Maiden Voyage

In case you haven’t heard, there are some people out there who aren’t too crazy about our country calling a national holiday for Christopher Columbus. A public service announcement has been floating through the ethers of the Internet, asking Americans to reconsider the celebration that takes place each October, placing the blame on this man for bringing slavery to the New World, its repercussions still haunting us today, over 500 years since the explorer from Spain first set foot on our land, mistaking the Americas for the West Indies.

While this debate will no doubt continue, leaving future generations to ponder why so many bank holidays celebrate the history of American brutality (We're looking at you, Thanksgiving!), there’s always an upside to any situation, and since this is a fashion blog, we’ll give you one guess as to what we can celebrate about ol’ Chrissy boy.

That’s right. We're talking clothes. It’s no news to you that fashion repeats itself, and so much of Columbus’ style from 1492 is relevant today. The ruffled collar, a relic of its time, has been immortalized in countless portraits--and countless blouses. The puffed shoulders popular in 15th-century garb was reinvented in the ’80s with shoulder pads that Bea Arthur wore so well on The Golden Girls. Last year's runways were littered with its latest incarnation: the power, pointed version that Christophe Decarnin peppered throughout Balmain’s Fall 2010 collection. Not to mention the slops men wore back in the day--you know, those fancy ballooning shorts? Though not exactly the hottest commodity in menswear, women’s skirts took a cue from this fashion back in 2006 when the bubble hem was all the rage.

Which is not to say that Christopher Columbus’ actions should go overlooked. We just wanted to lighten up the mood a bit, and try to make Columbus Day a little less political and a little more sartorial…