Fashion Through The Decades

1900 – 1910 - The Edwardian Age– French influences

It was born a new sense of personal identity. Silhouette slimmed and elongated

FASHION DESIGNERS: Paul Poiret, Jean Paquin, Mariano Fortuny

Corset

- Firmly established- Wear it with shirt waist blouse

Dresses - The S Bend Silhouette- Flounces / volane- Drapes- Corsetry- Volumes- Fitted- Luxury- Dresses in two pieces- Volume sleeve- Pale colors

Blouses

- High neck blouses- Embroidery

Hats

- Volumes- Veil/ voal

Fabrics - Wool ( suits ) - Silk ( corsets)

1910 – 1920 – Oriental Influences

During the early years of the 1910s the fashionable silhouette became much more lithe, fluid and soft than in the 1900s. Rich and exotic opulence in the first half of the decade

FASHION DESIGNERS: CocoChanel ( as an emerging designer she open her first shop in 1913), Paquin, Lanvin, Leon Bakst(mostly costume designer for Ballets Russes), Jackues DoucetInspiration : Ballets Russes

Suits and Coats

- The Tailleur or tailored suit of matching jacket and skirt was worn in the city and for travel.

- Jackets followed the lines of tunics, with raised, lightly defined waists.

- Fashionable women of means wore striking hats and fur stole or scarves with their tailleurs, and carried huge matching muffs.

- harem girls in flowing pantaloons, t- turbans- geishas in exotic kimono.- Simple felt hats and clouds of tulle replaced the styles of

headgear popular in the 1900s.- coats were cocoon or kimono shaped, wide through the

shoulders and narrower at the hem. Fur coats were popular.

Colors

- vivid colors

1920 - 1930 - The Modern ERA

Women began to wear more comfortable clothes (such as short skirts or pants).

FASHION DESIGNERS: Coco Channel , Madeleine Vionnet; Erte , Sonia Delauney, Lanvin, Jean Patau, Edward Molynex

Casual elegance and classical style

- Cloche hats- Flapper fashion- stockings with patterns were hot fashion items. - Embroidery snaked around the ankles and up to the knees.  - Clothes made for comfort and ease in wear making them

revolutionary and quite modern.- Simple shapes that did not require corsetry or waist definition- Lastex, a rubber based thread was used in knee highs in

bright colours.

Colors

- Neutral tones of beige, sand, cream, navy and black- Flesh and soft pastel colors- Honey Beige, Teatime, Rose Morn, Boulevard and Spanish

Brown.

Fabrics

- Soft fluid jersey fabrics - Silk or artificial silk known as art silk later called rayon.-

1930 - 1940 – The Art Deco ERA

FASHION DESIGNERS: Coco Channel, Elsa Schiaparelli .

Flapper dresses

- folds and drapes - Skirts were frequently longer at the back than the front. - Some of the clothes were so stylish that they could be worn

today. - Part of their appeal was the draping fabric that was further

enhanced by cutting fabrics on the true cross or the bias grain also quite fashionable at the start of the new millennium

Fabrics

- use of man-made fibers, especially rayon for dresses - viscose for linings and lingerie- synthetic nylon stockings .- The zipper became widely used.- Cotton- Pure silk

Colors

- Pink - Blue

1940 – 1950 –Haute Couture

Glamour

FASHION DESIGNERS: Lucien Lelong, Christian Dior , Christobal Balensiaga, Jacques Fath, Pierre Balman, Gucci, Valentino.

- luxurious new look with a sumptuous silhouette and billowing skirts.

- Clothes were still scarce and women wore the sharp-shouldered suits with knee-length skirts

- Elegant tailors

Perfect printed silk dresses patent waist belts, thick tights, gloves and platform-soled shoesblack floral printed silk, fastened with delicate diamante claspssimply elegant combination the high neckline and beautifully draped sleeves ensuring that a shorter flimsy silk frock (jerseu )For evening, dresses came in floor sweeping lengths with long billowing sleeves and deeper cut V necklines, sliced almost to the waist. Still not as full on as the flesh baring designs of the Gucci of old,

- Military twist, buttons- Patterns

Balenciaga totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist.

1950 -1960 – ready to wear, prêt a porter.

FASHION DESIGNERS: Christian Dior ; Christobal Balenciaga Channel (came back at 1954), Jack Patu, Pierre Balman, Emilio Pucci, Charles James, Jaques Fath, Hubert de Givency

- Chanel’s introduction of Chemise.- The “Beatnik” style of leotards and form-fitting pants topped with oversized shirts rivaled the petticoats and poodle skirts for favorite style of the day.- Leather jackets became a favorite of the “cool crowd” after seeing Elvis sport one on television.- The strapless dress with the fullest skirts attainable became a favorite for evening wear

Skirts: Pencil and poodles skirts were the popular choice among women. Poodle skirts were wide skirts that had a patched pooled on the right bottom part of the skirt. Pencil skirts were also popular; they were long below the knee and very tight, straight just like a pencil.

Leather: The cool leather jacket was a must for the boys in the 1950's of course leather equivalent to cool.

Gloves/manusi: Gloves were a very popular accessory in the 1950's, seeing a woman without gloves in those days, is like seeing a celebrity without make up in these days, which is very rare. Gloves would be worn to fancy restaurants, parties and whatever special occasion, even though gloves came in all lengths and patterns. The most popular type of gloves worn was white short gloves.

Figured Dresses: Looking like a lady required wearing heels, gloves and beautiful dresses, especially dresses that accentuated a lady's figure. Girdles were usually worn underneath dresses so the women can show off their bodies. Older women wore revealing

Shoes Fashion: Shoes were simple and plain during the 1950's and some people opted for ballet slippers, plain black

and white shoes that resembled sneakers or the women loved to wear stilettos or spiked heels.

Colors – black

Baleciaga

In 1955, he designed the tunic dress, which later developed into the chemise dress[3] of 1958.

Other contributions in the postwar era included the spherical balloon jacket (1953),

the high-wasted baby doll dress (1957),

the cocoon coat (1957),

the balloon skirt (1957),

and the sack dress (1957).

In 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimonos. His manipulation of the waist, in particular, contributed to "what is considered to be his most important contribution to the world of fashion: a new silhouette for women.

Channel

- famous little braided suit with gold chains, shiny costume jewelry, silk blouses in colors that matched the suit linings, sleek tweeds, monogrammed buttons, flat black silk bows, boaters, quilted bags on chains, and evening dresses and furs that were marvels of simplicity.

Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy – little black dress Audrey Hepburn

1960 – 1970

FASHION DESIGNERS: Yves Saint Laurent,

Pacco Rabanne, Ted Lapidus, Mary Quant, Andre Courreges , Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro (from late 60s) Bonnie Cashin , Givenchy, Pucci, , Mary Quant

petticoats and poodle skirts

- The tiniest mini skirts ever seen made up the “Mary Quant” Style The most ironic fashion trend of this decade was that at the beginning, skirts were knee-length, then along came Mary, but by the end of the 1960’s floor length “Maxis” were the hottest new style.

- The Beatles creating a fashion craze known as the “Mod” look.

- Designer Rudi Gernreich shocked the fashion world by presenting a topless version of his new swimwear line during a runway show.

- Jackie Kennedy inspired a new sophisticated style for women world-wide with Chanel Suits and pillbox hats.

The fifties and sixties were a time of innocence and innocence destroyed. Fashion ruled the day, separating the “squares” from the “cool”, the “Ivy League” from those that would later come to be labeled as “Radicals”. These decades were the start of youth using the clothes that they wore to define themselves and to show the rest of the world were they stood on issues of the day. This “trend” never left. The fashions may have changed consistently over the years but the foundation remains the same. We are what we wear, we choose clothing to reflect a certain quality, or lack thereof, up to this very day. We have the designers of the fifties and sixties to thank for the freedom of expressing ourselves through fashion.

Yves Saint Laurent first influenced fashion when he became head designer at Christian Dior after the designer's untimely death. In 1962 YSL created his own label which contributed to many of the decade's fads, including the Mondrian shift dress, safari jacket, pea coat, and le smoking tuxed