 |
The Women's Suffrage Movement in the Western world influenced changes in female fashions of the early 1900s: causing the introduction of masculine silhouettes and the popular Flapper style.
| |
The Women's Suffrage Movement in the Western world influenced changes in female fashions of the early 1900s: causing the introduction of masculine silhouettes and the popular Flapper style.
The women of the late 19th century changed their style from the big Victorian dresses to more “manageable, practical, streamlined outfits for modern women to engage in the activities of their more active lives." [1] Prior to the Women's Suffrage Movement, general consensus asserted that women were physically weaker than their male counterparts, so were discouraged from playing sports." [1] Despite this, with an increasing number of women participating in protests, some experts in the medical field began to argue that light physical activity for a woman was good. Consequently, there was an increasing output of clothes to correspond, called rational dress. One specific piece of clothing was the sporting pantaloon or the women's bloomer; [2] originally worn in America in the 1850s as a women's suffrage statement by Amelia Bloomer, it turned into the ideal costume for women riding bicycles - an activity that was considered acceptable for women to participate in during the late 19th century. This was deemed most appropriate for sports and outdoor activity, so marked the beginning of pants as a 'regular' piece of clothing . [3]
In light of the First World War, women commenced employment in factories to aid the war effort, beginning in jobs that the men were no longer able to undertake, as they were serving in the front lines of the war. [4] As a result, the dress reform began, a reform that saw female activists argue clothes should offer convenience, rather than comfort, so that they could do labour jobs more efficiently. Accordingly, fashion became less restrictive than the Victorian era dress and required less fabric to make, saving the much needed resources. An article written by Laura Doan states, the newly found freedom of women is considered to have been a catalyst for the commencement of women including more masculinised fashion and style in their own dress. [2] However, as the war ended this trend was not entirely agreed upon as men did not fully accept the changing styles in women's fashion, and thus female fashion reverted to the traditional feminine style, conforming to the rigid beauty and social standards imposed on them at the time. All in all, typical female fashion actually remained very feminine (contrary to the societal standards of the time). Briefly summarised by this quote, “From society lady to factory "girl," every woman wore a hat, stockings, shoes, and gloves in all seasons.” [1]
In accordance with the emerging modern woman, the New Woman's moxie was paradoxically evident in her lack of charm, exhibiting short bobbed haircuts, heavier makeup, and boyish frames. [5] The flapper's simplistic, straight-lined style was popularized by Coco Chanel, who's somewhat ironically remembered as "fashionable without being forward," [6] as a way of liberating women the impractical designs that hindered modern women's ability to engage in physical activities. [7] "The newfound freedom to breathe and walk encouraged movement out of the house, and the Flapper took full advantage.” [8]
During the progressive era, female fashion in the United States changed shifted to adopt traditionally masculine styles. [5] Pants became widespread, with female baseball players wearing knickers underneath their prescribed uniform. Other fashion trends included pearl jewellery and petite handbags, popularised by French designer Coco Chanel. [5] French designs became extremely popular during this time, however, as there were very little shipments of these designs, only wealthy women were able to afford the pieces coming directly from France, [9] and thus, magazines at the time capitalised on the popularity of French designs by selling sewing patterns mimicking these styles. [10]
The popularisation of the flapper style was due to film, radio and the media. Adrian was a popular designer for Metro-Goldyn-Mayer during the 1920s-1930s, dressing silent film actresses including Clara Bow, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford: which influenced American women's fashion. [9] This style exposed areas that were previously hidden on the woman, including the knees, as stockings were no longer compulsory. Flappers were also known for their "boyish" appearance, sporting a bobbed hairstyle, cloche hats and tubular garments including jumper-blouses, which hid the female figure. [9] Waistlines of dresses were dropped and no longer required the use of corsetry, and thus the popular silhouette in female fashion, became "waistless, bustless, and hipless". [9] Other popular accessory designs included the "strap bracelet" by Cartier and Miriam Haskell's "fashion jewellery". [10] Not all flapper fashion was consistent, as hemlines of dresses changed each year: in 1923 gowns were almost floor length whilst in 1925 they became knee length. [9]
The term flapper, initially described young, working-class women but overtime it was used to describe any young women who challenged the social standards. [9] Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of Modernist author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a writer and socialite, became a popular figure. [10] Fitzgerald's novel, Save Me the Waltz (1932), popularised the sentiment that "a woman can do anything a man can do" without compromising femininity. [11] However, this style was criticised as it became associated with the decline in female morality. [9] The flapper became stereotyped as a woman who "smoked, drank, swore, drove fast, professed free love, and used makeup," [5] and exercised sexual independence. [8]
Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes in public, driving automobiles, treating sex in a casual manner, and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms. As automobiles became more available, flappers gained freedom of movement and privacy.
The little black dress (LBD) is a black evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel. It is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible. Its ubiquity is such that it is often simply referred to as the "LBD".
Madeleine Vionnet was a French fashion designer. Vionnet trained in London before returning to France to establish her first fashion house in Paris in 1912. Although it was forced to close in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War, it re-opened after the war and Vionnet became one of the leading designers of 1920s-30s Paris. Vionnet was forced to close her house in 1939 and retired in 1940.
Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more practical and comfortable than the fashions of the time.
Clothing terminology comprises the names of individual garments and classes of garments, as well as the specialized vocabularies of the trades that have designed, manufactured, marketed and sold clothing over hundreds of years.
Bloomers, also called the bloomer, the Turkish dress, the American dress, or simply reform dress, are divided women's garments for the lower body. They were developed in the 19th century as a healthful and comfortable alternative to the heavy, constricting dresses worn by American women. They take their name from their best-known advocate, the women's rights activist Amelia Bloomer.
Casual wear is a Western dress code that is relaxed, occasional, spontaneous and suited for everyday use. Casual wear became popular in the Western world following the counterculture of the 1960s. When emphasising casual wear's comfort, it may be referred to as leisurewear or loungewear.
Western fashion in the 1920s underwent a modernization. For women, fashion had continued to change away from the extravagant and restrictive styles of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and towards looser clothing which revealed more of the arms and legs, that had begun at least a decade prior with the rising of hemlines to the ankle and the movement from the S-bend corset to the columnar silhouette of the 1910s. Men also began to wear less formal daily attire and athletic clothing or 'Sportswear' became a part of mainstream fashion for the first time. The 1920s are characterized by two distinct periods of fashion: in the early part of the decade, change was slower, and there was more reluctance to wear the new, revealing popular styles. From 1925, the public more passionately embraced the styles now typically associated with the Roaring Twenties. These styles continued to characterize fashion until the worldwide depression worsened in 1931.
History of fashion design refers specifically to the development of the purpose and intention behind garments, shoes ,accessories, and their design and construction. The modern industry, based around firms or fashion houses run by individual designers, started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who, beginning in 1858, was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments he created.
A shift dress is a dress in which the cloth falls straight from the shoulders and has darts around the bust. It frequently features a high scoop or boat neck. Shift dresses are often confused with the sheath dress, which is form-fitting and shaped by tucks on the waist area. Shift dresses became popular in western fashion in the 1920s and were revived in the 1960s. They are most flattering on body types that are more like columns.
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post–World War I era with popularizing a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style. This replaced the "corseted silhouette" that was dominant beforehand with a style that was simpler, far less time consuming to put on and remove, more comfortable, and less expensive, all without sacrificing elegance. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel extended her influence beyond couture clothing, realizing her aesthetic design in jewellery, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product, and Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920s.
A dress is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice. It consists of a top piece that covers the torso and hangs down over the legs. A dress can be any one-piece garment containing a skirt of any length, and can be formal or casual.
Trousers or pants are a staple of historical and modern fashion. Throughout history, the role of trousers is a constant change for women. The first appearance of trousers in recorded history is among nomadic steppe-people in Western Europe. Steppe people were a group of nomads of various different ethnic groups that lived in the Eurasian grasslands. Archaeological evidence suggests that men and women alike wore trousers in that cultural context. However, for much of modern history, the use of trousers has been restricted to men. This norm was enforced in many regions due to social customs and laws. There are, however, many historical cases of women wearing trousers in defiance of these norms such as the 1850s women rights movement, comfort, freedom of movement, fashion, disguise, attempts to evade the gender pay gap, and attempts to establish an empowered public identity for women. Especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, the customs and laws restricting this manner of dress have relaxed dramatically, reflecting a growing acceptance and normalisation of the practice.
Amelia Jenks Bloomer was an American newspaper editor, women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy. In her work with The Lily, she became the first woman to own, operate and edit a newspaper for women.
Sportswear is an American fashion term originally used to describe separates, but which since the 1930s has come to be applied to day and evening fashions of varying degrees of formality that demonstrate a specific relaxed approach to their design, while remaining appropriate for a wide range of social occasions. The term is not necessarily synonymous with activewear, clothing designed specifically for participants in sporting pursuits. Although sports clothing was available from European haute couture houses and "sporty" garments were increasingly worn as everyday or informal wear, the early American sportswear designers were associated with ready-to-wear manufacturers. While most fashions in America in the early 20th century were directly copied from, or influenced heavily by Paris, American sportswear became a home-grown exception to this rule, and could be described as the American Look. Sportswear was designed to be easy to look after, with accessible fastenings that enabled a modern emancipated woman to dress herself without a maid's assistance.
Unisex clothing is best described as clothing designed to be suitable for both sexes in order to make men and women look similar. The term unisex was first used in 1968 in Life, an American magazine that ran weekly from 1883 to 1972.
Oversized fashion, distinct from plus-sized fashion, consists of clothing and other accessories that are larger than normal and reflect some sort of attitude, message, or trend of the period at hand. While oversized fashion trends from the 1920s to the turn of the century vary from decade to decade, there are many overarching themes that have been expressed during the past one hundred or so years. Masculinity, for example, has played a large role in many of the underlying communications of the fashions, although virility is manifested differently in the clothing depending on the era. Oversized fashion production, furthermore, runs largely parallel with the states of the American and global economies. Modernly, oversized fashion has taken on a new form - primarily in the realm of oversized accessories.
The Lily was the first U.S. newspaper edited by and for women. It was published from 1849 to 1853 by Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818–1894) before she sold the newspaper to Mary Birdsall in 1854. While the newspaper initially focused on temperance, it soon broadened its focus to include the many issues of women's rights activists in the 1850s. It grew in its distribution as a result of its discussion of bloomers, a comfortable fashion popularized by Bloomer in the paper.
A sailor dress is a child's or woman's dress that follows the styling of the sailor suit, particularly the bodice and collar treatment. A sailor-collared blouse is called a middy blouse. In early 20th-century America, sailor dresses were very popularly known as Peter Thomson dresses after the former naval tailor credited with creating the style.
Japanese clothing during the Meiji period (1867–1912) saw a marked change from the preceding Edo period (1603–1867), following the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate between 1853 and 1867, the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854 – which, led by Matthew C. Perry, forcibly opened Japanese ports to American vessels, thus ending Japan's centuries-long policy of isolation – and the Meiji Restoration in 1868, which saw the feudal shogunate dismantled in favour of a Western-style modern empire.