History of Women's Fashion

For anyone who claims love towards fashion the topic, I am going to write about in this blog post will probably be quite a treat.

To understand current fashion and trends, one has to go down the long lane of history –how did we get to this point we can only learn by looking back.

Therefore:
In this blog post, I will write about a history of women's fashion. I will try to go through the most significant fashion periods in history, periods that defined it.

When writing about the history of fashion, one has to start in antiquity when first civilizations as we know them came to exist – when societies formed laws and social behavior norms.

What antiquity set up for later periods of history is comfortable fashion with a lot of detail.

Egyptians for example, due to the hot climate, wore mostly light materials such as cotton or linen. Famous are their depictions of lives of nobility and peasantry on which we can see that the color white predominated their wardrobe – smart because the white color is known to reflect and not absorb the sun rays and heat with them. Only in later periods, Egyptians started wearing more color, probably due to their contacts with other civilizations that preferred colors in contrast to them – talk about fashion exchange! One thing Egyptians were and still are known for is their big possession of gold and silver– because a country was rich with precious metals Egyptians had the chance to create some of the most beautiful jewelry, jewelry wich they were quite fond of wearing.

Ancient Greek women for quite a long time wore peplos – which is a long rectangle woolen cloth which was folded and pinned together. It had holes for head and arms and voila – they had not only convenient, easy to make and wear, but also quite beautiful dress – do I even have to mention how Greek fashion is influential even today? It is believed to be some of the most beautiful fashion in history – if you want to look like a goddess, just dress like an ancient Greek.

Later in Greek history their fashion just like Egyptian one obviously started evolving – they started using new materials such as linen and incorporated usage of color much more in their fashion. Greeks just like Egyptians are known for their amazing in design jewelry – they loved wearing bracelets, necklaces, anklets, hair jewelry – you name it Greeks had it.

Romans were kind of not original when it comes to fashion, they used a style similar to Greeks, but they sure did make use of color important.

Let's now jump few centuries in the future – we are in middle ages.

Middle Ages are known as a period when both female and male fashion flourished in design and color - layering was a huge thing and embellishment a woman had on her dress defined her – yes this is the period that promoted pattern usage in fashion.

In 16th century fashion became a big deal – for example in Britain Tudors set some of their standards with their elaborate style for both men and women. The link between poor and rich was wool – it was a material most used for garments – difference, of course, was in design and quality.

Tudors embroidered their clothes with silk, gold or silver thread. A lot of silk usage in both female and male fashion – comfort was important, but looking good and rich was even more so, the bodice made of whale bone or wood was a must in every woman's wardrobe, I mean, talk about discomfort.

What is interesting is that women did not wear underwear – do you need it under those huge skirts?

Another interesting thing about the 16th century is the fact that buttons had only decorative purpose – they were only sewn in for decoration and nothing more.
Both rich and poor women wore hats – hats were like a big deal, almost as big as the bodice.
One of the fashion revolutionists of the time was, of course, Queen Elizabeth whose elaborate dresses are still fascinating the public – she was something like a trend setter of the time, whatever she wore every lady that had some style had to copy her – the story of her rotten teeth is still talked about. Because the queen hadn't such enviable teeth - black and nasty, women started putting tar on theirs to achieve the same aesthetics.

In 18th century life without huge wigs and the super tight corset was no life for a lady - a real woman had a massive amount of hair that was not hers and a waist the size of a fist.

The 19th century is fashion history defining – the first designer ever to sew in his name in garments he made, therefore branded his designs, put a label on them, was Charles Frederick Worth.

Marie Antoinette's dress maker was one of the first women to open up an exclusive fashion store and make a huge influence on Parisian style – sadly French Revolution shooed her away from France.

Women finally started wearing underwear during this period. The garment was made from two fabrics, each had a hole in each leg, and they were merged in the middle.

Many inventions that we can not imagine fashion industry and modern living without were invented in 19th centuries, such as:

- Elastic,
- safety pin,
- zip fastener
- Paper dress pattern

Barcelona was a fashion capital of 20th century. Designers from all other places in the world sent their designers to the once capital city of Catalonia, Spain. Designers were so cheeky that they openly copied and therefore stole designs from other designers.

In early 20th century division between haute couture and ready to wear fashion was not well defined.

In this period fashion style magazines started to put pictures in ,which made them even more influential.

It seems that during 20th-century fashion started progressing faster than in the past times. In a period from 1900 to 1999 – which is just 100 years, fashion has gone through great transformations.

The 1900s were known as a period of ''Belle Époque''. Women started living more independent lifestyles, so the fashion in demand was rather practical. However, they still stuck to elaborate, upholstered style of the 19th century.

The 1900s were the time when the
first tailored suit for women was created. It was based on male suit, and soon it became favorite garment among women.

Orientalism hit the fashion scenes in the 1910s after the ballets Russes performed Scheherazade in Paris. Flowing pantaloons, turbans, and vivid colors and geishas in exotic kimonos became incorporated in a fashion of all who cared about fashion and status.

The 1910s were the time when clothes that to be put on do not need help of the maid were created.

World War I brought big changes to fashion, but they were rather a necessity than a caprice. As more women were forced to work the demand for more comfortable clothes was higher. Dark and monochrome colors became the norm due to the stressful times in wich many died.

Skirts became significantly shorter by the time of 1915s – first, they were raised above ankles and then even higher.

The period between two world wars is considered the golden age of French fashion. It was the period of great change and reformation of women's fashion.

Women started wearing short bobs, short dresses, no more corsets and they adopted some elements of male fashion. The new, androgen style was completely taken by the time of 1925s.

Flapper style is the invention of the period.

Coco Chanel was one of the game changers of the fashion. She popularized bob hairstyle, the little black dress, and the use of jersey knit for women's clothing, also she elevated the status of both costume jewelry and knitwear.

By the 1930s flapper style disappeared, but the bell shaped hats lasted long into them.

At the time the effects of great depression were felt by the designers, who realized that it's not period for experimentation.

After World War II, Paris's reputation as the global center of fashion began to disappear.

Christian Dior's first collection made a huge impact on fashion of the time. The bust sticking out, waist small and skirts were huge – the hourglass style came into existence.

The 1950s were the time when women despite all the freedoms to work, vote, drive, decided to stick to feminine and constructions. It seemed like almost the paste of change was too much for them, they needed something familiar to, stick to and it was fashion.

One style can not define the 1960s. The teenage culture was created at the time, so the fashion was very diverse, made for all ages.

In this period fashion did kind of pay homage to 1920s with the popularity of bob hairstyle and waistless fashion.

1960's are the period when mini skirt came to the scene, and tights became a huge thing.

Followed the self-indulgence period of the 1970s when Hippie fashion was transmitted from 60s underground to 70s mainstream. Bell Bottoms, kaftans, Indian scarves, and floral-print tunics became a big thing.

It was the time of fight for civil rights of African Americans; which influenced fashion with African nostalgia looks – disco look was created.

The 1980s were a period of self consciousness that created the variety of styles such as Rock, Punt, Preppy and much more that to this day inspire designers worldwide. The period was a time when consumerism was promoted, and people defined themselves by the clothes they wear.

The 1990s were the period when overdressing was taboo – less is more became a guiding quote for many, but still, they did love vibrant colors. Comfortable and wearable clothes were in demand by women who had enough of preassure always to look pulled together. It was all about the comfort. Fashion was very influenced by youth, urban life, music.

Women fashion has evolved so much. Freedom of females today is that we can be all these women from the past that made our the path we can freely walk on and have all the freedom of the world to be who we are and express it through fashion.