1870-1879
During the 1870s, women’s clothing became increasingly complex, colorful, and restrictive, while menswear was marked by an industrious sobriety.
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Search Results for: Dress through 1900 decades
1960-1969
Fashion in the 1960s became progressively more casual across all genders and ages. Womenswear followed three broad trends: a continuation of the previous decade’s ladylike elegance, the youthful styles of Mary Quant and the Space Age influence, and the late 1960s “hippie” style. Menswear saw an increasing amount of color and pattern, military influence, and new fashion icons in the form of rock stars. Children’s wear saw less change, but also became more casual and bright in color and pattern.
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1510-1519
The second decade of the 16th century featured broad-shouldered silhouettes for men and women, paired with immense sleeves (except for women in Germany, who retained narrow sleeves). Slashing, pinking, paning and other decorative fabric treatments like blackwork embroidery were increasingly common.
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1950-1959
Fashion in the 1950s saw a clear gender divide. While men and boy’s fashion moved towards a more casual day-to-day style, women and girl’s fashion prioritized elegance, formality, and perfectly matched accessories. Couture womenswear saw rapid change with new designers such as Cristobal Balenciaga and Hubert de Givenchy disrupting the overtly feminine silhouette popularized by Christian Dior while novel prints and colors marked a playfulness in fashion for both men and women.
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Compartment Couture: New York City Department Stores 1850-1930 (Part 2)
Part 1 of this essay covers the emergence of department stores in New York City during the nineteenth century. Part 2 discusses the roles of salesclerks and anonymous fashion designers who worked for department store labels.
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Compartment Couture: New York City Department Stores 1850-1930
By examining fashion modes, economical and societal fluctuations, and urban developments, this essay explores how New York City department stores changed from their initial founding as dry goods stores, developed through the turn of the twentieth century, and emerged in the interwar years.
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Stout Fashion & Early 20th Century American Ready-to-Wear
In the early 20th century, the American ready-to-wear industry for stout women–whom we typically call plus-size today–emerged almost simultaneously as that for slimmer women. Stores like Lane Bryant offered a wide variety of clothing specially designed for stout women, who represented a growing portion of the population and had both the desire and income to spend on fashion goods. This essay explores how the industry evolved in the 1910s and 20s to serve them.
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1941 – Wyler, The Little Foxes
This film adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s play involves the corrupt dealings of a wealthy Southern family at the turn of the 20th century. The vicious Regina Giddens and her two greedy brothers scheme mercilessly in their attempt to make a fortune on a new cotton mill.
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