What Is Dressmaking History?
Posted: Jun 15, 2009 | Category: HealthHistorians tell us that, the original reason for clothes was mostly functional and garments had been used to help to protect us from the rain, the sun, the cold wind, and other unwanted elements in the environment. The concept of fashion was thought up relatively recent as compared to all the other reasons, though it’s just as essential as all the other reasons.
Fashion, for all of the first shallow connotations that we knew of it, actually deals with the combination of social, artistic and political styles of the era. Fashion, in effect, is the unofficial meter of individual’s likes and dislikes, mores, and current ethical beliefs.
The beginning of the 1900’s saw the girdle, a 19th century hold over, slowly abandoned and female skirts even so sat on the floor, plus the gowns were slimmer. Paris turned into the creator of style and in 1920, fashion entered modern times as clothing became comfortable because hemlines rose up to the knees, great for some of the more modern dances. Bloomers and drawers were out and panties were in, and clothing now utilized zippers, hook-and-eyes, snaps, and buttons for fasteners.
From nineteen thirty to nineteen thirty five, shoulder pads suddenly became popular in clothing, and hemlines, that were raised a decade earlier, were now lowered once again. Nylon was utilized in the making of stockings, though there had been a brief shortage for sometime as a result of the second world war.
In 1945 up to 1960, the fashion designers ruled and Dior introduced the New Look, Balenciaga presented the high-waisted dresses and Givenchy made mix and matched separates. Balmain took the market place for comfortable clothing, and Chanel created the braided suit with gold chains and shiny costume jewelry.
In 1964, Mary Quant invented the mini-skirt thereby shocking the entire globe and hemlines continued to rise with micro-minis ever rising in popularity. Flower people took over the fashion scene with their bellbottom denims, tie-dye tops and girls just loved Jackie Kennedy’s famous pillbox hats.
In the 1970’s, bell-bottoms still were all the rage although there were add-ons, where polyester, rayon and jersey dresses and shirts became popular. There were now three different skirt lengths to choose from: maxis (ankle-length) midis (mid calf level) and the classic minis, and don’t forget those hot pants, a smaller variation of normal shorts.
The 1980’s had Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein on the scene where the street urchin look was popularized by Madonna and the leg warmers seen in “Flash Dance” became the rage even for non-dancers. Shoulder pads made a splashing comeback courtesy of the TV shows “Dallas” and “Dynasty” around the exact same time tattooing and body-piercing, acid-washed jeans as well as Michael Jackson jackets all turned popular.
As the 80’s gave way to the 90’s, retrospective clothing took off being the decade of supermodels, in a time when anything Kate or Naomi or Cindy wore, young women everywhere wanted the exact same, and we can’t forget Princess Diana, who inspired many with her outfits.
As 2000 rolled in, it was the turning point of the music scene “look” with the heavy metal, hip hop, low-rise denims, spiked hair – those trend markers were most liked.
Trend cycles
Fashion trends are like seasons of a year, going away and returning in cycles and only go away as no one is watching, but then return as people are looking the other way. They may look silly now, but you will probably strut in them sometime in the future when they become fashionable again.
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