“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street; fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Coco Chanel
Fashion like said the great coco Chanel is a way of living and thanks to fashion we can see how the world was before. It can transportate us to a place and time. Fashion is created by each society of the time so every big impact on the world affects fashion and the people around it. In this essay I’m going to talk about how fashion developed and changed through the 1900s till the 1930s. The setting of these three decades it’s quite turbulent since the world had passed through the First World War and the start of the Second World War, the great depression, the rise of the suffrage, etc.
1900s
In the 1900s women’s fashion was still very conservative and formal; long skirts, long sleeves, hair up and tightly corseted torso. Women of this age could wear pants, but they weren’t as popular and used in this decade they were all about skirts and dresses. During these years the rich and privileged were probably the only ones to afford the best clothing made with the most expensive and fancy fabrics with the most beautiful but costly accessories. At this time women didn’t use a lot of necklaces or bracelets but they did wear big
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Although high heels continued being popular because women loved them. Sport dressing became even more popular in the Thirties. A wonderful example of a wool jersey bathing suit survived in the shop from 1930. Patterned with contrasting yellow and green areas, the suit has a felt jacket and huge straw hat to match, with huge modern flowers in felt trimming both jacket and hat. These modern motifs in bright, sunfilled colors borrowed in color and scale from art South of the Border reflect the habits of the Tirocchi clients, who went off to their beach houses in the summer or to the Caribbean in the
During the 1920s women gained a freedom that they had not known before. Women were wearing new and shorter fashion styles (document 4). Before the 1920s women’s fashion included floor length dresses that were usually reworn every day. Wearing the same dress every day was seen as a normality during this time and owning too many dresses could have been considered frivolous. In the 1920s however many women owned multiple dresses that they did not have to wear every day or even week.
With World War I coming to an end in late 1918, the country was focused on having a good time. Because of this, fashion went from tight and constricting clothing to unfitted clothing. Dresses became looser, with hemlines rising to knee length (Pendergast et al. 715). Dancing was also a large influence on fashion. Tassels, fringes, floaty layers and feathers became part of the dresses, to draw attention to the movements of the dances, and the shiny fabrics emphasised the dancers (Thorton).
There was a decade of economic prosperity following the conclusion of World War Ⅰ. This time was called the “Roaring Twenties”, because of the ebullient, unrestrained culture of the decade. Before this era, the Victorian attitudes toward dress and etiquette were still prominent, and were the main influence on women’s clothing. Women’s bodies were fully covered, as floor-length dresses were the norm and waists were cinched, tight due to the corsets that were still an accompaniment to most women’s outfits. When the 1920’s hit, however, dresses got shorter, painful corsets were cast aside, and some women even began wearing sports clothes.
Due to a difficult economic situation, women’s clothes became much simpler than in the previous decade. As women spent time primarily at home, their closets were usually reduced to practical garments. 1.3. The Emergence of a New Woman: Role of Women in the Society in the 1920’s Women had to adjust to the period that they were living in.
Flappers wore controversial attire that correlated with their equally controversial ideology. In “Women’s Fashion”, another section of “American Decades”, Tompkins references the styles of Flappers in the 1920s, specifically how their clothing was a result of changing values. Tompkins states “Women's fashions in the 1920s reflected radical changes affecting many areas of post-World War I American society.” Flapper attire included knee length dresses that were very loosely hung, short “Bobbed” haircuts, and heavy cosmetics, something that was traditionally strictly for prostitutes.
The fabrics were imported from India and manufactured in the north of England which contributed to the expanding British textile trade. (White, M) However, the new fabrics were quickly available for the lower ranks of society and allowed ordinary men and women to copy their superiors. This led to what Lemire describes as democratization of fashion in Fashion’s Favourite. The influence of the new consumerist culture was therefore reflected in the new desire for fashion to appeal aesthetically as opposed to the mere usefulness of clothing.
For women, the corset was the first to leave the clothing ensemble, because it was too restricting when dancing with a partner. They also wore more “loose, short, swishing dresses….exposing more knee, leg, and thigh” (Roaring). Dance shoes grew taller, the short Cuban heel worn during the day was exchanged for a higher, thinner heel to accentuate the exposed legs. They were usually made with straps, Single Mary Jane or T-straps, with varying degrees and sparkling trims to follow that years trends. For men nothing special was required.
The 1920s influence is still seen in today 's culture, many people still embrace the 1920s as an age of great change and individualism. This age made woman who they are today, not only through fashion but by breaking down barriers to new forms of lifestyles not discovered by the common people. Not only was fashion used to express the rebellious lifestyle but today it is used to express who people are and where they come from as in what their occupation is as well as gender and race. Without the fashion of the 1920s fashion would be but a synonym for clothing and would have no meaning or power towards it. Therefore the 1920s was the most influential time period for men and woman’s fashion but mostly woman’s fashion because it broke boundaries so that women could succede
In the 1920s fashion was a movement of freedom with flappers, bobbed hairstyles and using art as a fashion statement. “Fashion should be stylish and fun,” (Twiggy). In any decade fashion was a way of saying something. One of the women’s careers was being in the fashion industry.
Apart from King's Road, another area of London attracted fashion victims from everywhere: Carnaby Street. In the late 50s, it would have been full of young ordinary working men that would have sorted themselves out into cliques: The Teddy boys and the Rockers. Come the 60s; it was home to the Mods, Skinheads and Punks. Men's and women's clothing could now meet into unisex outfits expected to be worn by either sex.
The 1900s was completely different from the previous centuries. It witnessed a tremendous change in the ideal female body image, which also changed from one decade to another. In The twentieth century, women started exposing more of their body, like
Early twentieth century The sensational debut of the Ballet Russes in Paris in 1909 was applauded for its exotic magnificence and certainly added to the trend. By the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Orientalism, and Japonism impact in exoticism and the literature. Poiret and Callot Soeurs were drawn to the patterns and color of fabric as loosely fitted harem pants and the exotic Japanese Kimono.
According to Marissa Brassfield, “ it describes the ever-changing style of clothes worn by those with cultural status.” The fashion industry is influenced by several individuals, fashion can be influenced in many directions because of the different mindset of fashion designers. Fashion designers often Are inspired by other designers, and or the environment fashion designers are in. Prior to the French Revolution, elegance, and sophistication was the look, according to Makers, fashion influences like Marie Antoinette was a major contributor. The royal court would often wear big and extra dresses in the everyday life as well on festive days, fashion drastically changed after Josephine Bonaparte wore simple white high waisted dresses (Makers).
Fashion never remains the same and with the advancements in technology fashion has become even more wavering. Fashion is highly influenced from the social, technological and economical changes. A series of events that replace current societal patterns with the
Coco Chanel Coco Chanel, the founder of the Chanel luxury brand, is known for creating sporty casual designs for women that liberated women from “fixed corseted silhouette. ”(Media 12). Apart from designing fashion apparels, Chanel also extended her brand to include multiple fashion accessories, from handbags to shoes (Vouge). Many of her successors in the fashion industry consider Coco Chanel as one of the most influential designer in modern fashion scene (Malenfant 33). Coco Chanel was born on August 19, 1883 (McDowell 18).