5 Miserable Times in History That Actually Helped Style

BY RACHEL SELVILLE TASHJIAN

History is a cruel mistress: It can be good, it can be bad, and when it is bad, it wants to look very good. That is to say, even some of the worlds most troubling times have had their sartorial appeal, from the transformative lace of Mary Stuarts sectarianism to the potent calico and pussy-bows of Thatcherism. As one of the most tortuous and depressing election cycles in modern history mercifully comes to a close, a silver lining potentially presents itself in the advent of a new, ground-breaking era in fashion. Take notes: History repeats itself, and next season, as were sure youre aware, could require you to dress for disaster .

Thatcher-era England

Margaret Thatcher s England created a society haunted by unemployment, poverty, and oppressive social conservatism. But Thatcherism also gave way to a whole generation of Thatcheristas! Perhaps driven slightly mad by the ubiquitous dim-witted patriotism, the late 70s and 80s brought a cacophony of tweeds, plaids, and wacky sweaters (not to mention a boom in nouveau millinery) to the U.K., turning the classic English country look unhinged.

Prohibition

With the ratification of the 18th Amendment in 1918 came the end of fun as Americans then knew it. No more drinking cordials and riding your servants horse backwards. No more slugging your weekly rum ration in an hour, then stripping naked and going to see a matinee of Nosferatu wearing nothing but a barrel. And how were you supposed to crank out the Great American Novel? Talent and pluck?! But while industrious Americans attempted to spin liquor out of bathtub water and horse hay, they also set off a bold, new fashion revolution, as women began forgoing corsets and long dresses in favor of loose-fitting, knee-grazing glitzy garb and cropped hair. If you cant drink your danger, you can always wear it!

England with Mary, Queen of Scots, on the Throne

Talk about a bad queen: Mary Stuart spent her life escalating tensions between Scotland and England, she oversaw the tumultuous deterioration of the relationships between Catholics and Protestants, and she married her cousin and probably had him murdered. But she looked damn good doing it! Her desire to look pious and virtuouseven victimizedmeant she broke new ground in lace ruffs and cute little hats with furry pom-poms. Her sleeve game was Vetements -worthy, and her capes would make Andr Leon Talley salivate. She may have been executed, but her style shifted royal portrait standards forever.

France During Marie Antoinette's Reign

Marie Antoinette also took a page from the unaware, stylish female leader playbook (a must-read for everyone!), spending unfathomable amounts of taxpayer dollars on her cupcake-colored sartorial confections and shoes. Her sense of style has reverberated throughout the rest of history , but in the immediate aftermath of her execution, the high-strung operations of royal style were democratized. The fashion industry that had previously been used exclusively for royals was free to dress the bourgeoisie of France, bringing a well-dressed middle and upper-middle class into existence for the first time in history.

Late 19th Century New York City

The Lower East Side of New York was just as disgusting 120 years ago as it is todaythough, instead of catching cholera, youll now catch something unprintable from a man in a fedora named cHazz. But just a few blocks uptown, Edith Wharton and her giddy packthink bottle service types, but wearing bustleswere creating New Yorks first fashion scene in opulent gowns, often copied from or inspired by the best stuff in Paris. If history shows us anything, its that when the going gets tough for most of society, the rich can distract themselves with a trip to whatever the days equivalent of Zara is.