fashion timeline | Fashion History Timeline

1870-1879

1870-1879, 19th century, decade overview

During the 1870s, women’s clothing became increasingly complex, colorful, and restrictive, while menswear was marked by an industrious sobriety.

1880-1889

1880-1889, 19th century, decade overview

1880s women’s fashion was defined by the rigidly structured bustle and an abundance of decoration. Dress reformers, influenced by artistic movements, protested these heavy, ultra restrictive trends.

1970-1979

1970-1979, 20th century, decade overview

Seventies fashion saw bold colors and patterns take center stage. Women’s fashion looked back to the 1940s by day and pumped up the glamour by night. Men had an array of suit types to choose from and favored colorful plaids. Children’s fashion followed adult fashion with bold plaids and bright colors with the distinction between genders lessening throughout the decade.

1868

1860-1869, 19th century, year overview

In 1868, skirts with long trains were at the height of fashion, which resulted in noticeable cropping in images depicting this prevalent style of dress. Yet, at the same time, walking dresses became daringly short, showing off fashionable ankle boots.

1890-1899

1890-1899, 19th century, decade overview

The 1890s were a transitional decade from the stiff Victorian Era to a new century. New freedoms and technologies drove an era that became known as the “Gay Nineties.”

1570-1579

1570-1579, 16th century, decade overview

Women in the 1570s believed more was more, loved intense decorative effects, and adopted some influences from menswear. Men’s dress was quite curvilinear, with a padded belly, small waist, and large bulbous melon hose at the thighs.

1560-1569

1560-1569, 16th century, decade overview

The stiff formality of 1560s womenswear, achieved through boning and high ruffs, was met by equally high collars on men, who also wore increasing pumpkin-sized melon hose and doublets with padding at the front belly.

1580-1589

1580-1589, 16th century, decade overview

1580s fashion featured a new, slender silhouette for men, and a contrasting, ever-expanding dimensionality for women. These fanciful styles signaled power, class, and currency.

1960-1969

1960-1969, 20th century, decade overview

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.

1550-1559

1550-1559, 16th century, decade overview

Spanish fashion was ascendant in the 1550s, from the loose women’s gown—the ropa—and the Spanish farthingale in women’s dress to the narrow-cut jerkins and tight sleeves of Philip II and the must-have men’s outerwear piece, the Spanish cape.

1540-1549

1540-1549, 16th century, decade overview

In the 1540s men’s doublets begin to emerge from under to outerwear and their hose increase in volume, beginning to assume a melon shape. Womenswear becomes increasing rigid with stiffened bodices flattening the torso and breasts.

1530-1539

1530-1539, 16th century, decade overview

Men’s fashion of the 1530s was dominated by the broad-shouldered silhouettes made iconic by King Henry VIII. Women’s fashion showed greater regional variation, with Italian women establishing trends that would soon spread to the rest of Europe in the second half of the century.

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