Lately I've been hearing Boho Style this Boho Style that. Boho Jewelry, Boho Look, Boho everything. Just what in the heck is Boho Style? I consulted Wikipedia and this is what they said:
"Boho" is an abbreviation of bohemian. Vanessa Nicholson (granddaughter of Vanessa Bell, one of the pivotal figures of the unconventional, but influential "Bloomsbury Group" in the first half of the 20th century) has described it as a "curious slippery adjective".[1] Although the original Bohemians were travellers or refugees from central Europe (the French bohémien translates as "Gypsy or Roma people"), the term has, as Nicholson noted, "attached itself to individuals as disparate as Jesus Christ, Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes". The writer and historian A. N. Wilson remarked that, "in his dress-sense as in much else", Winston Churchill was "pre-First World War Bohemian", his unbleached linen suit causing surprise when he arrived in Canada in 1943.[2]
Does this look bohemian to you? Maybe a little unconventional and might I add, very wrinkled.
But just in case you want to get on the bandwagon (the gypsy bandwagon, that is) here is your guide to dressing Boho:
My sister, Barbara, was way ahead of this trend. Back in the 50s she was already dressing Boho, but I don't think she knew it. Here she is on Halloween in her Boho (er, uh Gypsy costume):
Check out other gypsy caravan stories here Sepia Saturday.
Of course, you've come up with another interesting approach to the prompt! My own moth ball laden closet holds a few items you might call BoSen as in Bohemian Senior or just plain old fashioned...like the skirts I have that resemble old window curtain. I'm happy to know that I'm skirting the edge of a trend.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of Churchill being "Boho", maybe Wilson was using de-caf to tend his hangover... http://goo.gl/BgJfS
ReplyDeletewow. did you see the price of that coffee?
DeleteI hadn't really thought about the origins of "Boho" until now. My sister has dressed in Boho style for some time, but always thought of it as a hippy style.
ReplyDeleteYes, Boho is just hippie style rehashed. The fashion industry always has to come up with a new name for an old trend.
DeleteA fun read. A new term for me!
ReplyDeleteBoho was a new term for me too. But the style is certainly not new.
DeleteVery interesting, and just a cool way to go with this. Your last photo is just perfect! What fun!
ReplyDeleteI do have a few skirts that I think could qualify. I was always a Gypsy for Halloween, back in the day.
ReplyDeleteYes, being a gypsy was almost as easy as being a ghost. Both costumes could be put together from stuff in the house without having to go out and purchase some dime store costume. I used to hate those cheesy dime store costumes.
DeleteDon't forget about the people of Bohemia, now Czech Republic.
ReplyDeleteI recently read a book by Eisenhower's WWII driver that mentioned that Churchill frequently wore coveralls during the war.
That Churchill was quite the character.
DeleteAh yes the gypsy fancy dress costume beloved of small children at parties and in amateur drama performances. Your sister was ahead of her time I think with this wonderful outfit. Here in Lanzarote ladies like to wear long floaty tiered skirts, as they are so comfortable in the heat.
ReplyDeleteYes, I can see where those floaty skirts would be perfect in the heat. Maybe I should dig mine up to wear this summer!
Delete"Most Good Things Come From Eastern Europe" (my Dad Told Me...) :)
ReplyDeleteI like to think of my dress sense as being "style-free," but my knowledge of the subject is pretty minimal and I'm sure my clothing would be categorised by somebody. The Bohemian lifestyle, of which clothing was obviously just the most visible part, seems to have played a very big role in the Sixties and Seventies movements.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a regurgitated style from the 60s. The young people weren't even born yet, so Boho is new to them.
DeletePerhaps it ought to be Boo Hoo Style. This definitely passed me by; my wife would say so did any style!
ReplyDeleteGood post on the theme. In my family, my aunt Gail and Jerry Rose embraced the bohemian trend, or perhaps it's predecessor, the beatniks of the 40s. Gail in her reading and thought process, Jerry Rose in clothing that would definitely fit the style. Jerry Rose has been described as a poetess with flowing scarves, bangles, and wispy, whirly skirts.
ReplyDeleteGail and Jerry are definitely Boho, don't you think?
DeleteSome of my research on old vaudeville performers introduced me to gypsy or Bohemian fashions of the 1900s, so this style has had several previous cycles. Perhaps it goes back to baroque times when high society adopted peasant dress for carnival costumes.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a style that's had several names and incarnations. Sometimes I think the designers of today are just lazy and can't come up with something new.
DeleteMy favorite Halloween costume was always the gypsy. I was a gypsy probably 80% of the time that I went trick-or-treating. Even today I am always drawn to gauzy dresses and skirts that fall under the "Boho-chic" cagetory, but I rarely buy because I don't have all the other parts to pull off the look - the jewelry, the belt, the sandals. Eh, I'm a mess.
ReplyDeleteWendy, I'm disappointed in you. Just check out the little guideline above and you'll be all set. I think you can carry it off.
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