Fashion History: The Haute Couture Era
By the end of the 19th century the horizons of the fashion industry had generally broadened. The more mobile and independent lifestyle causes many well-off women to begin to adopt and to wear the practical clothes they demanded.
Fashion History from 1900 – 1910
Throughout the early 20th century Paris dictated high-end fashion. Parisian designers set the fashion tone for the rest of the Western world, and their designs were highly sought for women of the upper classes. Although the two most important fashion terms and their division haute couture and pret-a-porter wasn't sharply defined, nevertheless both fashion magazines and department stores all over the world sent their editors and buyers to the exclusive Paris Fashion Shows to follow the newest high-end fashion trends and styles. At this time fashion style magazines started to include photographs in their article and became even more influential than in the future.
Remarkable wastes defined the fashion of the decade. And the couturiers of that time created incredibe extravagant outfits which were meticulously made. Worn by the fashionable women of the Belle Époque the outfits highlighted the S-Bend silhouette of the full-figured body. The S-Bend corset was very tightly laced at the waist which forced the hips back and the drooping mono bosom was thrust forward in a pouter pigeon effect creating a S shape. Toward the end of the decade the fashionable silhouette gradually became somewhat more straight and slim, due to Paul Poiret's high-waisted, shorter-skirted Directoire line of clothes. Curvy hips were also flaunted by the dress styles of the era. In the early years of the first decade, skirts were only long and full. No fashionable lady could (or would) dress or undress herself without the assistance of a third party. Unlike today, the constant radical changes of the fashion trends were still literally unthinkable. The use of different trimmings were all that distinguished the styles season after season.
This video shows Fashion in the early 1900′s:
From 1910 until the start of the First World War in 1914, skirts gradually grew shorter and began to reveal tantalizing glimpses of the ankle. The overall silhouette of dresses also changed slightly, moving toward a slimmer, narrower and straighter line that emphasized the hips and busts. As the war began in 1914, attention and materials were drawn away from fashion design, and no significant fashion developments occurred again until peace was declared at the end of 1918.
The most influential fashion designers of the time were Paul Poiret, Jacques Doucet and Mariano Fortuny. Paul Poiret has evolved the first outfit which women could put on without the help of a maid. He was one of the first who translated his vogue into the fashion world with his exotic kimonos and vivid colors. While the French designer Jacques Doucet excelled in superimposing pastel colors and his elaborate gossamery dresses suggested the Impressionist shimmers of reflected light, Mariano Fortuny was a curious figure with very few parallels in any age. For his dress designs he conceived a special pleating process and new dyeing techniques. Each garment was made of the finest silk.
World War I changed the fashion world for ever. Women chose to dress like men and borrowed their clothes from the male, corsets were refused and both bustless, waistless silhouette and the flapper style became very popular among yound women. The sporty and athletic look for both women and men were popularized equally as well.
The menswear emphasized youthfulness and relaxation in the 1920s. Unlike before the young men were no longer afraid to show their growing mood of informality, especially not the Americans. What was very tradional in the past, wearing a special outfit for every event in the well-dressed gentleman's day, wasn't popular any longer. Men began to wear the same soft wool suit all day long and felt confident. Short suit jackets replaced the old long jackets of the past which were now only worn for formal occasions. Men prefered more the sport clothes, including sweaters and short pants and the London cut, with its slim lines, loose-fitting sleeves, and padded shoulders were very popular.
At that time the couturière Coco Chanel was a major figure in fashion for her chic and progressive designs. Chanel evolved the little black dress, the Chanel-Costume and the use of jersey knit for women's clothing.
Watch how Fashion changed after WWI due to Coco Chanel's influence:
Related article: Couture isn't dead. It's an article about how haute couture is demand than ever after the economic crise in the 21st century.
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Fashion History: The Modern Era
World War II created many radical changes in the fashion industry. After the War, Paris wasn't the global center of fashion like it used to be and mass-manufactured fashion became increasingly popular.
During the 1920s clothing styles officially entered the modern era of fashion design. The traditional divide that had always existed between the high society and worker class was suddenly questioned in the West. A new young generation was born who fought against the existing differences. Women began to liberate themselves from constricting and uncomfortable gowns for the first time. They were open for casual and more comfortable styles like pants and shorter skirts, low waistlines, and revolutionary styles of the flapper era. Cloche hats without rims also became a key popular accessory.
As the European hierarchies were overturned and due to the decrease of the raw material, Europe was more than ready to adopt a quality ready-to-wear garment on American lines, something to occupy the middle ground between off-the-rack and high-dressmaking. New developing technologies made it easier to literally manufacture 'mass-manufactured' clothes and beat handmade, high-quality fashion for the very first time but of course could not stop fashion leaking out onto the streets. Unlike haute couture production, the mass-manufactured production cycles were much longer due to the larger quantities. Fashion designer had to try to assume more than a year in advance what their costumers would want and wear.
Watch the Roaring Twenties here:
During this decade women's fashions moved away from the brash, daring style of the 1920s towards a more feminine, romantic silhouette. The female body changed into a more neo-classical shape that why dresses were made to fit close to the body in order to emphasize youthful elegance. The waist was restored to its proper position, hemlines dropped and the slim-fitting day dresses became very popular. The term 'ready-to-wear' was still not widely used, but the fashion workers and boutiques already began to describe such clothes as 'sportive' and being used only for sport matters.
The fashion styles of the flapper era lasted throughout the 1920s and into the early 1930s before the hardships of the Great Depression forced more conservative trends back to a more traditionally feminine look: skirts became longer and the waistline became a more important part of the dress again. Due to the Depression which caused many women to do more work at home themselves, the fashion designer were forced to distinguish between day and evening styles. Women needed more casual and practical clothing for the daytime and could wear then easily simple skirts and casual outfits at home without any worries. Couture's new fabrics like silk, metallic lamé, synthetic fabric rayon and cotton on the other hand, became an important part of many designers' fashions during the 1930s.
The most prominent and influential fashion designers of the 1930s were Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet. Elsa Schiaparelli did not so much revolutionize fashion with her exciting and inventive designs. She was called 'one of the rare innovators' of the day by the press. Her first knitted black pullover with a trompe-l'oeil white bow created a sensation and was a start shot of following breathtaking collections thereafter till her business closed in 1954 because she did not adapt to the changes in fashion following World War II.
Madeleine Vionnet created more the timeless and beautiful gowns and was well known for the bias cut. "The architect among the dressmakers" was inspired by Greek art, garments which appeared to float freely around the female body rather than distort or mold its shape. Her clothes were famous for accentuating the natural female form and were made without excessive elaboration or dissimulation. Remain faithful to the elegant line she used a lot chiffon, silk and Moroccan crepe which created a sensual effect.
Men's fashions continued the informal, practical trend that had dominated since the end of the First World War.
Fashion during The Great Depression:
Tags: 1920, 1930, 1940, Elsa Schiaparelli, Fashion 1900, Fashion 1920-1940, Fashion 20th Century, Fashion History, Fashion History 1920-1940, Flapper Era, Madeleine Vionnet, Modern Era, speak fashion, speakfashion, speaking fashion