Styles Of Fashion

Hairstyles for the period 1750-1900 cover the Georgian era, Regency, and Romantic period hairstyles, as well as Victorian and Edwardian period hairstyles. These Era’s note not only hairstyles on men, women, and children, but also wigs and hats as part of the hairstyles of those times. When plays began being performed, even from Shakespearean times, there were never props, backdrops, or other decorations to show the audience where the play was taking place; the only visual concept was through costumes that helped the audience understand what type of stature the character had, what nationality and religion they were, and even the kind of personality they revealed. Various elements were highlighted via costumes, to include make- up, wigs, shoes, and accessories. Typically, costumes reflected what was fashionable at that time including hairstyles. Interestingly, there have been cases where theatre costumes had an effect on what people wore. Period hairstyles helped depict various times in history and wigs often help display the hairstyles of past eras for theatrical productions.

Flappers were women of the new decade who were known to assert themselves in society and began to create their own identities. They started to drink and smoke in public, and talked about sex openly, all of which were highly frowned upon during this time. While smoking, a woman might wear a Turkish-inspired “smoking suit” along with a turban. They began cutting their hair shorter into bobs, which was often considered boyish. Fashion designer Coco Chanel and actress Louise Brooks helped to popularize this look. The style became the staple hairstyle of the flapper. Aspects of menswear were also inserted into women’s fashion, with looks such as tailored vests and pants, but were prohibited in some areas. This boyish look was often referred to as the “garconne” look.

First of all, coats and outerwear was usually made from browns, dark blues, and usually covered in large buttons. Also, if a women had money she would wear wool or fur jackets. In the 1920s, women also wore different kinds of coats. For example, some coats were long that stretched below the knee and others were short coats that were mainly used for sport occasions. Cardigans were also in style at the time. They were typically made of wool and had a few buttons with or without pockets. Men wore fur coats for everything they went to, and they wore leather jackets when they wanted to go to a place where they could play sports for fun. For the women, under garments usually consisted of dresses and skirts. As said in retrowaste.com, “ dresses were thin, with loose silk, and had a thin belt around the waist. Some women liked to show leg and others didn’t, but designers catered to all different tastes.Women also had sport dresses that were more modern. “ Men wore suits into town and flannels when they were relaxing. In addition, when the men were at home they wore “smokey jackets” or lounge jackets. Once in awhile the men wore decorative shirts that were white or light

The look was basically tubular, as it emphasized a straight line from shoulder to hem”(Women’s Fashion). Day wear consisted mainly of hats especially the cloche hat, and “the classic suit: a soft pleated or straight skirt topped by a short open jacket with edges bound in ribbon or braids”(Women's Fashion). Evening wear primarily consisted of backless cocktail dresses,which were adorned with decorative headdresses,and or “long strands of beads cast over the shoulder and down the back”(Women’s Fashion).The change of fashion in the 1920s is the reason why the style of clothing today is where it

“The term "flapper" first appeared in Great Britain after World War I.” (Rosenberg par 8). The flappers would wear knee length dresses with slits cuts into it so it was easier to move in, they wore lots of makeup and sparkles. The flappers only smoke and drink, but they also partied and dance a lot considering it was the jazz age as well. “The 1920s was the Jazz Age and one of the most popular past-times for flappers was dancing....” (Rosenberg par 24). Dancing was very popular and common for the flappers to be doing along with smoking and drinking. Women’s fashion was more of a revealing style of the 1920s from the effect of the jazz music and alcohol on society. The women of the 1920s weren’t the only ones who went through a fashion change, the men did also. After the war men’s fashion in the 1920s went through a positive transformation. The war changed the attitudes and the level of class, as the younger men switched forming wear the suits they adopted their own look. Men’s fashion in the 1920s was the start of men’s fashion, but only minor changes were changed in the menswear. “. Suit colors were mostly neutral with patterns, but the accessories popped with vibrant colors– just like they did for women’s 1920s fashion” (1920s fashion for men par 1). The suits were the biggest trend for men’s fashion in the 1920s, all the men had them. For day evening, office, or parties, a man always wore a suit. What’s different from the 1920s men’s suits apart from other

The pompadour was part of the newly found rebellious “greaser” culture common among lower-class young men. The style was introduced to many by the movie Rebel Without A Cause, where James Dean is seen sporting blue jeans and a leather jacket, with his hair greased back into a slick pompadour. The pompadour was when young men greased their hair back and made it tall. The pompadour was often worn with jeans, boots, and a leather jacket. “Western” clothing was often popular with young men wearing Western shirts and cowboy boots. For the business world of the 1950’s men usually wore plain grey flannel suits paired with clean cut hair. For women the ponytail was in. The ponytail was a versatile style that could be very casual or used for more classy occasions. Women wore skirts and sleeveless dresses, pants were very rarely worn and if so were worn only in the house. Women of the time wore underneath their dresses and clothes to give them the appearance of having a tiny waist. The two dress styles that were popular were pencil skirts and puffy skirt

Men had a different view on fashion. Mens fashion went from a flannels, acid washed jean jackets, and suits to business casual and Hip-Hop inspired outfits. Just like today the business casual consisted of a plain shirt, khaki’s, and a bold necktie. The Hip-Hop inspired outfits became the lazy approach to fashion which composed of baggy baseball jackets, pants, and tracksuits (Mens Fashion 1990-1999). In both male and female teens piercing’s became a huge trend. Every part of the body was being used for piercings including the belly button, breasts, septum, nose, eyebrows, and tongue (Koch). Amazingly, the top hair choices for men were frosted tips and the curtained hair look which had long strands in front and short in

In the 16th century fashion in Europe was similar in most countries. In this century women would wear gowns or dresses. In Spain women wore cone-shaped skirts but as the century progressed the gowns became more lavish. Gowns were made of different fabrics like silk, velvet and lace. The dresses were adorned with beads, pearls and jewellery and were decorated with patterns of stiches and embroideries.

The political and economic crisis of the 1930’s strongly affected the way women dressed. The harsh situation in the country forced them to abandon fancy trends (in clothing, accessory, beauty department) in favor of the simplicity. Women quite often looked up to the glamorous Hollywood movie stars for fashion and beauty inspirations. However, the upcoming war stripped them of this sole way to escape the grim reality of day-to-day life. The hard times that emerged at the end of the 1930’s with the upcoming war on the horizon translated into simple and practical clothing.

Leather jackets were the key to knowing who was tough and often would show who was the greasers and the ones that were not. There were women, who changed fashion, and it was in a way that became trendy such as jean shorts, and pants that were considered scandalous to some, but most felt beautiful. Stripes and polka-dots, were highly in fashion, making clothes enjoyable to wear. Though there were many new things being brought in, there were still old fashion from the previous decade, with some poodle skirts. Tight waisted dresses, with an apron skirt was a great way of saying “I am classy” and creating the new trend for young women.

For the workplace and everyday business men wore suits, but they now had a more slim and boyish look to them. Men started to add accessories to their suits like bow ties and knit ties along with changing how the trousers looked, a front crease was added with cuffs witch drew more attention to the shoes they wore. Athletes were becoming huge role models in the 1920s fashion. Golfers started wearing colored sweaters and plus fours, plus sixes, and plus eights pants. Tennis players wearing white trousers and v-neck sweaters which influenced what young men wore around town.

The tops they wore had patterns on them and were slightly loose fitting contradictory to blouses women wore in the past which were plain and tightly fitted. Outfits as a whole for women in the 1920’s were casual and relaxed to allow for easy movement. (Alchin)

The 1940’s was a turning point in fashion when the New Look by Christian Dior was created in 1947. The new silhouette included soft rounded shoulders, was nipped in the waist, and had a long full skirt. This silhouette along with Christian Dior’s tight-skirted silhouette in dresses and suits and the A-line look all continued into the 1950’s and remained the three main silhouettes for most of the decade. His three silhouettes influenced all kinds of attire including prom dresses, casual everyday wear and even children’s clothing. Figure 4 shows my great grandmother and grandfather in their home in 1955. Everyday dresses were very important during this time because many women did not work but still wanted to remain fashionable in their home.

If you look online, there are millions of pictures of Harajuku style. Guys and girls dressing up androgynously, or wearing the most bizzare pieces of clothing ranging from sky-high platforms to mixing unlikely prints together. Some even wear their hair and makeup in the most avant-garde way. Japan for a while has been displaying fashion that intrigues us and influences us in many ways and what people don’t know is that of these fashions there are different communities and subcultures of fashion that these people in the pictures conform to. Japan has a vast array of street fashion styles and trends. They are all mixed with elements of traditional, foreign and/or local styles. Their street fashion cultures vary from the tan skinned Ganguro girls to the victorian styled Lolitas. One of the most popular and biggest Japanese fashion influencers were the high school girls of Kogyaru. What exactly did these schoolgirls do to become one of the biggest trendsetters of Japan? The answers are within their signature style, Japan’s popular magazines, and ability to popularize certain products.

The culture surrounding women in the early 1900’s, especially in terms of the way that they dressed, was drastically different than that surrounding women in today’s society. The typical everyday clothes that women would wear in the 1900’s were usually long dresses or clothes that covered most of their bodies. Between the years 1900-1909 there were two key trends, the La Belle Epoque and the Gibson Girl. They were very much alike, they both consisted of a corset to make the waist skinnier and the bosom and backside larger, but it remained modest to the standards of that period. Both of these styles were very high class and were custom for the wealthier people of the day, this is due to the dresses being made out of luxury fabrics and rhinestones. However, from 1910-1919, the styles began to change when women became tired of wearing the puffy dresses and tight corsets. They wanted something more comfortable, so they came out with three styles called