Fashion Trivia | 100 random facts & trivia about fashion (part 1)

The fashion industry is sometimes criticized and some other times really praised by people. No matter what though with one way or another everyone is affected by its trends and the people involved in it.

Let’s find out more about the fashion industry!

1. In the United States, each person owns an average of seven pairs of blue jeans.
2. Genoan sailors were known colloquially as “Genes” and wore cotton pants, which is where we get the word “jeans” from.
3. Women were only allowed to wear shorts in public after World War II.
4. One of the main reasons for this was because less fabric was available during the war, so shorts were more cost-effective than pants or skirts.
5. Pants though were introduced by Coco Chanel, when she wore pants in Venice, in order to make traveling in gondola more convenient.
6. Around two billion of them are sold every single year.
7. Historically, purple clothes are connected with wealth.
8. They were only worn by magistrates, emperors and another aristocracy in Rome, Italy.
9. The loincloth is the oldest item of clothing.
10. Oddly the second oldest is the skirt.
11. The first-ever fashion magazine was sold in Germany in 1586.
12. The most popular fashion magazine today is Vogue.
13. Dali, the famous painter, created 3 covers for Vogue.
14. But before becoming a magazine, Vogue was a weekly newspaper.
15. Back in the 1880s, Vogue cost only 10 cents!
16. Also, Vogue’s main target group was “men of affairs”.
17. Since 1992, the price of clothes has gone down by 8.5%.
18. In 1907, a woman was arrested on a beach in Boston for wearing a one-piece swimsuit.
19. There is a bra that can also be used as a gas mask.
20. On the subject of bras, the famous author Mark Twain was the inventor of the bra clasp.
21. The record for the world’s longest wedding dress is held by a dress that has a 1.85-mile-long train.
22. Levi’s jeans are one of the most popular brands of jeans.
23. The first pair sold for $6 worth of gold dust back in 1853.
24. In the 18^th century, they were fashionable even for children.
25. Ancient Greeks kinda invented the high heels.
26. These high heels were named kothornoi (buskin, high boot), and they were used by the actors while playing theater.
27. Ralph Lauren’s real name was Ralph Lifshitz.
28. Michael Kors’ first project was his own mother’s wedding dress.
29. He was a mere 5 years old at the time.
30. The “little black dress” was compared to the Ford car when it first came along in 1926 since it was practical and simple.
31. Coco Channel “invented” the little black dress concept.
32. Coco Chanel was a good singer as well. In fact, she was a singer before entering the fashion industry.
33. During this period of her life, the nickname Coco was given to her.
34. As we mentioned she introduced the women pants. Apart from the women’s pants, she also introduced the first designer perfume. Thank you, Coco!
35. Her debut in the fashion industry was made by… designing hats!
36. Her real name was Gabrielle Chanel.
37. Stella McCartney bags went a step further and are made out of corn.
38. She has designed an exclusive lingerie line for Breast Cancer Awareness month.
39. She was awarded for excellence and service in the fashion industry by the Orger of the British Empire.
41. Until the beginning of the 19^th century, models were not used to showcase clothes.
42. Fashion companies would use only dolls instead.
43. Harry Winston was the designer of the most expensive shoes in the world.
44. The red ruby slippers he designed sold for $3 million.
45. Christian Louboutin’s shoes are the most famous shoes (probably) in the world.
46. Louboutin started his career though by working for other brands such as Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent as a designer in 1982.
47. He opened his first shop in the early 1990s and opened his first store in 1991 in Paris.
48. This is where he first introduced the famous Louboutin shoes, that are quite famous for their red soles.
49. He revealed his enthusiasm for the red shoes began in 1976 when he visited the Musee National des Arts d’ Afrique et d Oceanie.
50. He saw a sign from Africa forbidding women wearing sharp stilettos from entering a building.
51. This image stayed in his mind for a long time and gave birth to the famous red soles shoes.
52. Queen Juana, from Portugal, wore the first hoop skirt in a bid to hide the fact she was pregnant.
53. In the Middle Ages, poorer people would wear mittens.
54. At the same time, the richer would wear gloves to show off their wealth.
55. The ancient Romans built the very first shopping mall.
56. The famous Lacoste crocodile symbol is really old: It was first created was created in 1933.
57. It was the first designer logo ever.
58. There is a rumor that the company Louis Vuitton burns any old stock to keep a tight hold on its exclusivity.
59. This is why Louis Vuitton products are never on discount. Sorry!
60. Louis Vuitton opened its first store a long time ago- in 1854.
61. But his big break was given by Napoleon’s Bonaparte’s wife, Empress Eugene de Montijo of France. He was her box – maker.
62. An unlikely person to be associated with the fashion world, Napoleon invented the buttons for sleeves after his soldiers kept wiping their noses on their button-free clothes.
63. Bith Louis Vuitton famous Damier & Monogram prints were created to avoid copycats.
64. In the 1892 world’s fair Louis Vuitton, the designer began making handbags,
65. This is the product that made Louis Vuitton as a brand REALLY famous.
66. There is no wonder since Louis Vuitton handbags are waterproof and fireproof.
67. Marc Jacobs, famous for his many perfumes, has a SpongeBob SquarePants tattoo, among 27 others.
68. Gucci manufactured a pair of jeans named the Gucci Genius Jeans. They sold for a staggering $3,134.
69. Guccio Gucci was the legend behind the brand.
70. This is where the GG logo comes from.
71. He personally established it in Florence when he was 40 years old.
72. Gucci started in Italy, but he was inspired by Londonese and Englishmen and English women in general.
73. More specifically his inspiration came while working as an elevator operator in London.
74. At first, he created handbags and briefcases, which are some of the most popular items until today.
75. The rapper 2Chainz quoted the following: “When I die, bury me inside the Gucci store.”
76. Guccio Gucci managed the brand until the very last minute in 1953 when he died.
77. His son took over the business after his death and promoted all of the products to Hollywood.
78. The popular Gucci Hobo Bag was used by Elizabeth Taylor.
79. Tom Ford was appointed the position of Creative Art Director in 1994 in order to clean the brand’s name after scandalous news broke out.
80. New York Fashion Week made its debut in 1943.
81. Paris Fashion Week was previously hosted for many years.
82. In the 1950s, the average American household spent 11.5% of their income on clothing.
83. Nowadays, Americans use around 3.5% of their income for clothes.
84. Australian’s are the world’s second-largest consumers of fashion. On average, they consume 27kgs of new clothing and textiles every year
85. Australian’s are the world’s second-largest consumers of fashion. On average, they consume 27kgs of new clothing and textiles every year
86. Australians though are the world’s second-largest consumers of fashion.
87. On average, they consume 27kgs of new clothing and textiles every year
88. On a global scheme, we now consume about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year.
89. This is 400% more than we were consuming just two decades ago!
90. Fast fashion probably helped with that.
91. Global clothing production has doubled in the past 15 years, with garments on average being worn much less and discarded quicker than ever before
92. Queen Victoria was the first person to wear a white wedding dress.
93. Prior to this, white had been used as a color of… mourning.
94. 1 in 6 people work in the global fashion industry
95. More than 90% of that cotton is now genetically modified, using vast amounts of water as well as chemicals. 
96. Australian, UK, USA, or New Zealand made, does not mean it is fair trade made; garment workers in the western world are exploited too.
97. Only 9% of Australian fashion brands pay their workers a living wage.
98. Only 10% of the clothes people donate to thrift stores or charities get sold.
99. The rest goes to landfill.
100. Fashion’s consumption of resources – especially water and oil – is projected to double by 2030.