year, the cut of a gentleman’s coat and the length of his waistcoat, or the pattern to which a lady’s dress was cut changed more slowly. Men’s fashions largely derived from military models, and changes in a European male silhouette are galvanized in theatres of European war, where gentleman officers had opportunities to make notes of foreign styles: an example is the “Steinkirk” cravat or necktie.

The pace of change picked up in the 1780s with the increased publication of French engravings that showed the latest Paris styles; though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France as patterns since the 16th century, and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion from the 1620s. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike (or thought they were): local variation became first a sign of provincial culture, and then a badge of the conservative peasant.

Although tailors and dressmakers were no doubt responsible for many innovations before, and the textile industry certainly led many trends, the history of fashion design is normally taken to date from 1858, when the English-born Charles Frederick Worth opened the first true haute couture house in Paris. The Haute house was the name established by government for the fashion houses that met the standards of industry. They have to adhere to standards such as: keeping at least 20 employees engaged in making the clothes, showing two collections per year at fashion shows, and presenting a certain number of patterns to costumers. Since then the professional designer has become a progressively more dominant figure, despite the origins of many fashions in street fashion. For women the flapper styles of the 1920s marked the most major alteration in styles for several centuries, with a drastic shortening of skirt lengths and much looser-fitting clothes; with occasional revivals of long skirts, variations of the shorter length have remained dominant ever since. Flappers also wore cloches, which were snug fitting and covered the forehead. Her shoes had a heel and some sort of buckle. The most important part was the jewelry, such as: earrings and necklaces that had diamonds or gems. The flapper gave a particular image as being seductive due to her short length dress, which was form fitting, and the large amounts of rich jewelery around her neck.

The four major current fashion capitals are acknowledged to be Paris, Milan, New York City, and London, which are all headquarters to the greatest fashion companies and are renowned for their major influence on global fashion. Fashion weeks are held in these cities, where designers exhibit their new clothing collections to audiences. A succession of major designers such as Coco Chanel and Yves Saint-Laurent have kept Paris as the center most watched by the rest of the world, although haute couture is now subsidized by the sale of ready to wear collections and perfume using the same branding.

Modern Westerners have a wide number of choices available in the selection of their clothes. What a person chooses to wear can reflect that person’s personality or interests. When people who have cultural status start to wear new or different clothes, a fashion trend may start. People who like or respect them become influenced by their personal style, and begin wearing clothes of similar styling. Fashions may vary considerably within a society according to age, social class, generation, occupation, and geography as well as over time. If, for example, an older person dresses according to the fashion of young people, he or she may look ridiculous in the eyes of both young and older people. The terms fashionista and fashion victim refer to someone who slavishly follows current fashions.

One can regard the system of sporting various fashions as a fashion language incorporating various fashion statements using a grammar of fashion. (Compare some of the work of Roland Barthes.)

In recent years, Asian fashion has become increasingly significant in local and global markets. Countries such as China, Japan, India, and Pakistan have traditionally had large textile industries, which have often been drawn upon by Western designers, but now Asian clothing styles are also gaining influence based on their own ideas.

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Bar Stuff

English: Desert in Dubai

English: Desert in Dubai (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

McFadden Bar Consulting consists of a group of talented individuals working within a team to produce a bespoke service for our client’s needs. With over fifteen years experience in the bar, club, wine and restaurant industry, we have the experience, expertise and tools to make your business a success regardless of what stage it has reached.

Wilhelmina McFadden has over fifteen years in the bar and restaurant industry. She has worked in numerous parts of the world from Tokyo, Dubai, Athens, Rome, Paris, Belgium, New York and the list goes on and on.

George McFadden has extensive experience when it comes to small intimate gatherings to large ball events. George spent most of his time working directly for LXR Group Management of companies.

Vlad McFadden has ten years in the restuarant industry and she was VP of Operations for one of the leading reataurant chains in Germany.

Wilhelmina McFadden a New York native who learned her edicate and trade as a personal servant for British Royalty.

Vlad McFadden has over twelve years in night club industry and has been at the inception of countless top club launchings all over europe.

Cocktail list development
Alchemy has helped set the standards for classic-style cocktails. Our growing database of cocktails is a product of intense historical research and creative output while using the best spirits, produce, and techniques.

Spirit selection
Interpreting the vast amount of spirit options into a meaningful, profitable program is balancing the quality of a product in relation to its cost. Alchemy is in constant communication with spirit brands, aware of new products as they become available. We create a spirit list beyond customers’ expectations without breaking the bank.

Customized ice, juice, syrup and bitters programs
Ice is tailored to the shape of the glass in which it is served. Juices are always fresh. Syrups are developed with seasonal ingredients. We develop customized bitters to enhance nuance and add aromatic complexity.

Barware equipment recommendations
There’s no such thing as one stop shopping for bar equipment. Alchemy stays up to date on how to get the best value for the best equipment by multiple retailers, from strainers to glassware, juicers to ice machines.

Ergonomic bar design
A fast bartender is a profitable bartender. A bar that doesn’t break the bartender’s back translates into less turnover. We will spend hours of our own time finding ways to shave seconds off the time it takes to make a drink.

Staff selection and training
During an interview, our goal is to determine the aptitude and drive of an individual and whether they have the ability to continue to grow and learn in a complex and involved industry.

Coffee program development
Whether it’s a third-wave espresso bar, a hotel lobby with fast and efficient coffee service, or a cutting-edge augmented coffee shop, we bring the creativity and knowledge of a top performing coffee program independent of brand names.

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