Table Of ContentThe History of Fashion
The Earliest Clothing
Thousands of years ago people learned to
make clothing from natural resources as
protection from the weather.
– Animal skins & hair
– Plants
– Grasses
– Tree bark
How do we know? Cave and tomb
drawings and ancient sculptures.
1
First Clothes & Fabrics
Simple in structure & design
Varied from region to region
Fragments of textiles date back to 7500 B.C.
Linen cloth was made from flax plants by
Egyptians in 5000 B.C
Thousands of years later inhabitants of
India, Pakistan, and possibly Americans
made fabric of cotton
Fashions of Early Civilizations
People learned to raise animals and grow crops
They refined the arts of spinning, weaving, and
dyeing
They began to cut fabric into garments
Ancient fashion contributors include:
– Egypt
– Minoan
– Greece
– Roman Empire
– China
– Japan
2
Evolution of Fashion
Fashion changed very slowly
People often wore the same style clothing for life
A particular style could continue past a lifetime
Until the 14th century, European clothes were
loose-fitting and draped
Around 1350 people started wearing more fitted
styles
Regional clothing differences became visible as
European settlers came to America
Middle Ages (400 – 1400)
Men
– Knee-length pants called breeches
Women
– Gowns with a fitted bodice, full skirt, and long, full
sleeves.
Embroidery and decorative edging
Wealthy wore silk garments trimmed with fur and
adorned with silver accents
Peasant clothes were limited to certain colors and
fabrics
3
1500’s Renaissance (16th Century)
Elaborate designs
Beautiful fabrics
Elegant decorations
Exploration of the New World
– Gold threads woven into fabrics
– Jewels, lace, and furs decorated garments
Wealthier classes set the standard for fashion
Both men and women wore ruffs- stiff, pleated
collars that framed the face-and shoes with
buckles and bows
1600’s (17th Century)
France was the
world’s fashion leader
Lace was an important
decoration
Powdered wigs made
their way in style
Necklines became
lower, hairstyles
became higher, and
beauty marks were
applied to the face.
4
Early 1700’s (18th Century)
Colonization followed by the
Revolutionary War.
Men and woman’s fashions were
elaborate and elegant with laces,
ribbons, and colorful silks.
The late 1700’s were influenced by
Greek sculpture.
Common woman began wearing
loose, flowing, muslin dresses based
on Greek garments.
Woman began using purses.
Hairstyles featured soft, ringlet curls.
Early 19th Century
France changed from a monarchy to a
democracy
Social change and the rise of the middle class
meant that many people could afford to buy
new clothes more often.
Women wore gowns with high (empire)
waistlines that developed into more elaborate
dresses with petticoats and crinolines.
Men wore cutaway jackets, trousers, and
matching garments.
5
Influences on Fashion History
Trade
– As societies traded goods with each other, they
also exchanged ideas that influenced their
clothing
– Quickened by the practice of barter
Politics & Powers
– The emergence of middle class prompted
royalty and wives of political leaders to become
fashion leaders
Influences on Fashion History
Religion
– Clothing became a statement of religious beliefs
Technology
– Used to change and improve fabrics & clothing
– Industrial Revolution provided power-driven
machines to weave fabric and sew garments
quicker than by hand
– Development of factories created ready-to-wear
garments
– Growth of large dry-goods stores
– Introduction of rayon and other new fibers/fabrics
6
4/15/18
1789-1820
James Gillray, “A French Gentleman of the Court of Louis XVI -A French Gentleman of
the Court of Egalite, 1799”, Princeton
Baroque/Rococo vs
NeoClassicism
• Heavy • Light
• Streamlined
• Fussy
• Minimal decoration
• Heavily decorated
• “masculine” (sober, timeless,
logical, unchanging)
• “feminine” (frivolous,
• Simplicity and grace
fashionable, vain)
(associated with democracy,
• Conspicuous the rule of order and reason,
and individual
consumption
accomplishment
(associated with
corruption and
nepotism)
1
4/15/18
The French
Revolution
• The French Revolutionaries were fed up
with Empire, and decided to found a
new Republic, based on the glorious
principles of antiquity.
• 1795 plate taken from an English
translation of a French handbook
depicting the costumes worn by the
governmental branches of the new
French Republic. The dress of the
Council of Ancients, in tribute to "the
glory of Ancient Rome and learned
Athens," consisted of a white toga-like
drapery over a loose-fitting gown.
• Rare Books Department, Boston Public
Library.
New Roman style dress. Figure
87, 1796 (Vol. 2, No. 11) from
Nicholas Heideloff, Gallery of
Fashion. "New Dress, in the
Roman Style, introduced at the
Opera by a foreign Lady of
distinction.”
The colours are accurate for what
we see from Roman wall
paintings. However, most
NeoClassical dress is
predominantly white, following the
misconception about marble
statuary from the ancient world.
2
4/15/18
French and English Politics:
• 1789: Estates General convened; Bastille stormed,
Declaration of the Rights of Man
• 1792: French monarchy abolished
• 1793-4: Reign of Terror - executions of aristocrats
• 1795: Directoire - Greco-Roman influence strongest
• 1799: Napoleon stages coup and becomes First
Consul
• 1804: Napoleon crowned Emperor
• 1810-1820: Prince of Wales (noted dissolute dandy) is
Regent for mentally ill father George III
Revolutionary Fashion
• Women Donating Their Jewels to the Patrie, 1791
• Symbolic dress:
– Red, white, and blue colours: tricolor sashes and rosettes
– Red cap of liberty
– Working-class dress: sans-culottes (trousers), carmagnole (dark short
cloth jacket)
• Dangerous to dress like an aristocrat in France: look to England
for more rural-inspired styles
3
4/15/18
Aileen Ribeiro, Fashion in the
French Revolution (1988)
• “For most of the eighteenth century there was a
sartorial harmony in the dress of men and women;
they were united in their love of colour, elegant
design, and luxurious materials. One of the results of
the French Revolution was to divide the sexes in
terms of their clothing. Men’s dress becomes plain in
design and sober in colour; it is unadorned with
decoration. It symbolizes gravitas and an indifference
to luxury - essential elements of republican austerity;
its virtual uniformity emphasizes the revolutionary
ideal of equality.”
Jacques-Louis
David, Monsieur
Lavoisier and his
Wife, 1788, MMA
4
Description:The History of Fashion. The Earliest Clothing. Thousands of years ago people learned to make clothing from natural resources as protection from the
