Shoulder Pads Are Back
Fashion Week in New York revealed that once again designers are fascinated with shoulder pads. Shoulder pads are an item that most of us would rather see disappear from the annals of fashion for good but this just does not look likely given how many of them were seen on the runways in one of the largest fashion centers in the world.
One explanation give by a Bloomingdale’s fashion director for this phenomenon is that sharp shoulders give women confidence.
Whatever the reason these eighties style shoulders were in evidence everywhere for Spring 2009 including on the runway of Marc Jacobs. He created a kind of punk princess who was wearing those New Wave style zippered and slashed outfits complete with bulky, sharp shoulder pads. This design was paired with narrow pencil skirts. Sexy neon cut outs in pink and green also lent an eighties aura to his clothing designs.
However what is probably going to be most copied this year are is satin party dresses with big shoulders that come in hot purple, pink, green and blue.
Donna Karan’s clothing also boasted shoulder pads but in a softer silkier and more sublet way. Her clothing palette was dark blacks and greys and the sexiest thing about the line was little keyhole cut outs as well.
Cynthia Rowley showed a series of 1940s inspired dresses in silk, velvet and leather. The jackets all had those padded shoulders and so did her collection of stern black dresses.
Betsey Johnson also showed more structured clothing that was made of knits and fabric froth. This season for this lauded designer featured a look that we last saw on singer Cyndi Lauper way back in the eighties. The sharp shoulders were the only thing given these layered jackets and petticoats some structure. Her palette was less morose than others who showed fashions on the New York runway. Her clothing came in every color of the rainbow.
Padded shoulders were also apparent in the clothing of Jill Stuart whose clothing was a mix of leather, lace and billowy sheer chiffon. Dramatic sihlhouettes of cascading ruffles were complemented by sharp shoulders. One sensation and crowd pleaser in her collection was a white mini dress with padded “Patricia Nixon” style shoulders.
One of the oddest offerings was from a newer designer named Erin Fetherston who went one step further than the structured padded shoulders and added a mini hoop skirt. The collection, despite the sharp shoulders was a riot of ruffled necklines, floral prints and feminine colors like cranberry and lavender. It was a more feminine use of the trend and more Victorian rather than eighties in flair as was the trend with many of the other designers who showed in New York’s Fashion Week.