In an interview with Women's Wear Daily (2012), Rei Kawakubo was asked, "If you could have invented one garment, what would it be, and why?"
Rei Kawakubo replied, "I would have liked to invent the plain white shirt, with a skirt and pants to go with it."
Check out some cool iconic images of a white shirt doing its thing.....
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| The one used on the cover is 'cooler' isn't it |
The shirt is one of our oldest garments. Originally it existed as an underwear garment, with neither collar nor cuffs. In the 1700s, it had emerged as outerwear with a collar of huge proportions, and was very decorated with embroidery and lace. A tailor sorted out the "well to do man" and the "common man' had his shirts made by his wife.
In the mid 1800s the shirt took on a bit more tailoring to shape the male body, and at the end of WW1, buttons all along the front became popular. In the 1930s the shirt with a fixed collar was revived, and has been with us ever since.
The following four websites present a good overview concerning the history of the shirt.
This one relates to the Renaissance Era
http://www.kamiceria.com/blog/2013/09/history-of-dress-shirts-sophistication-elegance-renaissance/
This one relates to the Baroque Period
http://www.kamiceria.com/blog/2013/09/baroque-shirts-elegance-sophistication-style/
This one relates to the Rococo style
http://www.kamiceria.com/blog/2013/11/rococo-elegance-mens-shirts/
This one relates to changes in the 1800s
http://www.kamiceria.com/blog/2014/02/mens-shirts-19th-century-new-forms-expression/
This one relates to what the shirt is about in the 1900s, and do take in the video at the end "100 years of fashion in 100 seconds.' It's fab. fun.
http://www.kamiceria.com/blog/2014/05/history-shirt-20th-century/
In 1988, Rei Kawakubo presented a shirt dominated collection line, 'Comme des Garcons Shirt'. It is primarily men's shirts, and the most wonderful creativity goes into the various collections, not only in the design work, but also the advertising campaigns used to sell the product. These campaigns are a good example of how brand image is established.
The 'Comme des Garcons Shirt' campaigns are something totally in their own realm. The advertisements will feature anything, like current day graffiti, 16th C. Flemish paintings, dogs or underground comics. The list is extensive, and apparently one campaign did actually feature people wearing shirts!
Here are some examples of the 'CdG Shirt' advertising campaigns. Obviously the first campaigns featured the actual shirts, then Rei really branched out!
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| Comme des Garcons Shirt Fall 1988 |
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| CdG Shirt 1989 |
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| These are wonderful machine sculptures by French artist Paul Granjon for S/S 2008 |
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| Spring/Summer 2010 |
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(I'm re-watching Breaking Bad at the moment, and this reminds me of the pink ted that ends up in Walt's pool, minus an eyeball!)
 CdG Shirt S/S 2014 So, what are some of the shirts like...... 
Good old everyday red gingham
Checked and patched
stripes, gingham and spots
Tartan features
nice pastel colours
bold bands of colour
 
amazing argyle connection
I love the wide tucks taken in the front, which affects the way the shirt sits on the body
This particular shirt collection is great. It's good to see how CdG utilise their scraps of fabric!
Check out this web site for more images from the collection. It'll give you some cool ideas for shirts & fabric scrap utilisation..
And, here are some CdG Junya Watanabe patched shirts...as I said previously, I love how they utilise their fabric scraps!
 
Some of the shirts I have created that have CdG influence
  and, this is my take on the argyle shirt, 'cept mine is a t-shirt and not really argyle.
This is a shirt from CdG's A/W gorgeously "trashy" 2008 collection
These are some jackets & a shirt from the collection...
and my take on the shirt, long strips made up the ruffles
One of my previous shirts is also inspired by this collection, plus a skirt to go with it.
  
A coat from the collection, and the red skirt worn as a top, inspired from the coat, inspired my skirt.
Another CdG shirt, but I am not sure which collection. It is very CdG don't you think
A shirt of mine which works a similar concept, a shirt worn which has a garment on its back or a t-shirt worn with a shirt on the front
Another CdG Shirt collection, which is working with Union Jack images, very coolly done ...some appear on the front of a shirt and some on the back of the shirt .
My shirts of a similar concept, which express the St George cross, the St Andrews cross and....gosh, what is the other one? I think it is the St Patrick.
I like the waistcoat feature that is incorporated in this CdG shirt . It's a great play with the shirt/waistcoat "class" of dress
This is my play with a waistcoat feature come shirt, but like my "argyle" product, in my case, it;s a t-shirt and I added a tie.
   
I love the creative things people do with shirts or parts of shirts, like....
 a corset made from shirt collars, and a lovely hat accessory, also created from shirt collars 
a collar made from shirts
These are some handbags I created from shirt sleeves and cuffs plus embroidery hoops. I was inspired to this idea during a great trip to Barcelona, with my lovely pals Maria and Carol
  
("In Victorian times the Devil made work for idle hands...")
Shirts often feature in works of art and design
Office Block, by Jac Scott Stiff, by Libbie Soffer
The business suit is a universally recognized uniform, symbolic of respect and middle class. Those who wear it are often described as 'white collar worker'.
The columns of starched white collars symbolize the structured business world of the 40-hour week.
Collars and Ties?, by Caroline Quail
This work of non-functional collars makes a vivid comment on the relationship between those who wore such wonderful clothing and the unknown women who made them for their livelihood.....has much changed?
Dries Van Noten's comment on war
Self explanatory, do you think?
Untitled (Shirts), by Annika von Hausswolff. An investigation into the emotions linked with despair, loneliness and with being trapped inside oneself.
This is the first and only time E asked me to iron his shirt.....I got a little carried away!
Actually, it is my take on architect/designer partnership Diller and Scofidio's project 'Bad Press: Dissident Ironing, the darker side of domestic life'. I saw this exhibition in New York and loved it, the folding really appealed to me
Diller and Scofidio used men's shirts to rethink the everyday task of ironing and came up with unexpected alternatives for folding,
buttoning and pressing a man's shirt, which also examined expectations of domestic perfection.
Check this link for instructions on how to fold and press a shirt to get it looking totally different.
So, shirts are quite something, aren't they...it's wonderful how designers develop a shirt
On the left, Michaela Burger presents a sculptural twist, very ordinary in the front , but the back is a lovely cascade of multilayered ruffles
On the right, a wonderful Yohi Yamamoto shirt , this time a straight forward back, but very cool pleating going on in the front. And take in the bracelet, I think it is a tin can!
What do you think of the portrayal of this shirt, kinda...subversive...kinky..anarchic!
Shirts are fabulous items in the wardrobe. I seem to be always working on a shirt, in some form or another. At the present, it's this one. This cool piece of fabric was given to me, not quite enough for a full shirt, so I got a black/white gingham to "fill the gaps".
    
Shirt is finished and every button is different.
I'm inspired by the 'tartan features' shirt. I have some tartan left over from a previous creation which goes well with this black/white stripe. See, I always seem to be working on a shirt of some kind. Fun.
Here is a good site I came across via 'The Cuuting Class', a wonderful website, if you are someone who is into sewing clothes/ pattern making/fashion designers work. This website gives good info on making a shirt.
"Growing a shirt" 
I know I've posted this before, but it seemed suitable to add it again
This too, is about a shirt!
  In 2005 I went looking for my Uncle's burial ground from WW2. It took me to Becklingen, Germany. It's always sobering to see what his age was when he was killed. I "decorated" a shirt for him, placed it on his head stone, planted some Anzac Day poppies, then quietly departed. We were under no illusion as to how long the shirt would stay there.   
and now it is time to go, with wonderful shirts, washed and drying on the line in a warm summer breeze.....evocative of days past
SLTSLTBsigning off.
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