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World War I effects on women
World War I effects on women
20th century fashion essay
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The term “The Little Black Dress,” the fragrance “Chanel No. 5,” the Chanel suit with its soft, cardigan-like jacket and skirt, have become part of the timeless fashion vocabulary familiar to us all. From our perspective, these aspects of modern fashion hardly seem revolutionary, but Coco Chanel was a businesswoman who became successful by adopting fashion to the evolving role of women in a rapidly changing wartime society; her vision that left a legacy which endures to this day.
To understand the role of Coco Chanel as a fashion revolutionary, it is important to understand the era that she lived in and how the world of fashion differed from the one we know today. In first span of the 1900s, stylish women desired dresses for just about anything they could think of, before noon dresses, afternoon dresses, evening gowns, and simpler dresses that were less occasion-specific. Even recreational and sporting activities such as skating, biking, and tennis playing required women to wear suits and corsets. The suits were jackets and very long skirts and were restrictive and uncomfortable, although very stylish (http://tirocchi.stg.brown.edu). During the 1900s clothes were made to show off women’s bodies
with idealized hourglass figures shaped by corsets. This trend in women’s clothing lasted through the 1920s (http://tirocchi.stg.brown.edu).
Prior to the era of the twenties dressmakers earned a large amount of money by designing and producing these stylish clothes that were fitted for each individual. Dressmakers’ business consisted not only of designing and producing these expensive garments for women, who could afford their services, but also altering, repairing, cleaning, and reusing fabric and materials from older outfits to...
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...girl should be two things: classy and fabulous," Coco Chanel once said. Clothes remain to be manufactured in the similarity of Coco Chanel original works. Infinitely loved and treasured by the fashion industry that she contributed so very too addition as by the women who still wear them.
Works Cited
Wallach, Janet. Chanel: Her Style and Her Life. London: Mitchell Beazley, 1999. Print. "Fashion in the 1900s."
The A. & L. TIROCCHI DRESSMAKERS PROJECT. Web. 06 Nov. 2011. .
"Coco Chanel." Business Leader Profiles for Students. Ed. Sheila Dow and Jaime E. Noce. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 6 Nov. 2011. "The Philadelphia Inquirer Mirror, Mirror column." Philadelphia Inquirer [Philadelphia, PA] 12 Apr. 2011. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 6 Nov. 2011.
Berry, Hannah. “The Fashion Industry: Free to Be an Individual.” The Norton Field Guide to
...s far as the author is concern, the fact that CoCo Chanel left the Victorian ideas and lived a life of her own made other women admire her. According to the author, clothing design was her star that raised her above other women. It would be better if other women would emulate her character and moral beliefs that should attract other women.
If we didn’t have fashion then a lot of people wouldn’t have jobs because there are a whole bunch of fashion designers out there, also all of the celebrities wouldn’t have name brand clothing because there would be no way to make them because we wouldn’t have designers. Fashion of the 1920’s played a very big role in today’s fashion. Including the material our clothing is made out of also the styles of clothing we wear. Many things women wear today first came from fashion in the 1920's. Flappers, shoe styles, and accessories are a few things that we wear today have came from. Many celebrities still wear some things that people wore in the 1920's including flappers. Have you ever wondered what the amazing fashion of the 1920's was like?
“Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” This was said by a woman who embodied her own uniqueness flawlessly. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is considered to be a fashion icon. She helped shaped fashion’s advancement and improvement. From her dark childhood to her first couture house, continuing her fashion and struggling through the World Wars, Coco Chanel continued to shine a light on beauty. Her lasting legacy has influenced countries afar, including America. Her love for fashion started in her childhood, which was anything but simple.
The corset was found rigid and compressing in the 1700s. Early 1800s brought some enlightening change: Mantua dresses were m...
Werle, Simone. Fashionista A Century of Style Icons. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. Print.
In the early 1900’s the ideal woman would be dressed with long dresses and would normally have long hair. Several events such as World War I, in July of 1914, changed women’s role in society. They were not only taking care of the children and the household but they were also taking the role of a man. As men went to war, women replaced them in factories. This caused woman to be more independent. Women realized that having a job was something that could be done; their sex didn’t restrict them from taking this action. This was extremely important as it lead to women being more confident and capable. In the 1920s young women began to change. They went from having long dresses and long hair, to a short haircut and wearing dresses that were above the knee. Women developed a greater interest in looking attractive. According to Russell L. Johnson, the beauty industry grew rapidly as cosmetic expenses sky rocketed from 750 million to 2 billion dollars (Johnson 3). This was one of the causes of the sexual revolution. Women became “ less formal but more expressive (Mag...
...dia of Clothing and Fashion. Ed. Valerie Steele. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. 88-89. U.S. History in Context. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
They had no voice but in the 1920’s, women found a way of freely expressing themselves and changing their relationships with others, all with the start of fashion. Women used to dress very conservatively and strictly before the turn of the decade. Clothing consisted of fitted dresses, long skirts, and corsets in lady-like manners. Since the 1920’s brought women’s rights along, young women decided that they were not willing to waste their young lives anymore being held down to the rules; they were going to enjoy life. The younger generations of women were breaking away from their old habits and their fashion statements changed their roles in society completely.
Coco Chanel was a famous fashion designer known for her little black dresses as well as unique perfumes created from her own inspiration.
Fashion plays an important role in the lives of billions all over the world; people, as part of a status craving society, turn to “fashion capitals” of the world for ways in which to dress and carry themselves. New York, Milan, and Paris are leaders among this fierce industry that the world lusts after. Fashion can speak volumes about ones personality, or also about the condition the world is in at the time. In France, fashion changed rapidly and feverously as the times changed.
6. Hammond, Colleen. "Dressing with Dignity - History of Women's Fashion Industry - How to Fight Sexual Revolution and Immodesty in Dress!" N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.
Fashion has been around ever since ancient times, since the time of the Romans, it survived the world wars and is yet today a business with rapid changes. Fashion started off as an art form, a way for the rich to show their social status with unique and innovative designs that only they could afford. It was a way to separate the social classes of the society. In this paper I will include the creators of haute couture, and how the following designers developed couture, as well as leading names in today’s ready-to-wear industry. The list is long, but I chose to focus on the three most important designers in the modern fashion industry.
middle of paper ... ... It also analyzed the influences of modern dresses. As Palmer and Clark (2005) mentioned earlier, both decades are the classic era in fashion history.
Fashion takes on many different facets and concerns many subsets— a model sashaying down the runway in a gown encrusted in real gems, Lady Gaga’s infamous dress made of cuts of raw beef, a teenage girl obsessing over the season’s latest styles— it is all an expression of our minds and who we are or want to be, made tangible. It is a medium just like any other, for while artists wield brushes and paints, designers use thread and cloth to illustrate their vision. The artistry is none more so apparent than in the exclusive world of haute couture, a world of extravagance that caters to aesthetics, producing one-of-a-kind wearable masterpieces that are made to be admired rather than worn. It is without doubt, high fashion and its design is an art.