Guest Author - Norma Shephard

Whatever happened to the droop look?

The March 15, 1963 issue of British Vogue Magazine devoted a full eleven pages to this silhouette that they described as a “simple unstrained shape”, choosing Greece as the location for an extensive photo shoot of fashions by London’s Young Jaeger, the French fashion house Tiktiner, Jean Muir of Jane & Jane, Susan Small, & Carnaby Street’s Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin. Accessories were supplied by Dents (kid gloves), Charles Jourdan (black patent sandals), and Olofson (hair piece).

The lanky look was characterized by loose-fitting jackets and skirts, slim, roomy shift dresses, hipster pants, straight, ankle-length dresses with slit pockets or loose princess lines. Dramatic impact was achieved through the use of bold colors or black and white classic combinations such as polka dot and houndstooth. Features like limp, soft fabric bows, long narrow ties, or loose fitting sleeves ending in contrast fabric cuffs emphasized the droopy silhouette. Deep-V necklines framed by white low point collars featured prominently in many of the designs, and were especially effective when paired with large, bubble-crowned hats with deep sloping brims and wide contrast bands.

Yves Saint Laurent interpreted the look through belt-less, body-skimming shift dresses (knee-length or just below), which offered the barest suggestion of a bustline through up-curving seaming. But many credit Paris-born designer Emmanuelle Khanh with inventing the droop or “drop” as it was also called. Her decidedly more feminine, close-to-the-body designs with their sagging, dog-eared collars and U-shaped necklines found their way into IT magazine a full year before the Vogue declaration that “There is a whole new natural elegance now making fashion history.”

Appropriately styled accessories enhanced the overall effect of the droop silhouette through details which pulled the eye downward or drew bold attention to themselves: dramatic headscarves, slack-fitting gloves, stacked bangles, anklets, satchel bags, giant eyeglasses or sun sunshades, drop earrings and low heeled “strappy” shoes. Even hairpieces plaited to the waist made the scene. Vintage fashion lovers wishing to recreate the drop look would do well to consider the entire silhouette from hairline to hemline and beyond.

The Mobile Millinery Museum and Costume Archive is home to a fine example of a droop look dress. The loose fitting, long-sleeved dress of black moiré silk taffeta with its dramatic low point collar was altered by its original owner. The hem was raised three inches in an effort to prolong the life of the dress, which was in style for a very short period of time.