| Fashion is a fast forward industry, but continually falls | | | | Twenty years before the advent of the Bolo, another |
| back on archives to draw new inspiration from old | | | | innovation took shape, when a pioneering Paris fashion |
| styles. It's as repetitious as the 1-2-3-4 beat of rock | | | | designer, Jean Patou, invented the designer silk ties. He |
| and roll including the back beat. | | | | made silk ties from women's clothing material including |
| Often it's easier to gauge changing weather patterns | | | | patterns inspired by the latest art movements of the |
| than to predict the rise and fall of fashion clothing. Like | | | | day, Cubism and Art Deco. |
| an inexperienced sailor navigating un-chartered waters, | | | | To a puritan, known, to a novice fascinating, to an |
| you'll be tossed about by the waves and loose any | | | | aspiring designer essential knowledge, because fashion |
| sight of direction. | | | | is based on historic events that helped shape the |
| Many designers, ill equipped have been left high and | | | | world, underpinned by the economic formation of style. |
| dry on the high tide line. It's a ruthless industry and | | | | Definitive styles, without dropping names, are pretty thin |
| piracy is rife. | | | | on the ground. The dark suit is one that has been |
| But there's always good weather on the way. | | | | around for centuries and since the 20's has changed |
| For those who are anecdotal-wise, here is one of | | | | little other than a few cosmetic alterations. Punk, as |
| particular interest, the outcome of an accident that | | | | defined by Vivienne Westwood is in constant pursuit |
| changed the direction of men's neckwear. | | | | of perfection and still a major influential concept 30 |
| In the late 1940s, a silversmith named Victor | | | | years after inception. |
| Cedarstaff went riding with friends in the Bradshaw | | | | Perpetuating her own unique style, Vivienne |
| Mountains outside Wickenburg, Arizona. When the | | | | Westwood marks a new creative direction for men's |
| wind blew his hat off, Cedarstaff removed the | | | | fashion accessories and jewellery design. Far |
| hatband, which had a silver buckle he did not want to | | | | removed from her early days of Punk; a |
| lose, and put it around his neck. | | | | comprehensive selection from her current collections |
| When his friends complemented him on the new | | | | of finely crafted cufflinks pendants for men and silk |
| apparel, Cedarstaff returned home, and wove a | | | | ties. |
| leather string. He added silver balls to the ends and ran | | | | If you want a tip of what fashion style is due next? |
| it through a turquoise buckle. | | | | Keep one eye on the weather it can change any time. |
| Cedarstaff later patented the new neckwear, which | | | | Finally another anecdote to fall back on: 1952: Douglas |
| was called the bolo because it resembled the lengths | | | | Fairbanks Jr declares 'Savile Row has recaptured the |
| of rope used by Argentine gauchos to catch game or | | | | tailoring supremacy of the world'. Fairbanks Jr is one of |
| cattle. | | | | the 20th century heroes of Savile Row. As far back |
| Now mass-produced, bolos are usually made of | | | | as 1937, it is recorded in Anderson & Sheppard's |
| leather cord, with a silver or turquoise buckle. They are | | | | ledgers that he recommended Marlene Dietrich to the |
| common throughout the west and are often worn for | | | | firm when she was in England to make Russian |
| business. In 1971 Arizona legislature named the bolo the | | | | revolution epic Knight Without Armour. |
| official state neckwear. | | | | Have things really changed that much? |