Fashion or Textile Designers and History

The 18th century, more precisely between 1715 and 1789, was a significant time period in the fashion sphere for women in France. The time period itself was a mark of great change for the history of France due to various political reasons as well as various art movements and often times fashion, despite being a branch of art, is overlooked by most viewers. However, fashion during this time excelled in France and was essentially the symbol of a new era in this domain; French fashion was now snowballing into something much greater that still echoes to this today. Ultimately, the goal of this essay is to describe women’s fashion during the period of 1715-1789 and the shifts it made through the analytical use of various sources including artwork, literature, museums’ online archives and internet sources.

In her 2010 TED talk, titled “Lessons from fashion’s free culture”, Johanna Blakely describes how the fashion industry’s lack of copyright and patent protection has allowed it to thrive in the economic market. This is mainly because designers have been able to recycle the same building blocks of fashion to create innovate, utilitarian designs into what we regard as art to adorn ourselves. In this talk, she urges other creative industries to adopt this concept.

There have been and still are hundreds of fashion designers in the world. But only a few of them have had any major impact on fashion industry today. And even fewer have revolutionised the fashion industry completely. One of these revolutionaries is the renowned Christian Dior. He reestablished Paris as the centre of the fashion world, and created his name as a symbol of elegance, quality, and modernity. I will be looking into how Dior’s context informed his practice, by using three of his most iconic and popular designs; The Bar Suit, Venus Dress and the Cygne Noir dress. And how these were a direct representation of 1945-1950 France.

With over thousands of clothing collections from prehistoric life to the present, the Museum of London, Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Fashion Museum in Bath allow visitors to observe the many changes that occurred in fashion throughout the years. With my prior knowledge about the 1800s fashion styles, I began to focus on a different era within the 19th century at each museum. Focusing on different eras enabled me to thoroughly analyze and compare each fashion style.

From newspaper articles in 1964 announcing the London Look, to an article by Mary Quant in Vogue in 1966 and an article at the end of the decade that declared the return of Paris Power, young people in the U.S. had the opportunity to read and examine British contributions to fashion and make decisions about whether to adopt or not. The 1960s in the United States was a turbulent time –a decade of political and social upheaval. The youth quake of British styles helped to set a new energetic pace for America and a means to deal with the turmoil. College campuses in the U.S. were often the place of change and acceptance of new ideas and thus a place to study the

Have you ever wondered how your favorite pair of jeans or blouse came up in the fashion world? It happened from history. History affected everything we wear today. Although the Great Depression caused setbacks along with the World Wars and Cold war that went on. The fashion industries still managed to come out with iconic statements that we still wear today. Woman’s fashion changed dramatically throughout history, from the Great Depression, World Wars, and the Cold War.

This essay will explore the effects social and political changes had on fashion in the 1980’s. This period was chosen because the new romantic fashions were so different to the punk fashions that had been before, this essay will therefore identify the changes that had taken place to influence this change. Primary evidence used to support findings will include interviews and photographs which will show a firsthand account of the period.

Fashion is very important in modern day society, and can be seen all around. Most of what people know about fashion today came from the fashion during the renaissance. From the vibrant fabrics to the spectacular jewels, renaissance fashion has been thoroughly threaded in the fashion of modern society. Modern day women often wear shorty, fun gowns, tightly fitting jeans, and lower cut tops. Popular fashion trends for men in modern society include saggy jeans, V-neck shirts, and stylish watches. “A fashion is merely a form of ugliness so unbearable that we are compelled to alter it every six months” (Oscar Wilde). Fashion in modern day society is ever changing, but most changes do not stray too far from the original product.

The First and Second World War have had an everlasting effect on numerous nations on the planet. One would not consider design patterns when contemplating the wars however, it was imperative to the ladies at the time. In the wake of investigating about style patterns amid the wars; I have understood that the business has been a continuous circle. Patterns from the past, for example, military coats or studs and spikes or splendid hues and dynamic patters have done a full circle and are back on pattern today.

Imagine it was 1860 and the latest outfit just came out! Now I know it probably would not matter to you now if just one outfit came out cause millions of new clothes came out everyday but back then even if they came out with a new fabric pattern it was huge. Yes it was the Victorian era. Women's fashion in the 1800s saw the biggest change(Lucid Crew). From the hats to the shoes, from their sports wear to house wear. Or even if you have ever wonder where we got this idea, although some people may not have but we stole it from others, yes we may have improved on it but those people had it all figured out before we did. It took that history and made it help form the clothes today. Everyone owes thanks to those people. Then, black was the new black, Luxe labels came, there was name calling and fashion was flourishing. These modern day obsessions with black and big name labels are nothing new. People should not think that they started these trends but think way back then (Lucid Crew). Women’s fashion in the 1800’s saw the biggest change because of it’s great development in it’s dressage timeline. The reason why this fashion timeline developed so much was because of all the new ideas of machines, fabrics, colors, and the people that created all of this that changed history. Every year there was something

The fashion industry is rapidly growing and constantly generating new fashion trends almost weekly. Fashion for some may seem ridiculous and unnecessary; but fashion is not just a meaningless usage of article of clothing or farcical materials sew together for coverage. There is more to fashion than meets the eyes, fashion is precious and significant. It is a reflection of self-image, it speak the ream about who we are and how we review ourselves. Not only is fashion the reflection of self-image but also the reflection of our history as Coco Channel have said, “Fashion is not something that exist in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Fashion

The power of fashion is underestimated by many. I, myself was one of those many. Up until my middle school art instructor, Ms.Jose introduced me to the fashion world. One day as I worked on an art project, Ms.Jose randomly challenged me to create a Roaring 20’s look. At the time, “Roaring 20’s” was a newcomer to my historical knowledge. Curious to understand what Ms.Jose was referring to and where I had to get my inspiration from, I researched the history behind this time period. I was astonished by how much of a role fashion played during this era, from the bob hairstyles, to shorter dresses, and the famous designer Coco Chanel. Inspired by one of Coco Chanel first collections, I designed a purple and red evening dress and accessorised the

What is avant-garde and how does it fit into South African contemporary fashion design? In order for one to determine if you are for or against avant-garde, and specifically in relations to South African avant-garde, one must first define

This essay aims to analyse the key role that the surrealist movement has played on fashion and the fashion industry. Both from a historical point of view, as well as its continued impact on fashion today, as a source of inspiration for contemporary fashion designers.

This essay will be considering the historical development of haute couture by analysing Charles Frederick Worth’s (father of haute couture) key factors in the success of haute Couture. I will then discuss Coco Chanel’s thriving impact on haute couture as well as ready-to-wear caused by the second world war. Saint Laurent’s drift to ready-to-wear and the high street fashion system will also be discussed in order to answer if haute couture is relevant in fashion today. The books I will be analysing and referencing are ‘A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th Century’ by Bonnie English, ‘Couture’ by Ruth Lynam, ‘How Fashion Works’ by Gavin Waddell. Which will thoroughly breakdown the evolution and historical development of fashion by cultural, economic, environmental and social changes to finally come into a conclusion.