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Fashion and history go hand in hand, believe it or not. Historical events in a time period reflects the way people living in the time dress, especially with women. In the twentieth century alone there are many examples in each decade that show exactly what events let to the freedom in fashion that there is today. If it werent for womens rights movements, would it still be a male-dominated society? Thats scary to think about, what might not have happened if it werent for those who fought the system? In the first part of the twentieth century, fashion was beginning to make a radical change.
Because of the first wave of working women making their way into American society, Victorian styles were suddenly unfashionable and the skirt and blouse combination became more accepted.
The advancing feminine cause influenced many trends.
Suffragettes, and their desire to conform with and show that they could do the same job as men, brought about such as the Gibson Girl, with her hourglass figure, her expertly upswept hair, and her unquestionable upper-class air, was everything American women in 1900 wanted to be.
Inventions such as the bicycle created interest in sporting activities, which promoted sport clothing as a fashion.
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The 1920's, probably the most daring decade for men and women, it revolutionized the fashion world. With the arrival of the 'jazz age' and prohibition, women's skirts rose scandalously to the knees, the hair was cut short in a boyish bob, women shamelessly smoked, drank in public, danced, voted, wore makeup, and defied the rigid social status that the early 1900's brought.
The waistlines of the dresses dipped to the hips and braziers were worn to bind the breasts giving women a boyish look; a look that commanded power and equality with men; a look called 'The Flapper'.
The Flapper broke through many gender barriers and created a pathway for women to fight for their rights.
The 1930's came on full force with the arrival of the depression. With the majority of people poor and without work, no one had much money to spend on leisurely things like clothes and shoes. Even with the depression women were still entering the work force; whether it be in the factories or in the business offices. Women entering the work force in the business field, they donned a business suit, complete with tight skirts with a daring slit in the side or along the back seam. Jackets fit tightly with shoulder pads to accentuate the commanding force women needed to gain a steady hold in the work force full of men. As the country recovered from a deep depression, World War II set in. The men went off to war leaving behind women, children and families to earn a living for their family and help the men at war by manufacturing war materials.
The fashion for women was to be as conservative as possible so that extra material could be used to support the men at war. Dresses were made without cuffs, collars, buttons or extravagances. Clothing was repaired until worn out before new was bought. While trying to save material for the war efforts womens necklines dropped and again like in WWI hemlines on skirts began to rise more. With the fifties came teenage rebellion. Girls' dresses fluffed out with petticoats and crinolines worn under the skirt. The hair was ratted and flipped and white Keds, tennis shoes, or saddle shoes were worn. Some rebellious women wore tight fitting, calf length pants called pedal pushers, with blouses.
Out of the arrival of the Vietnam War, the Beatles and Joan Baez, came 'flower children', or hippies. They defied the conformity of the 50's fashion code. Both girls and boys wore tight Levis bell-bottoms that flared wide at the knee; and decorations like patches, drawings and fabrics were added as well. Men wore leather vests with bare chests or tee shirts. The women wore loose fitting blouses of cotton, frequently patterned with intricate designs as well as flowery loose dresses. These were called 'peasant blouses.' The basic undertone for the 'flower children' look was to be loose and comfortable yet wearing what you wanted yet still maintaining their protest with their 'counter-culture' (sprinkled with the occasional undertone of illegal drugs, and free love). The 1970's was the disco era. Disco wasn't just a type of music, but a way of life.
The men still wore bellbottoms but the fabric of the decade was polyester, acrylic and Lycra. Women's dresses were ruffley and loose, usually stopping at the knee. Gold chains hanging from the neck was another trendy style. Platform shoes were big on the dance floor and shirt patterns were swirly and dizzying. The colors were loud and clashing making a statement that the 70's was the era of 'Saturday Night Fever.' The 1980's brought two very different styles in. One style ruled the business world especially with the women. Women's business suits had broader shoulders, with the help of shoulder pads, the suits resembled those of the 30's except with much brighter colors like yellows, blues and pinks. The second fashion fad started with exercise. Exercise became a big deal in the 80's and exercise clothes became bright and worn casually. Lycra and spandex was a big material used, usually colored in brilliant greens and pinks. Sexual revolution had also come around for this generation of kids.
It was okay to talk about your sexuality. Madonna made this clear through her songs and appearance which teenagers willingly followed. The 90's is a mixture of a whole bunch different styles. Fashion, as it always does, comes and goes. Several decades become fashionable again, then sometimes it gets modified and sometimes it is banned from the fashion world as a monster, an illegitimate child of creativity. The platform shoe has recently come back and shows up in many shoes from sandals to tennis shoes. The color scheme of the 90's is dramatic or pastel. The classic color is black, used for dramatic effects in fashion.
An Analysis of Fashion and History of Dress Especially in Women. (2022, Nov 16). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/an-analysis-of-fashion-and-history-of-dress-especially-in-women-essay
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