Fashion Flashbacks!

When I laid eyes on this video, my mouth watered. Take recent fashion history, place next to the trajectory of the feminist movement, and bam, you've got an hour of fun and fascination. My heart sunk as I realized this video was simply a compendium of black and white runway clips from the 50's and 60's--no historical context, no comparisons to fashion of today, no treatises on the paradoxical liberation and constriction of fashion in women's lives. Just footage. And more footage. The video consists of three parts: "Mostly Mod," including go-go boots and Op-Art vinyl wear of the 60's; "Fabulous Fifties," rife with sweater girl sweaters and tubular swim suits for only the buxom; and "Vintage Chic," a survey of 50's and 60's accessories. We're talking a "cloche of gold brocade on a bandeau of turkey feathers" from the 50's and a pair of 60's eyeglasses with lenses so big they cover the face. What almost saves Fashion Flashbacks! is the pun-filled (unintentional) narration of the original male narrator. His running commentary is filled with revealing quips: "this one's easy on the eyes but hard on papa's pocketbook." His comments provide some indirect evidence of the economic and social position of women. Alas, scenes from the history and politics of the time would have enhanced these showings of clothes. But for what it is--unfiltered fashion footage with vintage narration--Fashion Flashbacks! is a strictly optional purchase. (A. Laker)