By Monica McNealy and LaShawn Williams
Coral Gables and Coral Reef Senior High School

Trends. . . ever changing and evolving. Often times trends grow and change due to everyday occurrences. For instance, youth of the 1900s turned to aprons for fashion statements. It was common for girls to wear long aprons in order to protect their petticoats and fancy dresses. During this era clothing for young women involved many layers and was not comfortable.

Fashion for young men during this time involved three-piece tweed suits.  The boyâs pants were shorter in length and the older men were longer. Also straw hats were very common to see as well. Often during this time new styles and trends were modeled on children first rather than adults.

Gangsters, flappers and swingers from the 1920s through the 1940s paved the road for the fashion industry. In 1920's big, bold and baggy zoot suits were worn. In the 1940s because of the war, the War Production Board released L-85 guidelines which restricted the quality of the clothing. Clothing manufactures depended more on rayon because fabric was short in supply.

With the ending of the depression and war, Americans looked to happier times. Clothing included slim fitting dresses that barely covered the knee. Skirts became tighter and shorts became shorter. Clothing in the 1960s underwent the most dramatic transition of any fashion stage in the 20th century. There were many conservative styles of early to Mod fashions like mini skirts and hot pants. It reflected a new move toward comfort and new independence.

The 1970s were a time of caution and retreat. Denim blue jeans made a fashions statements - the flared and bell-bottom silhouette. Plaid, polyester, no-wrinkle flares and matching vests were also common. In the 1980s, the people started cutting slits into their jeans and wearing tie-dye shirts. Members Only jackets became common as well as parachute pants, ripped sweatshirts, and stone washed jeans.

It is often said that history repeats itself in some form or another.

Now in the 1990s, bell bottoms have come back to be known as flares and stone washed jeans have taken on a new approach. If the future is anything like the past, look to see familiar trends come around again.