Today is exactly 14 years since I wrote on my very first blog post here on Inside Out Style, and to celebrate this huge milestone (it’s 98 years in internet years, which are kind of like dog years 🐶) Not only am I giving you the presents – with a 14 % discount on all my Style Programs and Masterclasses (this equates to around $70US off my 7 Steps to Style program🎉💕) for 1 week (25 August). I thought I’d share 14 fun fashion facts to celebrate the day.
14 Fun Fashion Facts
1. Mark Twain invented the bra strap hook and eye closure and the first modern style bra was made from handkerchiefs by Mary Phelps, a New York socialite in the early 1900s. She was going dancing and wanted more support, so sewed handkerchiefs together.
2. 3 out of 5 fast fashion items end up in landfill. It’s time to become more conscious consumers, looking at your clothing as an investment, choosing items carefully with an eye to buying only those garments that suit your colouring, body and personality rather than settling for “it’ll do” items that don’t end up being worn more than a few times.
3. Space suits get replaced after six years in orbit or after 25 spacewalks and cost $15-$22 million in 1974 when they were first produced, and since 2009 NASA has invested more than $200 million in spacesuit development.
4 High heels were originally worn by men as they helped to steady soldiers standing on horseback (the heel stopped the shoe from slipping through the stirrup. In the 18th century they were also worn by children.
5. The mini skirt was named after the Mini Cooper, designer Mary Quant’s favorite car
6. That little pocket on the inside of one of the front pockets on your jeans is for your pocketwatch (still carry one? These days a mobile phone is a pocket watch – we just need bigger pockets!).
7. Women were only allowed to wear shorts in public after the 2nd World War (when fabric was in short supply, so clothes with less fabric became more acceptable).
8. The second oldest item of clothing is the skirt (the oldest is the loincloth, but we don’t get around much in those anymore).
9. The first fashion magazine was sold in Germany in 1586 and France’s first magazine was aimed at men, not women, and first published in 1678.
10 Cotton has been cultivated to make fabrics since 3000 BC.
11. Queen Victoria was the trendsetter who made white wedding dresses de rigeur when she wore one as she married Prince Albert. Before that wedding dresses weren’t white.
12. Mittens vs Gloves – these used to show your wealth and status back in the Middle Ages, when poor people wore mittens and rich wore gloves.
13. Romans invented different shoes for left and right feet back in the year 200, before that, you couldn’t put your shoes on the wrong feet.
14. During the Renaissance it was fashionable to shave off your eyebrows, this is why the Mona Lisa has such an enigmatic look, no eyebrows to show expression.
14% Off Programs and Masterclasses to Celebrate
Grab a program or one of my style masterclasses right now – this week only – the discount is applied at the checkout – so no need for a promo-code!
Other Fun 14 Facts
There are 14 days in a fortnight (two weeks)
There are 14 lines in a sonnet
There were 14 seasons of Dallas made (1978 t o1991)
14 is the atomic number of silicone
Valentines Day, 14th February only became associated with romance in the 14th century
The 13th floor in many buildings is listed as the 14th as some consider the number 13 to be unlucky, so it’s bypassed completely.
