Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
historic sources of fashion
introduction of history of fashion
historic sources of fashion
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: historic sources of fashion
History of Fashion
Fashion is defined as a style of dress that is popular during a certain time or era (?Fashion?, 1). It often changes and reflects a persons? social class in old days. In modern times it reflects personality. Fads come and go as people find new and different things to like. Until the 20th century fashion changed very slowly. In the 20th century fashions change as quickly as lightning because of mass production and fast moving society. About every 10 years a totally new kind of dress is in style. Fashion is affected in many ways. Inventions and good economy bring many changes with it. Wars and bad economy bring plain fashion that stays for a while (?Fashion Through the Ages?, 1). Fashion often seems to go in a big loop repeating itself over and over again. Women?s fashion has changed and gone from fancy to simple and easy to wear. Here is a quick view of fashion from BC times to the future!
In ancient times clothing was simple, based more on function than style. Men and women wore a big rectangular piece of wool six feet wide and about a foot and a half taller than the person. The wool was wrapped around the person and pinned on the shoulder with a broach. Fabric was mainly white or off-white, but never bright colored. In fact red was forbidden for commoners. Hair was mainly worn in braids or covered by fabric draped like a hood.
With the spread of Christianity, clothing in medieval times became modest. Although the basic tunic style dress was still used, it became longer and sleeves were added. Heavier fabric was used and shoes replaced sandals. Increase in trade made for more extravagant fabrics and embellishments on clothing. Hair was worn down often with a jewel in it. The really wealthy and nobility experimented with extreme styles from vibrant color to hooked shoes to cone shaped hats in order to separate themselves from the middle class.
Many changes came with the Renaissance period, with the rise of art fashion changed. Dresses became shorter and princess cut. Puffed sleeves, high collars and hoop skirts were the thing to wear. Slashing, or wearing two layers and cutting the outer layer was fashionable.
Modesty came back with Elizabethan times. Queen Elizabeth had clothes covered every part of a persons body sleeves became tight instead of puffed and waist lines were straight. Gowns were worn by ...
... middle of paper ...
...Sleek simple or choppy hair styles were seen as cute. Jeans were narrow and black in the beginning and became flared or relaxed with everything from glitter to studs to dress it up at the end of the 90?s. Any kind of shirt could be paired with jeans, from revealing belly shirts to classy blouses to comfortable t-shirts. Animal prints and camouflage were just a couple of prints that made their home in the 90?s (?Fashion Era?, 41). No matter what you were wearing in the 90?s it was sure to be a designer brand.
Fashion has and always will repeat in a cycle. It seems to be cycling from elaborate to minimal as our lives become more complex due to technology. I think fashion will continue to be unpredictable. Many times movies and television have predicted how the future population would dress with no success. One thing is for sure, fashion will continue to be unique to the individual who wears it and express for them what they may not say with words.
Works Cited
?Fashion.? Encyclop?dia Britanica. 2002 ed.
?Fashion Era.? Fashion History and Costume Era. Fashion-era. 23 Nov. 2003
?Fashion Through the Ages.? The Evolution of Fashion. Bharat Textile. 19 Nov. 2003
The evolution of society and its values have greatly impacted the fashions of the times. As women have gained more rights and independence, their fashion has clearly changed to reflect this. The change in over time was a huge improvement because it helped show that as women gain more independence they should be treated and seen equally.
In conclusion, Fashion will always transcend throughout the ages. Fashion is a form of expression, an art form if you will. The 1950’s will always be a foundation for the fundamentals of fashion. What someone has created will repeat itself in history, even if it unknowingly was a symbol meant for prosperity when in this day and age it stands for
The ladies dresses of the early Middle Ages were influenced by the classical styles of the Greek and Roman women. Their dresses were tight to display the elegance of their figure. Dresses were embroidered and luxuriously decorated. Some dresses consisted of two tunics and of a veil or drapery. The veil was thrown...
Victorian Fashion refers to the styles and clothing worn before and during the Civil War era of the United States, 1860-1900. This era was filled with a very difficult way of dressing oneself and to deviate from this line of dress was unheard of, and worthy of being outcaste. Victorian women’s clothing was layers, heavy, and barely manageable to even wear. Many different articles made up the full garment such as the undergarments, the skirt, top, shoes, accessories, and even the hair. How did women ready themselves for the day in this era and how did they deal with all the cumbersome attire?
Fashion has been developing for as long as the Earth had been around, but the style people track today redirects generally to what was brought up during the roaring twenties, the era of a luxurious life. Women’s sartorial will experience many more future modifications which are predicted to be less modest and conservative. Men, on the other hand, will most likely not endure many changes. As fashion flourishes, society’s image on women, as well as men, will renovate into a more exposed mentality with a greater assortment of acceptance.
Fashion exists all around world ever since mankind started living on the Earth. The ways people live have changed as well as fashion changed drastically through out the human history and people are looking for fashionable and also comfortable garments that can be wear at any occasion. Simplicity and silhouette that allows the body to be comfortable while being active has also became one of the leading fashion trends in 1900s. Because of the relationship between sportswear and American lifestyle, its evolution drastically changed the fashion industry during 1900s.
Many people would not believe that there are so many similarities between modern day fashion and the fashion of the renaissance time period. Many differences may be seen between the two, but the similarities are remarkable. Throughout all of time, clothing has been the major representation of social classes. What people wear has always been the distinguishing factor between the wealthy and the poor classes of both the renaissance and current time period. The evolution from time period to time period has been vast, but the fact that what people wear represents what class they reside in is still very prevalent. From the fabrics, jewels, and accessories, you can still see many similarities from the renaissance time period to the current time period. “…much of what we know about historical dress comes from the apparel of the elite.” (Sauro) Although much time has progressed, fashion from the renaissance period has held a strong influence on the fashion in today’s society.
Have you ever wondered what people in the Elizabethan Era wore? Fashion was just as important in those days as it is to some people today. What people were wearing mattered to others, and even the government. During the Elizabethan Era clothing, accessories, and cosmetics were all a part of daily life.
Fashion is a form people use as a way for self expression. For me, fashion dictates how a person sense of style is; some may be bold and loud or simple and calm in which it also gives others an outlook on how their character may be. Although fashion is a way to express ones’ sense of style it does not tells us who the person is personally. Fashion in the society of the 1900s has changed female gender roles then and now by the way their roles changed during the time.
Pantalettes, sometimes indicated major transitions in a girl's life signifying the going forward from infant to schoolgirl. From 1350 to mid 1500s, real fashion started to appear, as clothes were tailored to display the figure. During the 1700s, the Age of Enlightenment, ladies dressed in voluminous draped fabrics putting on a few more pounds. Tightly laced corsets were used in the bodices of their gowns, and hoops worn under their dresses, were made of flexible whalebone (a thin plastic strip used in stiffening corsets and bodices) held together by tapes (Fig. 1). During the industrial revolution in the 1800s, French designs dominated women's clothing, and women discarded the corset in favor of a softly bodice. Gowns were made with fewer layers and had leg-of-mutton sleeves (Fig. 2). In the 1870s, synthetic dyes were introduced due to the fact that they were cheaper and color-fast. Toward the 1900s, the Space Age, fashion quickly moved forward into the 20th century. By the end of the 19th-century, the fashion industry had broadened, partly due to the demand of women who had a more independent life style. In 1910, rayon was invented, the first man made fabric that substituted silk. Also, for the first time, hemlines rise above the ankles. During the early 20th century, nearly all high fashion originated in Paris and London. Fashion magazines from other countries sent editors and department stores sen...
Historically, multiple styles of dressing have been created during the last several decades, which played an important role in modern fashion in the UK. Everyone has a different and unique dressing style in their general life. Some styles are influenced in vintage styles which is attributing to the deep effects of old vogue, and another group of dressing styles are inclined into the fresh element. According to those different styles some of them are even evolved in the milestones in fashion history.
Everyone in the age would always wear extremely modest clothing. The common garment for a man was the robe gathered at the waist, completed by hose and soft sandals. The same was for the woman, except their dress extended to the feet. The most common materials used to make clothing were linen and woolens, though...
During the beginning of the 18th century, men and women wore different clothes than they did at the end. The monarch was the trendsetter of fashion. Clothing later developed as people looked up at both country and nature for inspirations. Men wore clothes that looked similar to the previous century. Wealthy men wore white linen or cotton shirt with laced edged or tie topped with sleeveless and many other rich designs. The working men wore simple garments and less made clothes out of cotton and wool. At the middle of the century, wealthy men wore similar clothing but it changed in both fitness and decoration in style. Also at the beginning of this century,men wore jus...
Laver, James. Costume and Fashion: A Concise History. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1985. Print
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.