YEAR 1817'S — ENGLISH MALFJFEMALE COSTUMES

FIG. YEAR 1817'S — ENGLISH MALFJFEMALE COSTUMES

Jewellery was extensively worn. Colours in general were bright and discordant, the favour of all being yellow.The visit of Tsar, the monarch of Russia started a favour and flare for furs. Women wore fur coat while men wore fur inside the coat with fur hats.IMPORTANT NOTEThe 1890's were as a whole a period of changing values. The old rigid society mould was visibility breaking up, with South African millionaires and aristocrat rich storming in. For the young there was a new breath of freedom in the air, symbolized both by their sports costumes and by the tailored dresses. It was perfectly plain that the Victorian age was drawing to its close.

FROM 1900 To 1939 A.D.

The period from the beginning of the century to the out break of World War 1 is usually spoken of in England as the Edwardian era, although the king actually died in 1910.

FIG. YEAR 1894 - CYCLING DRESS

In France with a slight extension backwards into the middle of the 1890's it was referred to as la belle epoque. It was an age of great ostentation and extravagance, (Show off). In England, society and the court now began to coincide the king himself set the example.

There was an access of balls and dinners and country house parties. More money was spent on clothes

Fashion as always reflected the age, like the king himself it forward the mature women, cool and commanding, with a heavy bust, the effect of which was further emphasized by so called "health" corset which in an effort to prevent a downward pressure on the abdomen made the body rigidly straight in front by throwing forward the bust and throwing back the hips. This produced the peculiar S-shaped stance so characteristic of the period.

The skin, smooth over the hips, flared out towards the ground in the shape of a bell. Cascades of lace descended from the corsage; indeed there was a passion for lace in every part of the gown. The hair was built high on the head, and the flat pancake hat projected forward as if to balance the train.

This period has been defined as the last good time of upper classes, and even the colours of clothes reflected the sunny optimism of those who had money to spend. Let us see them below:

I. Another feature of this period is the importance of tailor mades. A considerable number of young women of the middle classes were now beginning to earn their living as governesses, typists and shop assistants and it would have been impossible for them to persue their occupations in the elaborate party dresses. Even rich women wore tailor-mades in the country or when traveling

TEDDY BOYS

TEDDY BOYS

In the post war menswear the most dramatic development took place in Britain, where in 1953 young working class men began to adopt the, "Edwardian" style of dress of the late 1940's. The "teddy boys" took this upper class, somewhat dandified look, the Chief element of which were a long draped jacket and narrow "drain pipe" trousers and added with it narrow pointed shoes and thin ties. IMPORTANT NOTE T-shirt also became an integral part of the dress as a regular style. Jeans and motor like jacket of the same material with greased hair with side burns extended came in hot fashion. Teenage girls wore tight sweaters and cardigans over pointed brassieres with circular skirts held out stiffly by layers of nylon petticoats. Tight trousers or Jeans with oversized jumpers were also popular with both sexes as part of the an school/beatnik look, which featured large quantities of black Young people around the globe danced to the new trines of rock-n-roll music and it was from here that the fashion and music industries became linked forever. 1960's can be divided into two distinct periods. The first 1960 to 1967 (The swinging sixties) when fashion focused entirely on youth and ready to make became popular all over Europe and the first "Boutiques" evolved.

THE MINI SKIRT

The second half of sixties i.e. from 1961. The hemlines rose just above the knee and reached the upper thighs by 1966. Stocking and suspenders were replaced by brightly coloured tights and underwear was reduced to brief, unstructured bras and pants

THE MINI SKIRT

The mini was introduced by Mary Quant, who had opened her boutique "Bazaar" in London in 1955.

It was a period when designers of both clothes and textiles celebrated modernity and scientific progress. Space —age silvers' and whites were mixed with primary colours. Pop and OP art had profound influence on textile design. New fashion materials were introduced, including shiny wet-look R/C, easy-care acrylics and polyesters.

Men's clothing also received attention from inventive young designers during the 1960's becoming more informal, more flamboyant and notably more colourful.

Hipsters trousers, high-collard shins and kipper ties were fashionable. Jeans remained popular and denim was also used for shirts, jackets and hats. Teenagers and students also wore army — and navy surplus clothings

FIG. YVES SAINT LA URANT DESINGS

Yves Saint Laurant, who had designed at Dior, started his own house in 1962 and became an iconoclast of 60's style, reflecting Left-Bank influences and contemporary art movements. Copies of his 1965 "MONDRIAN DRESS" composed of block of colours appeared in high street shops within days

MONDRL4N DRESS

FIG. MONDRL4N DRESS

  Fashion was increasingly becoming unisex, reflecting a gradual breaking down of long established traditions of gender dressing. For the first time men and women were shopping at the same boutique fpr jeans, trousers, jackets sweaters and shirts. From 1968 the optimistic social and economic climate of the early 60's started to fade as unemployment and inflation rose, people began to question the human and environmental consequences of technology and women began to rebel against imposed ideals of feminine beauty. Fashion has sometimes been criticized for lacking direction in the years following the swinging sixties, the period from the Late 60's to the mid 70's. But it was infact this period which paved way for the stylistic pluralism of the present day. Individuality and self-expression were paramount. Clothing was often customized with embroidered, appliqued and patch worked designs. Tie and Dye T-Shirt became popular. Colours were muted and textiles were made from natural fibers. The ethnic look pre-dominated. Hippies were the first to adopt Afghan Coats, fringed suede garments, Kaftans, headbands and beads as part of their rejection of western consumerist society. In the USA in 1971, Ralph Lauren, who had made his name with his "Polo" line for men produced a line of tailored suits for women. Calvin Klein also designed stylish women's clothing along masculine lines.

BELL BOTTOMS

In the Early 70's trousers were cut very wide into flares or bags. Flares, which became the chief symbol of the fashion of the period were tight around the thigh and widened from the knee downwards. These were also known as bell bottoms

FIG. BELL BOTTOMS

From 1975 trousers were again cut narrow and straight. In America there was a move towards a traditional look for both men and women. Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis and later Calvin Klein created fashions which often embodied the style of I920's a highly successful formula which they have retained to the present day. Donna Karan dressed the business women in comfortable, stylish and versatile clothes for all times of day. 1980 also saw many designers expand their ranges to embrace menswear, running parallel with seasonal changes in menswear and headline hitting styles such as Galtiers sarongs for men and collegiate Preppy styles and sportswear at all market levels. From 1986 the fashion industries suffered another slump, but revived traditional crafts so central to the art of haute couture. In 1990's Sales of international couture and ready to wear gradually picked up and with this a lot of young designers joined the field.

HISTORY OF FASHION DESIGN

In the course of the 1990's, dramatic changes took place. A greater range of styles than ever before came on offer. Mogazines no longer presented the forthcoming trends, instead they revealed the variety of themes, shapes and textiles that had emerged. The first half of the decade saw the reintroduction of 1960's and I970's revival of rival styles (From skirts and bell bottoms to Hippy styles, plat-forms and Punks), Futuristic cyberpunk looks, echo Fashions, ethnic styles, grunge, school uniforms and sportswear and a large variety of upgraded sub-cultural styles, such as cat walk, teddy boys, surfers, Ragga and B-Boys

PUNK MALE PUNK FEMALE

IMPORTANT NOTE

Designers were now often perceived as stylists.

The most successful and influential fashion development of the period was the rise of Gucci. This brand, originally a Saddlery house, showed how a traditional luxury goods house could re-invent itself though the introduction of a new designers and a half-octane publicity campaign, and by the mid 1990's Gucci became the World's most desirable luxury label. They produced, loafers, Logo belts and bags, later their clothing range, like the collarless bricker jacket of spring 1998 and the feather embroidered jeans and oversized floral print dresses of summer-1999.

GUCCI DESIGN

The late 1990's also witnessed other important events, the major creative movements in fashion in 90's were inspired as much by the street as the catwalk as the boundaries between the two became increasingly close

PRADA DESIGN

Cargo Paints (Multi-pocketed) and the Parka executed in luxury fabric on the military theme. (The cargo pants contributed to a massive downsizing in the denim market).

The man made fiber revolution of the 60's tale the ground work for most of the fashion houses like Prada, Gucci, etc to introduce sports wear and daily wear in a bigger varieties

The synthetics were the base for the complex textiles available at the beginning of the twenty-first century when non-creasing linens began to replace old cotton bags which wrinkled too fast. Increasingly fake fur encroached on the market for the real thing and the designers worked more with new print technology such as ink jet printing and laser cutting. The relentless speed at which technology changes the landscape of daily life has had inevitable repercussions on fashio

 fig.'RADA DESIGN

Live websites feed on the Internet have enabled designers simultaneously to broadcast their catwalk presentations online, thus reaching a global market for larger than the traditional fashion show audience. At the same time the Worldwide web has created unprecedented access to fashion information, much of which has made the process of copying designer garments so easy that the more un-scrupulous among the chain stores can introduce facsimiles onto the market before the originals were delivered to the stores

HAUTE COUTURE

So the beginning of the twenty first century the fashion industry has swelled to encompass increasing number's not only of designers, brands and retailers but also of information providers able to impart fashion news through both electronic and printed media.

Today no single book is able to dictate as the way we dress with any degree of certainty as the turn of the century has witnessed the release from linear developments in fashion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boucher — P:

A history of costume in the West. London 1967.

Bradfield N:

Costume in detail London 1969.

Devenport N:

Book of costume London 1948.

Polhemus T:

Street style London 1994.

Peacock J:

Fashion Accessories New York 2000.

Milbank C.R.:

Couture. The Greatest Fashion Designers 1985.

James L:

Costume and Fashion History 2002