Attention fashionistas! In case you missed it, (doubtful,) the hottest new trend for Fall 2015 is (are?) Fringes. Yay! I’ve been a fringe fan for years – since about 1970 I think – when fringes made their last comeback. My wardrobe includes a black suede Western style jacket, with fringes at the elbow and across the back, fringe trimmed gloves with matching scarf, and a fringe trimmed bikini. Come fall I will be wearing my fringes proudly and get a leg up on fashion. Except for the bikini, which will no longer slide up my leg because it somehow shrank in size and in any case would get me arrested if I wore it on a public beach or even at my neighbor’s swimming pool. Did I mention that I also saved a fringed and tie-dyed tee shirt with a drawing of Mick Jagger’s tongue on the front? Soooo cool.
While we’re on the fringe, let’s take a quick look at the history of this fashion phenomenon through the ages. Fringe can be traced back to Mesopotamia during the third century zip when it was a favorite of the wealthy. The trend actually began one cold day in the year 30 zip, when a tyrannosaurus rex herder from West Mesopotamia came upon a raggedy wool plaid blanket and draped himself in it much to the admiration of his fellow tyrannosaurus rex herders. (see footnote below).
Fringes disappeared for a few centuries only to return stronger than ever during the Flapper Age of the 1920’s. They shimmied off the fashion scene but returned in the late 1960s and ‘70s, getting a free and easy ride from actor Dennis Hopper. And to this day, fringes are a Western fashion staple with strings attached, or not, depending on the width of the fringe.
It should be noted that fringes have also made their way into the English language. We talk about fringe benefits, being on the fringe, fringe haircuts, the fringe of the law, lunatic fringe and fringe fried potatoes.
So wear your fringes proudly, ladies and they will put you on the cutting edge of fashion this fall. Literally speaking, that is.
(Footnote: I too learned that humans and prehistoric animals did not occupy the earth at the same time, but far as I know, there has been no corroboration from eyewitnesses.)
copyright 2015 Harriet Posnak Lesser
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Harriet Posnak Lesser is an award-winning journalist and social satirist whose articles have appeared in Long Island’s The South Shore Record and Nassau Herald, The New York Times, Cracked Magazine and others.