Leopard Print Clothing and Faux Animal Prints Are Fun, Chic, Glamorous, and Very Trendy
I can’t remember a time when leopard print clothing has not been in style, since Bob Dylan crooned about a Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat in 1966 on the classic Blonde on Blonde albbum.Leopard and animal print handbags, shoes, belts, and accessories are classics in their own right.
Marc Jacobs Shows Jungle Theme
The most recent permutation appeared in the "Marc by Marc Jacobs" collection at New York Fashion Week February 2011. One reviewer dubbed the them "'Welcome to the Jungle,' as models strutted down wearing leopard and zebra prints in an assortment of colors. There was even a "big cat" print on one suit," remarked Kinard in The News Record. Last year,Wearables magazine for fashion-fabric industry reports that leopard, tiger, giraffe, and zebra print are hot sellers (Tallman, Feb. 2010), so our love of playful animal prints is not going away any time soon.
Leopard Print Clothing Has Long History of Popularity
Katie L. Conner wrote in Marie-Claire (Oct. 2009) that leopard print was made famous by designer Norman Norrell in the 1940s. Conner adds that leopard “has been a symbol of luxury and glamour for decades. Everyone from Versace and Cavalli to Marc Jacobs and Matthew Williamson has put a signature spin on the pattern,” notes Conner.
Slithery Snakeskin Is Next FakeTo Take Center Stage
The word from Paris, relayed by Karin Nelson at the New York Times (Oct. 2009) is that faux reptile is slithering past leopard print clothing as the current fave. Snakeskin emulations are the new new-thing.Faux animal print fabrics are turning up in hot new colors, such as hot pink and turquoise – as are the reptilian facsimiles.
How Many Ways Can You Use Leopard in
Your Wardrobe?
From dresses to accessories, exotic faux skin prints for women's clothing and fashion accessories are among the trendiest accents to add to your wardrobe.Animal print shoes may spark an outfit that is a solid neutral or a brighter color, such as pink, red, or yellow. A classy leopard skin belt or bangle adds glamor and sophistication to black, charcoal, or brown. Animal print fabrics add fun, drama, and glamor to your wardrobe. As the perennial appeal of vintage leopard skin, alligator, and snakeskin apparel shows, leopard-print-clothing is an investment that will earn great interest now and in the future.
Why Faux Is the Way to Go When It Comes to Leopard Print Clothing
Two articles from the New Zealand National Archives Library online remind us just how long exotic animal skins have been a style favorite -- and the terrible toll this fashion yen has had on the environment.The Evening Times reported on Feb. 12, 1912, "The skins of wild beasts, such as the leopard, tiger, and jaguar are transformed into coats and are used as trimmings in the forms of collars, cuffs, and hembands upon mantles and jackets. . . . furs have been worn throughout the summer, and the peltry makers anticipate a great fur winter" (p. 7). That same paper noted on Nov. 25, 1913, that the fashion trend was decimating wildlife populations. In Siberia alone, the dead were: - 4.5 million squirrels
- 1.5 million white hares (for fake ermine)
- 1.2 million sable
- 200,000 real ermine
- 200,000 skunk
- 200,000 pole cats
- 16,500 gray wolves
- 1500 brown bears.
It makes a heart glad that there are so many bright fakes to make sure that animal prints are fun to wear.
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