FROM ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER
Hairpin turns in fashion history, from the New Look to now.

(Photo: Pat English/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

1947: The New Look
First Christian Dior’s opulent silhouettes instantly made all those tailored wartime dresses look starved …

(Photo: Rue des Archives/The Granger Collection)

1965: The Mini
…Then Mary Quant’s schoolgirlish high hems made full skirts look hopelessly bourgeois…

(Photo: Reg Lancaster/Getty Images)

1969: The Pantsuit
… Then Yves Saint Laurent’s androgynous suit made the mini look juvenile …

(Photo: Meyerpress/Rex USA)

1985: Shoulder Pads
… Then shoulder pads made pantsuits look asexual …

(Photo: Firstview)

1988: The Bubble Skirt
… Then poufs made shoulder pads look too serious …

(Photo: Firstview)

1992: Minimalism
… Then minimalism made poufs look insubstantial …

(Photo: Firstview)

1995: Sex
… Then Tom Ford’s landmark Gucci collection made minimalism look cold-blooded, which leads to the baby doll, which leads to now.

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• Features
• From the August 27, 2007 issue of New York