The 1640s saw womenswear trend in a softer and slightly simpler direction, with low necklines and billowing three-quarter length sleeves often in satin of a single color. With much of Europe at war, menswear took on a more militaristic edge and a parallel simplification, with the wearing of buff coats widely adopted in England.
For men, the 1630s was an age of leather, long locks and lace, while women shimmered in soft satins and plenty of lace of their own.
The 1620s saw the adoption of leg-of-mutton sleeves in both men’s and womenswear; while men’s clothing achieved an elegant, longer line, women’s dress became high-waisted and fuller.
Though he stands in the shadows, Mr. I. N. Phelps Stokes’ suit sheds light on significant developments occurring in menswear at the end of the nineteenth century.
Fashion of the 1610s witnessed a gradual softening in the silhouette as women began to discard their farthingales and men’s breeches became baggier.
The first decade of the 17th century saw a continuation of many Elizabethan trends, with small changes in skirt length, sleeve shape, and collar types slowly being introduced.
Fashion during this decade turned away from extravagance and towards simplicity. The elaborate fashions of the court of France that were dominant throughout Europe reached their peak in 1415. In that year, the French defeat at the hands of the English at the Battle of Agincourt, in part because they were over-armored and over-dressed, forced a reckoning. Long houppelandes, bombard sleeves, and decorative dagging declined, and the English and Burgundians took a greater share in fashion leadership.
1590s fashion exaggerated previous styles, with women’s farthingale skirts expanding and men’s hose shrinking further still.
A justaucorps is a long-sleeved, knee-length coat worn by men after 1666 and throughout the 18th century.
While technology progressed in the first decade of the twentieth century, fashion largely remained the same. Subtle changes in silhouette occurred in womenswear until the tubular shape of the 1910s was beginning to emerge by the end of the decade. Lace and other embellishments were key. Menswear continued to see the suit as the primary style, though the tuxedo became increasingly acceptable as formal wear in the evening. Children continued to be dressed like mini-adults and styles such has the sailor suit continued to be popular options.
During the 1860s, the cage crinoline allowed women’s skirts to reach their apex in size, while menswear relaxed into wide, easy cuts. Advances in technology, such as the sewing machine and aniline dyes, and the rise of Parisian couture, beginning with the House of Worth, changed the fashion landscape.
In the first years of the war-torn fifteenth century, fashion was a battleground where rulers and courtiers lay claim to power with the display of luxury textiles, elaborate dagging and fanciful personal emblems. Throughout the decade, the fashions launched at the court of France influenced the rest of Europe. In England, Germany and Italy, sumptuary laws intent on preserving distinctions between nobles and commoners signal the wealth of the middle class and their increased ability to participate in fashion.
1840 – Queen Victoria’s Wedding Dress
1872 – Emile Pingat, Visiting Dress
1904 – John Singer Sargent, Lady Helen Vincent, Viscountess D’Abernon
1878 – James Tissot, Evening
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