SJ

Text Hist: 20th Century

Charles Fredrick Worth: late 1800s the father of haute couture, one of the first to have a fashion house in Paris with 4 levels around 1850, (Englishman), created the Princess Line, created skirt with interchangeable daytime and nightime bodices, background in interior design, house of Worth


The princess line: line running from bust through waist through skirt, named after Empress Eugeenie (who was actually a princess) whom he created dresses for



Mariano Fortuny: 1900s him and his wife created Delphos dresses inspired by Greek style of dress pleated silk with flattering drapery on the body, method of silk pleating still not fully known- he was secretive, broke through style norms as they were intended to be worn at home without corsets, people wore them out without corsets as well


Paul Poiret: 1910s freed womens design from the corset, the hobble skirt, harem pants for women with lampshade tops


Coco Chanel: 1920s originally a milliner (hat maker), tweed suits, styled tailored pieces unlined, the concept of the little black dress every women needed, jeweled cuffs that could be worn like jewelry over sleeves, boxy shaped jackets  


Else Schiaparelli: 1930s, hung out with salvador dali, known for shocking pink, one of the first people to put a zipper in a dress- allowed women to be freed from help of maid or husband to put on their own clothes 


Madeline Vionnet: 1920s cut her clothing on the bias (diagonal) so it clung to the body differently and had a little stretch


Gilbert Adrian: late 30s costuming for Wizard of Oz and The Women in bright technicolor with red white and blue theme for American pride, in the Women- the women attend a fashion show that showcases ready-to-wear pieces that women could go out and buy


Christian Dior: tight bodice with wide skirt, YSL takes over house of dior after he passes


Early 20th Century




Edwardian (1901-1910)

  • Art Nouveau influences  

  • A combination- one piece undergarment step in with some fit throughout the body with darts

  • Chemise- shirtish thing

  • Petticoat- a skirt with ruffles along the bottom called dusters, padded out waist

  • Corset- metal boning, pushes fleshy parts of hips towards your butt for rounder shape in back, monobosom shape for breasts pushed together

  • The dresses:

    • Bodice- top of dress 

    • Skirt 

    • Silk which would reflect light

    • Embossed velvet

  • Gibson girl style- Charles Dana Gibson American illustrator with fashionable women with big soft buns atop the head

  • Taxidermied animals atop hats and clothing- some species were hunted till extinction (Audobon society stopped this) 

  • The invention of motorcars led to the invention of the duster jacket, and watches on the wrist

Titanic Times/ 1910s/ WWI

  • Looser silhouette

  • Kimonoish silhouettes

  • Hobble skirt

  • Art Deco- scalloped shapes

  • WWI- different access to materials, practical fashion, reuse of materials

1920s 

  • Tubular dresses

  • Bare legs, arm, and exposed hosiery and shoes

  • the brasserie- new undergarment, didnt have much support, was meant to flatten to accentuate the breasts

  • Women bobbing hair and wearing tight close close-fitting cloche hats

  • End of 1920s Egyptian styles exploded after discovery of King Tut’s tomb

1930s

  • Moving away from tubular towards with fullness in hips and sleeves

  • The Great Depression- women playing tennis, going and doing activities

  • More revealing beach apparel

  • Shifts towards fitted style in dresses with cutting on the bias

  • undergarment industry booms because, without corsets women wanted to shape their bodies for new styles

1940s/WWII

  • Invention of the shoulder bag- derived from fieldbags that men carried in the war 

  • Metal fasteners not available because of the war effort so buttons became popular

  • 2-piece skirt suits 

  • Turbans appear- from the Caribbean Latin music craze at the time

  • retail fashion shopping gains popularity

  •  when Paris falls to Germany, American fashion steps up

 


Celebrity Influence in Fashion Takes off!!


1950s

  • Audrey Hepburn

  • Post WWII feminine image in response to the masculinity of wartime fashion

  • Glamour

  • The Kennedys

    • Jackie O

      • Anne Low- created her wedding dress, private tailor for the rich, underrecognized due to her blackness during a time before and during the Civil Rights Movement

      • Went around campaigning for her husband’s presidential run to the country club women she was socializing with 

      • Her family was very wealthy and popular

      • Wearing an Oleg Cassini design that looks like Chanel during the assassination and worked closely with him

      • She only wore pastels because she had dark hair

1960s

  • The space race started to influence fashion

  • India’s textiles were influenced by the new government there

  • British fashion

    • Mary Quant- invented the concept of short dresses and fun tights, Mod fashion, British

    • Kensington and Baranby

  • Twiggy 

  • Black models enter the scene

    • The founder of Ebony magazine, John H. Johnson, was married to Eunice Walker Johnson, who was a co-founder and influential figure at Johnson Publishing Company

    • Mrs. Johnson created her own fashion shows on her own dime to photograph and print in Ebony magazine 

  • Andy Warhol

  • Paper dresses made that were meant to be worn and thrown away

1970s

  • Feathers and leathers- inspired by Native American culture

  • Paisley- India movement

  • Nightlife disco culture was born in England

  • Urban cowboy style- corduroy, denim

  • Brooke Shields- Calvin Kleins, 

1980s

  • Princess Diana- cropped jackets over dresses- Spencer Jackets/Boleros, the revenge dress,

  • Ralph Lauren- king of licenses lol

  • Color season analysis became a thing, changing how people shopped

  • MTV- quick access to music videos, inspiring fashion

    • Janet Jackson

    • Madonna

  • Miami Vice- an extremely popular TV show, made pastels popular for men’s wear and huge impact on men’s fashion overall, black and white men in leading roles which was controversial at time

1990s

  • Grunge culture- Kurt Cobain, Doc Martens

  • Popularization of African prints

  • Mainstreaming of Latin flavors in American food

  • Martha Stewart- homemaking, cooking, decorating, hosting