Redundant.

I could write a very long article proving that there are no original ideas in fashion, but that would take too much effort.

I've been browsing online the Met's Costume Institute collection, and I am really surprised. I would consistently see an item, think "That's probably from x era," and then click on it to see the information, and discover that I was completely wrong! And it's not even the 20-year fashion retro-generation that's been going on since the 70s or so, or the popular "vintage" look of today. I'll see a jacket for example, and think, "that's from the 60s," and then see that it's actually from 1894. Or a tunic that's completely medieval-looking, but it's actually a cocktail dress from the 70s! A lolita-looking dress that might be now, or the 80s at the earliest, is actually from the late 50s. An evening coat from the 40s looks like a doublet from the late 1500s. You know that puffy-bottomed style that's pretty popular these days? Turns out it was also popular in the late 50s/early 60s . . . and in the early 1600s. You know those awful stirrup pants from the 80s? I saw a pair from 1820! I saw some psychedelic, multi-colored boots and thought "That must be 60s gogo boots," but no, they were from Asia in the 1800s (Paisley! This is not a lie!). A dress from 1915 which looked like a psuedo-pirate ren faire costume. A hat from 1930s that I could have sworn was a French hood and veil from the 1500s. An early 20th century American "teddy" which is basically a Nordic apron-dress. Not to mention a headdress style that lived from the early medieval period until the 1800s, across several continents, with only small changes along the way. Items will have really strange design details that look like they belong on those DIY boutique fashionistas of the online auction world, or on fantasy or sci-fi costumes, when really, it was being done in the 1700s or something like that.

It's all over the place. (I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at what I saw in the 60s and 70s, since they were all up in postmodernism, but still. There were plenty of non-60s coincidences to go around.)

I'm somewhat educated in historical dress. Just think of how confusing this might be for an everyperson with only the vaguest idea of what other historical periods wore.

My conclusion--All you fashion designers out there, you think you're so original and that some design detail is exclusive to your line, but chances are that it's been done before. Can we all just accept the fact that fashion has become this huge melting pot of everything ever, and stop being so pretentious?