Long live the latest shoulder pad fad

Press, 24 February 1988, Page 15

Long live the latest shoulder pad fad

By

Liz Davies

Shoulder pads can correct proportions

After all, they have been around for centuries, not just seasons Rumours abound, and one of the most disturbing whispers from the ’BB Collections is that the shoulder pad lies abandoned on the dressing room floor. Luckily, as with most gossip, the news can be taken with a pinch of salt. Shoulder pads have been around for centuries, not just seasons. They were worn by the kings of old as a symbol of majesty, making the wearer appear larger than life. The extensive padding, while adding to the splendour of the king, as it often incorporated extra decoration, also had the added advanatage of protection from the assassin’s knife! More recent history traces the advent of the squared-off shoulder to the thirties when many more women started to do men’s jobs. Their real contribution to the war effort in the 1940 s meant women in uniform with the shoulders to match. This was followed through by the Hollywood designers of the time. How many of us have admired the strength of Joan Crawford in the black and white movies we occasionally catch on a wet afternoon.

Image-making still continues in today’s television series. The stars of "Dallas” and “Dynasty” are padded, it is said, in

direct proportion to the power they exert on the screen. Who could image Krystle with “milk bottle shoulders,” and the shoulders of Alexis seem to grow visibly the more sinster she becomes.

Following the roundabout of fashion, the fifties saw a softening of line. Women out of uniform, wanted to be super feminine following the swirling skirts of the “New Look” and a more natural shoulder line.

The skimpy sixties made clothes so form fitting and short — not to mention the see-through phase which caused such a stir before the advent of topless beaches became

so acceptable — that the styles clung closely with never a pad in sight. Feminism, which became stronger in the seventies, influenced fashion. Unisex clothes appeared, making the

necessity for the reappearance of shoulder pads for the crisp shoulder lines.

As often happens some features were taken to extremes and we saw the “out-of-this-world” science fiction-type pads. They made the timid cringe having no wish to be taken for an American footballer or a Martian.

Relax, the pad is still with us. Too many of us have discovered how shoulder pads can help

correct proportions: the slightly wider shoulder can whittle a bit off the waist, and can help balance the less than perfect hip line. Shoulders have become more manageable, and with practise, so has the use of shoulder pads. How many of us have had to make a grab at that newly developed muscle as the pad slides down the arm, or worse to suddenly become “Triple Breasted.” Often shoulder pads have to be moved slightly for the individual to make the best line. They can be stitched firmly in place or, with the invention of Velcro, a strip on the pad and another on the garment makes the pads really stable.

So it seems the shoulder pad is here to stay. It may be softer and more discreet . than in other seasons, but it has become addictive and we can’t do without it.