A Brief History Of Women’s Fashion: The Wrap Dress Orginated By Diane Von Furstenberg
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By the 1830s, the silhouette of the time had almost fully transitioned from the Empire silhouette of the early 19th century to a silhouette that accentuated the fashionable feminine figure with its sloping shoulders, rounded bust, narrow waist and full hips.
Trends followed suit similar to the high waisted trouser Katharine Hepburn made popular. They needed safe clothing that wouldn’t snag in machinery, like men’s pants, when women went to work throughout the war. Costume jewelry, popularized by Coco Chanel’s signature faux pearl strands became more affordable. Did you hear about something like that before, right? Zippers became widespread. You should take this seriously. There were also major fashion innovations throughout the Great Depression. Leg ‘o mutton sleeves and wider skirts highlighted a narrow waist achieved through corseting.
I’m sure that the 1970s was the age of disco! Platform shoes gave way to mules and ankle strapped shoes, both reminiscent of the 1940s, at the very end of the decade. Of course, the dress in this image illustrates tendencies of the transition away from the Empire/Regency fashion aesthetic, similar to a more conical silhouette, and heavy ornamentation around the dress near the hem. This is where it starts getting very serious. Still, the waistline remains high. Wrap dress, orginated by Diane Von Furstenberg, was a staple for the woman planning to the office in the day and out at night.
Fashion has always been key to how women have presented themselves to the world, and how society has wanted to present women to the world.
The minimalist aesthetic contrasted to the more elaborate and flashy trends of the 1980s. From panniersthat emphasized wide hips to shoulder pads that emphasized power, the fashion of the time tells our history in great detail. Grunge brought very easy, unkempt grunge look to mainstream fashion in the 1990s. Certainly, photographed is 90’s supermodel Kate Moss.
From 1810 to 1820, dresses became slightly more structured with padded hems and firmer fabrics, similar to twills and even taffeta. Sleeves began to grow fuller at the shoulder and high waists continued throughout this period but lowered slightly as the years went by. In the course of the late Victorian Era, various women reformers opposed the restrictions of the ‘tight lacing’ and boned bodice body modifying garments in favor of more practical clothing. In 1881, the Rational Dress Society was founded with the purpose of opposing fashion that deforms the figure, impedes the movements of the body, or in any way tends to injure the health. Oscar Wilde and his wife Constance were both of the Rational Dress movement. Normally, pictured is a woman in her reform corset from about 1892.
At the turn of the century, fashion took on simpler, more pragmatic lines with a rise in women’s sportswear.
Just like bicycling and playing tennis, fashions were created around the activities, with changing attitudes about what was acceptable for women to do. It’s wonderful to see people from all over the world gather together for their love of fashion. Although, the buzz around New York City Fashion Weekis always exciting.
Throughout the Victorian era, silhouetteswere tightfitting andheavilytrimmedwith pleats, rouching, and frills. Representing the counter culture, hippie fashion was almost the opposite of mod. Emphasis of their style was on comfort and flow. Women wore jeans, brightly colored, psychedelicpatterns and nonWestern inspired clothing. Emphasis of the skirt was place on the rear. Women wore formfitting boned bodices that reached below the hips to mold the body into the ideal shape.
During the 1920s, fashion entered the modern era.
Artistic Dress rejected the highly structured and heavily trimmed Paris fashion of the day in favor of simplicity and beautiful materials. For example, surprisingly, the 1860s also saw an emergence of alternative fashions known as the Artistic Dress movement. It was the first time women first abandoned the more restricting fashions of past years and began to wear more comfortable clothes.
Whenever providing support for women and a cool, comfortable outfit suitable for the warm climate, the empire style began as part of Neoclassical fashion, inspired from styles seen in Greco Roman art which showed women wearing loose fitting rectangular tunics known as Peplos which were belted under the bust. Hollywood was an escape from harsh realities, lack of money in the course of the Great Depression affected everyday clothes. While highlighting the feminine figure, the bias cut made popular by starlet Jean Harlow was created out of silk or satin and clung to a woman’s curves. It was the golden age of Escapism and glamour, and that included the fashions on screen.
Fashion in the 1980s rejected the ‘non materialist’ hippie values that had inspired much of the fashion in the 1970s.
The soap opera Dynastypopularized shoulder pads, that gave women, now more prevalant in the workplace, a power dress to feel equal to men in the office. People were earning more money, and bigger meant better. Now look, the flapper look is undoubtedly the most memorable fashion trend of the Roaring ’20s. It was functional and fun. Considering the above said. Basically the tubular dresses of the earlier part of the century had evolved into a similar silhouette that now sported shorter skirts with pleats, gathers, or slits to allow motion.
In the early 19th century, high waisted dresses were in vogue. While giving a ‘highwaisted’ appearance, and a gathered skirt which is long and loosely fitting but skims the body rather than being supported by voluminous petticoats, the empire dress has a fitted bodice ending just below the bust. Then, fashion in the years preceding the French Revolution was characterized by great abundance, elaboration and intricacy in clothing designs. Iconic fashion figure, Marie Antoinette, embodies the decadence of the time. Empire style was made famous by French Emperor Napoleon’s wife Josephine Bonaparte.
