Fun Fashion Facts! Did you know?

Prior to 1850, 70 percent of the clothes worn were hand-stitched by the people who wore them. Clothes were a commodity, not fashion. Buttons on Jacket Sleeves: According to information passed down through the ages, none other than Napoleon Bonaparte dictated that buttons be attached to jacket sleeves to stop the annoying habit soldiers had of wiping their runny noses on their jacket sleeves. What Makes an Item Vintage? A clothing item is considered vintage if it dates from 1920 to 1960. After that date, an item is considered to be retro, not vintage. The bra was created by a young New York socialite named Mary Phelps who grew weary of having her camisole show when she wore a lace blouse. Using handkerchiefs, she designed the first rudimentary bra which she eventually had patented in 1914. Women everywhere loved Mary's new design and the first bra took off in a big way. It was later that a woman named Ida Rosenthal started designing bras with different cup sizes. Did you know the skirt is the second oldest women's garment in history? It's preceded only by the loin cloth in age. In Egyptian times, the skirt was worn by both men and women which can be verified by looking at drawings from ancient times. The Thong was supposedly invented after the New York Mayor LaGuardia became enraged that the city's nude dancers were exposing too much flesh. The thong was developed to keep the New York City dancers covered enough to placate the mayor. Bermuda Shorts: Back in the 1930's, women in Bermuda were forbidden to show their thighs in public. Female visitors and local residents wanted to wear shorts so they simply lengthened the length of their shorts to the knee to cover their thighs. False eyelashes: They were invented for Hollywood producer D.W. Griffith who wanted to enhance Seena Owen's eyes for a 1916 film. The eyelashes were made out of real human hair. Long before that era women were applying color to their faces by many different means. In Cleopatra's time berries and other natural ingredients were used to enhance the face. Nowadays different ingredients are used in the making of colors for the face. Today's average woman uses 6 pounds of lipstick in a year but few of them know that one ingredient frequently used in manufacturing lipsticks is fish scales. The oldest son of Charles XIII, Prince Philip of Calabria, loved gloves so much that he sometimes wore 16 pairs at a time. And, at the end of the 15th century, Charles VIII of France tried to find more comfortable shoes for his feet, one of which had 6 toes. He had shoes designed with a square toe, which came to popularity immediately after he began wearing them. The first pair of Doc Martens were made from old tires. Little was it known how popular these would become. Marie Antoinette was modest about her body so she wore gowns which buttoned all the way up to the top of the neck. She was so modest, in fact, that she wore these gowns even while bathing! Elizabeth I loved hats so much that she made it mandatory for all females over the age of 7 to wear a hat on Sundays and holidays. Anyone who refused to do so was stiffly fined. Perfume is an over $10 million dollar industry. It's been used as far back as the Ancient Egyptians, who used it in religious rituals. The modern era of perfume began in 1921 with Coco Chanel's launch of Chanel No. 5, an exotic floral blend, created by Ernest Beaux. Fashion designers of the 1500s showed their designs by crafting doll clothes versions of their fashions and taking them to shows. It's only quite recently, about 200 years, that children have had clothes distinct from those of adults. Earlier, they just wore smaller sizes. High-maintenance hostage: Designer Karl Lagerfeld was almost the victim of a kidnapping that was part of an elaborate group called RAF or Red Army Faction which was a German gang. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s they terrorized Germany with kidnappings, bank robberies, and murders. Their plans were to kidnapp Karl Lagerfeld for ransom and use the money to buy cars and weapons. Men were the first to wear jewelry as a status symbol and as good luck amulets to aid them in battle. Aaron, first high priest of the Hebrews, wore 12 gemstones (representing the 12 tribes of Israel) in his silver breastplate. This is when birthstones originated. Initially, only one ring was used for an engagement and a wedding. Then in 1477, Maximilian of Austria gave an en- gagement ring to his beloved, Mary of Burgundy starting a tradition.