Endless continuity

I am, more and more, becoming convinced of the role of continuity in history. And, apparently, I am not alone.

As my better half puts it:

‘Even fashion people should understand how the past unfolds within the present. Yves St. Laurent designs of the 1970s were – all prophetic liberationism of the trouser suit notwithstanding – retro, looking back at the 1930s and 40s (notably, the style of Marlene Dietrich), hence if we look back to the 1970s as a source for our retro styles, we must realise that we’re already duplicating a historical stance.

Fashion is a wonderful repository of historical reality. Which is why it bugs me that every season people pretend that they are reinventing the wheel when really they are only quoting.’

Roland Barthes put it this way: ‘le texte est un tissu de citations, issues des mille foyers de la culture.’

Or, as my wife keeps telling her students: ‘You all look like my mum in 1975.’