Hazel Sanchez

Art 3410

April 19, 2017

CHER’S EVOLUTION

Over the years, the music scene has been the voice of the masses and has heavily

influenced the iconic fashions that have been created each generation. Cher, the singer and

actress is a fashion icon who re-invented herself many times throughout her career. One thing has

remained consistent was her amazing sense of style that has influenced fashion thousands.

Cher is a highly known versatile artist, she is both an American singer and actress. She

was born on May 20, 1946, in El Centro, California. Cher career started as part of a singing act

with her husband Sonny Bono in the 1960s, hitting No. 1 with the single "I Got You Babe.” The

duo later starred on their show The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. However, the show ended as

the couple's marriage dissolved. Cher continued her career solo. Some of her famous songs

"Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," "Half-Breed" and "Dark Lady” made it to top charts. She then

pursued acting in the 1980s, starring in films like Silkwood and Mask and earning an Academy

Award for her performance in Moonstruck. Cher also found more music success with rock-

oriented tracks in the '80s and a global dance hit, "Believe," in the late ‘90s.

Hippies & Folk Music

During the sixties, Cher started out

with her straight black hair and bell

bottoms. At the time, the fashion industry

was specifically targeting towards the

youth market. In previous years, the

fashion industry was mostly designing for

the mature and elite members of society. It

was the social and political revolution that

transpired in the mid-sixties, that caused

this turn in the industry. The power of the

teenage and young adult market was too

great to ignore.

The first major fashion movement of the Sixties emerged from Great Britain, where The

Beatles, The Rolling Stones and various other pop and rock bands were enjoying immense

popularity. Designer Mary Quant created the iconic miniskirt in response to the youthful, fun-

loving attitude that was spreading throughout the

country. The capital became known as “Swinging

London” and soon brightly colored streamlined

fashions were all the rage in Europe and America .

During the second half of the 60s, the

infamous Woodstock festival and artists like Jimi

Hendrix and Janis Joplin influenced the “Hippie”

movement that originated in San Francisco, Calif.

The prevalence of free love, recreational drugs

and psychedelic music became apparent in

fashion. Clothes for men and women became

loose and relaxed, with brightly colored prints and

patterns influenced by other cultures. Bell-

bottoms, tunic tops and tie-dye prints became very popular.

The Sixties was a politically-charged decade and many folk artists emerged with their

stance on war, racism and government. Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton and emerging star Joni Mitchell

were important folk artists in the Sixties, and fans soon copied their fashion sense. Reflecting

working class America, denim and military-style jackets along with western-inspired shirts rose

in popularity.

Disco & Big Hair

Following the counterculture of the

60s, the 70s created a trend of

relaxing music as well as dance

music. People grew tired of the

fighting that happened the previous

decade and many of them turned to

dance clubs and other places to have

a good time. Out of this idea

emerged the Disco movement.

However, there were still the bands

and artists that continued to speak of

the ills of society, typically

characterized by the punk music in

the late 70s. Although the rebellious

idea had died down shortly following

Woodstock in 1969, there were still

many people that disagreed with the

establishment and the way the country was being run. Most people, though, were just looking for

another way to vent their frustrations, which helped to give rise to the fun that disco music

provided.

One trend in pop music during the decade was the re-emergence of older musicians who

had once been popular as a part of a group or duo into their own solo careers. Cher being one of

theses artists had already

experienced success during the 60s

and 70s and a few of them had

even became an actor during that

time. She also came into a

successful solo career after

adapting to the new musical

landscape. Cher updated her looks

to keep up with fashion. Cher

tested the fashion industry, with

feathers, leotards, leather, metal

and big hair. These were mostly

designed by her friend Bob

Mackie. Part of the reason these

artists like Cher were successful

had to do with the fact that the

Baby Boom generation was coming

into adulthood and had an influx of disposable income to spend on the records of artists they had

grown up listening to. They brought a sense of nostalgia for the good old days of music and yet

their songs and styles were updated, combining the best of both worlds.

Globalization, Technology, & Rocker Look

Fashion was rapidly changing in the 1980s and more diverse than ever before. Due to

increased globalization of the world and pop culture trends in fashion spread faster than ever and

were more widespread. Changes in technology and the expansion of cable television and

networks like MTV meant that TV, Movie and Music celebrities' fashion was more accessible to

fans and viewers and an increased obsession with celebrities

brought fashion into the forefront of pop culture.

The fashions and styles during the decade represented more

distinct groups than ever before. In the past there would

usually be one or two predominant styles at a time, whereas

in the 1980s, several separate and distinct groups of trends

were all sharing the popularity at one time. Cher went back

to big hair and fishnets maybe the most iconic is her turn

back time outfit. In 1980 at the wrap

party for “Xanadu,” Cher has

abandoned her trademark long locks

of the ‘60s and ‘70s and opted for a

short cut à la Joan Jett. With a

studded leather jacket, oversized

metal jewelry, and bright makeup

she’s the epitome of rocker girl cool.

Music in the 80s was all

about image and with the advent and

popularity of MTV, the images that

accompanied artists became more

important than ever. When it came to

music during the decade, nothing was

understated, not the sound, not the fashion,

not even the charity. The 1980s reflected

the beginning of a period of great income

disparity and a focus on affluence was

reflected in the music. There were also

several new genres that popped up

including, Hip Hop, New Wave and Hair Metal, all of which have influenced music today. In

1987, Cher signed with Geffen Records and revived her musical career with what music critics

Johnny Danza and Dean Ferguson describe as "her most impressive string of hits to date",

establishing her as a "serious rock and roller ... a crown that she'd worked long and hard to

capture”. Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Desmond Child, and Richie Sambora produced her first

Geffen album, Cher, which was certified platinum by the RIAA. It features the rock ballad "I

Found Someone", her first U.S. top-ten single in more than eight years.

Dressing Down & Back to Disco

In the 90s, Cher gave us disco music,

which might have been the turning

point, to establish her as one of the

biggest icons. The 90s marked the end

not only of a century but also a

millennium. The decade leading up to

the year 2000 saw a lot of change and

excitement, with many important

events that shaped not only the 90s but

our lives since then.politically,

technologically, and culturally. With

the Cold War over and the Internet

changing the way we work and live.

Less became more in the 90s. Not

everyone adopted minimalism, but

many did as they sought to blend and

fit with an increasingly aggressive urban society. The silhouette became neater as shoulder pads

finally died and jewelry became non existent. The only concession to 80's glitz was a subtle, but

new iridescent glitter shimmer on sheer and tulle fabrics that went through to skin, make up and

hair spray. For many the sleek hairstyle copied from Jennifer Aniston or the funkier choppier

hairstyle of Meg Ryan was the only hairstyle to sport.

Cher's 22nd studio album Believe (1998)

marked a musical departure for her, as it

comprises dance-pop songs, many of which

capture the "disco-era essence"; Cher said,

"It's not that I think this is a '70s album ... but

there's a thread, a consistency running

through it that I love.’" Believe was certified

quadruple platinum by the RIAA and went on

to be certified gold or platinum in 39

countries, selling 10 million copies

worldwide. The album's title track reached

number one in more than 23 countries and

sold over 10 million copies worldwide. It

became the best-selling recording of 1998 and

1999, respectively, in the UK and the U.S.,

and Cher's most successful single to date.

"Believe" topped the UK Singles Chart for

seven weeks and became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK,

selling over 1.7 million copies in the country as of November 2013. It also topped the Billboard

Hot 100 chart for four weeks, selling over 1.8 million units in the U.S. as of December 1999. The

song earned Cher the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.

In January 1999, Cher

performed "The Star-

Spangled Banner" at the

Super Bowl XXXIII.

Two months later, she

sang on the television

special VH1 Divas Live

2, which attracted 19.4

million viewers.

According to VH1, it

was the most popular,

and most watched

program in the

television network's

history, as Cher's

presence was "a huge

part of making it exactly

that.” Capitalizing on the success of "Believe", Cher's former record company Geffen Records

released the compilation album If I Could Turn Back Time: Cher's Greatest Hits (1999), which

features the previously unreleased song "Don't Come Cryin' to Me”. It was certified gold by the

RIAA. The Do You Believe? tour ran from 1999 to 2000 and was sold out in every American city

it was booked in, amassing a global audience of more than 1.5 million. Its companion television

special, Cher: Live in Concert – From the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (1999), was the highest

rated original HBO program in 1998–99, registering a 9.0 rating among adults 18 to 49 and a

13.0 rating in the HBO universe of about 33 million homes. In November 1999, Cher released

the compilation album The Greatest Hits, which sold three million copies outside of the U.S. as

of January 2000.

Cher was named the number-one

dance artist of 1999 by Billboard. At

the 1999 World Music Awards, she

received the Legend Award for her

"lifelong contribution to the music

industry". Her next film, Franco

Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini

(1999), got mixed reviews, but she

earned critical acclaim for her

performance as a rich, flamboyant

American socialite whose visit to

Italy is not welcome among the

Englishwomen; one reviewer from

Film Comment wrote, "It is only

after she appears that you realize

how sorely she's been missed from

movie screens! For Cher is a star. That is, she manages the movie star trick of being at once a

character and at the same time never allowing you to forget: that's Cher."

Not.commercial (2000) was written mostly by Cher after she had attended a songwriters'

conference in 1994; it marked her first attempt at writing most of the tracks for an album. As the

album was rejected by her record label for being uncommercial, she chose to sell it only on her

website. In the song "Sisters of Mercy", she criticized as "cruel, heartless and wicked" the nuns

who prevented her mother from retrieving her from a Catholic orphanage. The Catholic church

denounced the song.

Works Cited

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“Issues for the ′80s.” The Journal of Epsilon Pi Tau, vol. 6, no. 1, 1980, pp. 2–3. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/43602556.

McKnight, David. “The 1960s and '70s Are History.” Labour History, no. 81, 2001, pp. 205–206.

JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27516814.

Mikkola, Kirmo. “The 60s.” Design Quarterly, no. 84, 1972, pp. 6–17. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/

stable/4090816.

"The '90s: Reliving a Decade." CNN. Cable News Network, 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 May 2017.

Thomas, Pauline. "1990s Fashion HistoryThe Mood of the MillenniumPart 1." The 1990s

Fashion History Part 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27516814http://www.jstor.org/