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History of fashion Essay
history of fashion introduction
History of fashion Essay
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Many people would not believe that there are so many similarities between modern day fashion and the fashion of the renaissance time period. Many differences may be seen between the two, but the similarities are remarkable. Throughout all of time, clothing has been the major representation of social classes. What people wear has always been the distinguishing factor between the wealthy and the poor classes of both the renaissance and current time period. The evolution from time period to time period has been vast, but the fact that what people wear represents what class they reside in is still very prevalent. From the fabrics, jewels, and accessories, you can still see many similarities from the renaissance time period to the current time period. “…much of what we know about historical dress comes from the apparel of the elite.” (Sauro) Although much time has progressed, fashion from the renaissance period has held a strong influence on the fashion in today’s society.
The Renaissance time period could be considered one of the most artistic eras of all time. Both men and women were encouraged to make a transition from the medieval time period to the Renaissance time period. This was done largely in part by their style of clothing and the way they expressed themselves. Some fashionable trends for the women of the Renaissance time period include corsets, layers, ruffled collars, and closely fitted gowns called cotes. “Corsets like the merry widow were necessary for parties, dances, and other formal occasions” (Hoobler 98). Unmarried girls, brides, and queens of the time were allowed to wear their hair down, while most other women were to wear tall cone-shaped hats called hennin. The men of the renaissance era typically wore their ...
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...d: Twenty-First Century Books, 2000.
Lawson, David "History Of Renaissance Clothing - How Today's Fashion Is Affected." 6 Jul. 2011 EzineArticles.com. 16 Nov. 2011
Netzley, Patricia. Life During the Renaissance. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1998.
Rublack, Ulinka. "The Birth Of Power Dressing." EBSCOhost.com Jan. 2011. 21 November 2011. < http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.az.us:2048/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=106&sid=2e5fc03e-4910-41ee-93c8-a5812b3c7f88%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=58087890>
Sauro, Clare. "Fashion." Worldbookonline.com 2011. 21 Nov. 2011. < http://worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar192280&st=renaissance+fashion>
http://educators.fidm.edu/educators/classroom-resources/fashion-qoutes.html
McCutcheon, Marc. "Clothing and Fashions." The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life from Prohibition Through World War II. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest, 1995. 161-67. Print.
The 18th century fashion for men and women was influenced by the royal court and Puritans. Women’s fashion was very elegant and colorful, more so than the men’s fashion. The shoes worn by the women of the 18th century were made of silks and satin. They were decorated in laces and had a square or round shape. They also began to wear shoes of different and vibrant colors with higher heels. A majority of the time their shoes were not shown because of their extravagant skirts and petticoats. Lace was a stylish detail to women’s fashion during that time. They wore lace gloves and their petticoats were trimmed in lace. Men wore knee high boots that were either high-heeled or flat along with their knee length trousers. Their shoes were often neutral colors dark brown, light ...
Salisbury, Joyce E. and Gregory Adrete. "Clothing in Greece: Ancient World." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
...d women’s fashion to break free from convention. Bras and corsets were seen as symbols of oppression and conformity. They were discarded by many women as many new fads appeared,(). Women also exhibited their newfound freedom by wearing traditional male clothing such as baggy trousers, men's jackets, vests, over-sized shirts, ties and hats.
Hair styles and make-up have been a significant part of the culture for centuries. It has been changing with every era, decade or style of art. The difference can be as small as a change of a shape of the eyeliner or it can be a complete change of people’s looks. What was considered beautiful in Renaissance was absolutely outdated 100 years after this era. In this essay I will be talking about the hair and make-up in Renaissance. It all started in Italy, home of the greatest artists of the time. The first section of my essay will be about Italy and the way people were changing their natural appearances using various products. In the second section I will move to the north of Europe to explore a bit more about this topic and see how much the fashion that was set in Italy has changed. In the third section I will look at what was going on in the Great Britain and compare the Elizabethan hair and make-up to the continental style.
...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.
The ladies dresses of the early Middle Ages were influenced by the classical styles of the Greek and Roman women. Their dresses were tight to display the elegance of their figure. Dresses were embroidered and luxuriously decorated. Some dresses consisted of two tunics and of a veil or drapery. The veil was thrown...
Peacock, John. The Chronicle of Western Fashion: From Ancient times to the Present Day. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991. Print.
Baker, Patricia, and Robert Price. Fashions of a Decade. New York: Facts on File, 1991. Print.
French rulers King Charles VII and King Louis XII were astonished by the sophistication found in Italy and decided to invade it. From then on it was not until the 1450's where fashion sense began. Ideas such as increasing trades and extending clothing materials allowed the fashion trend to grow and change. The ones to keep up or set the fashion trending during the Renaissance period were the wealthy or ruling class. Fashion had its own stated rules and laws for each class, those laws were named sumptuary laws and it made people had to keep up with the fashion since it changed every year, and the clothes they wore defined their social level. The rich literally wore their wealth, shown by the amount of jewels put into their clothes or the quality of the material. Each style of clothing represented who and what people ...
Clothing affected the lives of women greatly. Women wore many layers of clothing that could be hot and tight, making them uncomfortable. Different types of clothing were also used to make women seem more petite than they actually were (History of Fashion - Elizabethan). Many outfits included most of the following under layers: a smock, stockings, a corset, a farthingale, a rowel, a stomacher, a petticoat, a kirtle, a fore part, and a partlet. Then, most of the following over layers: a gown, separate sleeves, a ruff, a cloak, and shoes. Shoes were often a flat, Mary Jane style, or had a platform to keep one's feet dry. The biggest influence on woman's clothing during the Elizabethan Era was actually Queen Elizabeth I herself.
For many centuries clothing was used namely as a form of symbolising one’s ascribed class and social honour. A good example of this was evident in Feudal European times when sumptuary laws were created in order to regulate and specify the clothing that could be worn by certain classes. In 1463 Edward IV went so far as to ‘[declare] that purple silk was to be the prerogative of the aristocracy’ (Finkelstein 1991, pg. 137). As purple dye and silk were both very expensive and sought after this declaration demonstrated quite simply that those who were in possession of such materials should command respect and were of high social standing. Eventually these laws were abolished as, instead of ‘confining people to their designated rank, the laws provoked an intense interest in fashion and a desire to transgress the codes, both in the process of prestigious emulation and as an act of rebellion’ (Craik, 1994, pg. 205). This abolition allowed groups and individuals to establish their own chosen style or ‘marker’ in order to indicate their place within society. By allowing such freedom, ascribed social status gave way to that which was achieved. This not only meant that many more people were able to engage in the ever-expanding culture of ‘Haute couture’ but also that honour was no longer perceived as a birth right but rather as something that could to be obtained. Such a shift in symbolism provided a way for those of not so noble a birth to portray themselves as the latter through a variety of means such as renting or stealing clothes and buying counterfeit copies (a common occurrence in today’s society also).
In the early 1800s, France was the sole fashion capital of the world; everyone who was anyone looked towards Paris for inspiration (DeJean, 35). French fashion authority was not disputed until the late twentieth century when Italy emerged as a major fashion hub (DeJean, 80). During the nineteenth century, mass produced clothing was beginning to be marketed and the appearance of department stores was on the rise (Stearns, 211). High fashion looks were being adapted and sold into “midlevel stores” so that the greater public could have what was once only available to the social elite (DeJean, 38). People were obsessed with expensive fashions; wealthy parents were advised not the let their children run around in expensive clothing. People would wait for children dressed in expensive clothing to walk by and then they would kidnap them and steal their clothes to sell for money (DeJean, 39). Accessories were another obsession of France‘s fashion; they felt no outfit was complete without something like jewelry or a shrug to finish off the look and make it all around polished (DeJean, 61). As designers put lines together, marketing began to become important to fashion in the nineteenth century; fashion plates came into use as a way to show off fashion l...
Early 19th century clothing for women was designed for style and beauty, sadly, this left practicality, safety and comfort completely out of the picture. Corsets, which were worn to slim the waist and lift the chest, presented many serious health concerns for women. These vices that women wore on their bodies increased their blood pressure and made breathing very difficult. Fainting was so commonplace that a fainting couch was designed and present in most households Prolonged wearing of corsets weakened back and stomach muscles to the point that some women, who had worn corsets for many years, struggled to hold themselves upright without them. If cinched to tightly, they had the power to bruise the internal organs and push them out of alignment, causing sever health issues. (Berkowe)
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.