Post-Retro & Music

As part of my summative brief I have developed my research outside of fashion and looked at post-retro connections with music. The late 1960's/ early 1970's was an evolutionary time for the music business as Rock music was born. This then led to the development of American folk rock which saw hits like 'House of the Rising Sun' - 1964 and 'The Sound of Silence' - 1963. This genre of music generally produced songs with a slow tempo evoking a sad, dark emotion. This genre continued to be a hit in the early 1970's with the same mellow tempo. This can be linked to the mood amongst society at this time as great economic struggle hit with unemployment levels rising to new highs.

When researching the connections between post-retro fashion and music, one of the most iconic girl groups of this era I researched were The Supremes. This American trio had a distinct motown sound and an iconic sense of style. The Supremes explored many aspects of post-retro fashion such as ditsy floral prints, flares, brights, neutrals, and fabrics such as lace with a lot of texture. They were a perfect part of music to base my research on for this section of my brief.

The post-retro era also saw development in music venues with the breakthrough of Northern Soul. Northern Soul was a music and dance movement of the late 1960's/ early 1970's. The music was based on a heavy beat and carried a fast tempo. It was also known as 'modern soul'. It started as a sound of individual artists but then DJ's started to take it to the clubs. This was a time when dancing became more athletic, transitioning into disco and breakdancing. Some iconic venues of this era included The Catacombs in Wolverhampton and Golden Torch in Stoke-on-trent. An icon of this style was Jackie Wilson.

Researching the era without a direct pass through the fashion industry has definitely helped me understand the trend more and has been very useful when completing my summative brief - context stage.

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