:: Fashion Plate Collection ::: (2024)

The changing role of women from the French Revolution at the end of the18th century through the Regency, Victorian and Edwardian periods at thebeginning of the 20th was reflected in fashion. Impractical frivolouscostume gave way to a new sense of functionality as women became moreactive and engaged in business, politics and sport. In addition,monarchical tastes and changes in the political climate triggereddramatic changes in costume, exuberant to conservative and then back toextravagant frivolous fashion. Other developments including theemergence of ready-to-wear clothing, a result of mass manufacture andgrowth of standardization of clothes for the swelling middle class,greatly influenced fashion through the 19th and into the early 20thcenturies.

The fashion trend in the late years of the 18th and early 19th centurieswas influenced by Classical Greece: high waisted gowns with long thinmuslin skirts, heel-less sandals and long stoles. After 1810, skirtsgradually became fuller and decorated at the hem with frills and ruchs.Sleeves were short to the elbow or worn long to the wrist oftendecorated with ribbons.

By the 1820s, fashion had changed from flowing Classical style totightly corseted waists, full sleeves gathered to a fitting cuff, fullerskirts and higher necklines adorned with collars or small capes.Ringlets and curls were worn high on the head. Headwear ranged fromstraw hats and bonnets to small muslin caps and feather decoratedturbans. Cloaks, cashmere shawls, scarves, and muslin draperiescontinued in use. The spenser (a short waisted jacket), the redingote (abelted, coat with collar and several shoulder capes) and the pelisse (anankle-length long-sleeved often fur trimmed coat) were popular forms ofoutwear.

Crinolines made from hoops of whalebone covered with layers of flouncedpetticoats were introduced in the 1840s-1850s reaching greatestpopularity around 1860. Dresses were made from sumptuous materials suchas velvet, brocade, taffeta and silk. In 1840s, sleeves were fitted tothe wrist, but by the 1850s they were worn wider and shorter, often witha muslin, sometimes puffed, undersleeve. Mantles and taffeta or velvetcloaks were popular along with a variety of shawls. Small bonnets, orpoke bonnets, were favored as headwear, although flat brimmed straw hatswere worn for informal occasions.

"White remained a favorite for evening wear. In the 1840's, soft shadesof yellow, greenish gold, blues and pinks were worn; but from the lateforties stripes, plaids and the more brilliant shades of blues, greensred, and yellows came into fashion. Black, dark greens, purple andbrowns with brighter colored trimmings were seen in the 1850's. Floweredbrocaded silks were fashionable in the first few years of the decade.Flower sprays appeared on striped silks and woolens of the forties tofifties with flower printed muslins particularly popular for flounceddresses of the fifties. Flounces often were specially printed or evenwoven with deep borders of flowers to match the dress fabric. Plain shotsilks became more fashionable in the later 1850's to 1860's, as skirtsspread over crinoline frames and flounced dresses went out of fashion.Cloaks were of warmer tones, dark red, brown or fawn, with white foreveningwear." (Historical costumes of England, from the eleventh to thetwentieth century, by Nancy Bradford, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1971.)

Crinolines disappeared in the late 1860s, while bustles emerged in the 1870s. Dress shapes changed--the front and sides were flattened while the bustle or fullness was retained at the back using a horsehair crinoline with whalebone or metal bands. The bustle was worn under petticoats and a gown often looped up in elaborate folds at the back. This style had an accompanying tight fitting front fastening bodice. Necklines varied, changing from a high neckline to a low square neck opening in the 1870s and back to a high line with standing collars that lasted into the first decade of the 20th century. The corset, or day bodice, was used to cinch the figure from shoulder to hip. In the 1880s the princess line (defined by bodice and skirt as one without a waistseam, a full skirt looped up low and back decorated with ribbon bows) was in vogue. Sleeves were close fitting and plain; short puffed sleeves with a low décolletage were worn for eveningwear. Hair was either coiled and looped up on the back of the head or hung down the back sometimes gathered and covered by a net. Hats and bonnets trimmed with ribbons, flowers or feathers were usually small in size, either set forward or flat on top of the head.

"During the 1860-85 period generally colors were delicate, white, blue,gray, lilac, pink and pale brown; trimmings were often dark, such asblack on soft pink and white, or bright blue on pale green-gray. Dressesof two colors and two textiles were typical. Plain or shot silks, orsmall neat patterns or stripes were popular in the sixties, with stripesin stronger contrasting colors common in the seventies and eighties.Greens, mauves, golden fawn, blue purple, brown, red and black withdarker colors appear in 1870-71. In the 1880's, colors were harsh andstrong." (Historical costumes of England, from the eleventh to thetwentieth century, by Nancy Bradford, New York, Barnes & Noble, 1971.)

By 1909, the straighter sheath line silhouette replaced the fullerskirts of the previous century. The restrictively narrow tubular shapedhobble skirt became fashionable in 1910. To prevent women fromsplitting their skirts, a fetter was sometimes worn or a small slit atthe front or side was added. Paul Poiret, a prominent French dressdesigner, introduced Oriental-influenced fashion. Kimono or Magyar stylesleeves, turban headwear, Turkish or harem skirts and tunic overdresseswith large armholes, open to hip level, were common. Sports wear,tailored suits, Russian style jumpers and bolero jackets were popular.In 1912, coats with fur or velvet rolled collars or lapels, usuallylonger in the back, were worn for evening wear.