Velvet dress

1883 – CHARLES FREDERICK WORTH,

RED SILK SATIN AND VELVET DINNER DRESS

 1880-1889, 19th century, garment analysisThis dinner dress designed by Charles Frederick Worth displays the definitive fashion trends of the early 1880s, with its complex train, protruding bustle, and apron style overskirt.

ABOUT THE LOOK

his dinner dress was created by English fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth in 1883. Worth, often referred to as the father of haute couture, had a large influence over Parisian fashions in the late 19th century. His ornately decorated gowns were sought after by many women.

This 1883 silk satin evening gown is a rich red color, featuring a deep square neckline that emphasizes the collarbone It includes a standing collar that lies flat on the neck, edged with a tulle material that continues around the entirety of the neckline. In the center, an attached rose embellishment is highlighted. The three-quarter length sleeves are trimmed with the same tulle-material used on the neckline, as well as large, silk ribbons The bodice is adorned with a row of buttons down the front with a deeply pointed basque waistline, and is decorated with a rose leaf motif consisting of velvet stripes.

The overskirt is draped in an apron style , and gathered at the back of the gown to create the bustle. The prominent bustle elongates into a train decorated with the same rose leaf motif seen on the bodice. The skirt of the gown is arranged in a straight silhouette featuring the rose leaf and velvet striped pattern in addition to knife pleating trimming the gown. The train of the dress is also edged with pleats.

FANCY FASHION

 Fashion started when humans began wearing clothes, which were typically made from plants, animal skins and bone. Before the mid-19th century, the division between haute coutureand ready-to-wear did not really exist, but the most basic pieces of female clothing were made-to-measure by dressmakers and seamstresses dealing directly with the client. Most often, clothing was patterned, sewn and tailored in the household. When storefronts appeared selling ready-to-wear clothing, this need was removed from the domestic workload. 

More is known about elite women's fashion than the dress of any other social group. Early studies of children’s fashion typically pulled from sources of folklore, cultural studies, and anthropology field-based works.One trend across centuries was that Christian children typically dressed best on Sundays for religious purposes.Another is the importance of ‘hand-me-downs,’ receiving used clothing.In addition to hand-me-downs, sharing clothing among siblings has also been a trend throughout history.Prior to the 1800s, European and American children’s clothing patterns were often similar to adult’s clothing, with children dressed as miniature adults.Textiles have also always been a major part of any fashion as textiles can express how much one can afford.

From the late nineteenth century on, clothing was increasingly based on printed designs, especially from Paris, which were circulated throughout Europe and eagerly anticipated in the provinces. Seamstresses would then interpret these patterns as best they could. The origin of these designs lay in the clothing created by the most fashionable figures, typically those at court, along with their seamstresses and tailors. Though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from Francesince the 16th century and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion in the 1620s, the pace of change picked up in the 1780s with increased publication of French engravings illustrating the latest Paris styles, followed by fashion magazines such as Cabinet des Modes. By 1800, all Western Europeans were dressing alike (or thought they were); local variations became first a sign of provincial culture and later a badge of the conservative peasant.

In the 20th century, fashion magazines and, with rotogravure, newspapers, began to include photographs and became even more influential. Throughout the world these magazines were greatly sought-after and had a profound effect on public taste. Talented illustrators – among them Paul Iribe, Georges Lepape, Erté, and George Barbier – drew attractive fashion plates for these publications, which covered the most recent developments in fashion and beauty. Perhaps the most famous of these magazines was La Gazette du Bon Ton which was founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and regularly published until 1925.

SAREE FASHION

 A saree is a traditional garment worn by women in South Asia, typically in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. It's a long strip of cloth, often 9 yards long, that's draped and styled around the body. The saree has a rich history, with depictions of similar garments dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization. It's a versatile garment, used for both everyday wear and special occasions, and there are numerous ways to drape it.

MODEST FASHION

 

WIEK    Clothes: they protect human body of rain, heat, cold, wounds in combat and injuries at work. They have been changing together with the climate; also, they have been changing as new professions, new weapons and new technologies emerged - such as hunting, agriculture, weaving or plastics. Clothes have always played a practical role but it remains their least important aspect - it was only relevant during the early prehistorical period. Probably, it was also the time when clothes became a symbol. A shaman performing some magical ceremonies used to either paint his face, put on animal skin over his shoulders or stick a feather into his hair - not to protect himself, but to symbolize his uniqueness and be distinguished. He was not just wearing the clothes: he was dressing himself up. A dress soon became what distinguished an individual among the human mass. However, on a battlefield where hundreds of warriors clashed an indication of who was the ally and who had to be killed was crucial. Every single fighter had to see that sign and be himself seen clearly enough, even in battle turmoil. Clothes became what enabled the identification of an individual within their group then. When different casts of power and wealth emerged - and the master-servant relationship along with them - dress became the symbol of status and prestige. Members of lower casts aspired to an advancement in hierarchy and when they succeeded, they would proudly put the costume which symbolized it on. Those for whom such advancement was out of reach would at least add higher cast’s elements to their own costume. However, changes dress underwent would always reflect the hierarchy and the process of climbing up its ladder at one’s own initiative. Apart from the influence new materials and technologies have on clothes, it has always been prestige the main propeller of change. Apparently, it has actually been the only one. The violent change of models being aspired to before, seen as an outcome of a military, economic or cultural conquest is an exception that proves the rule. It was the case of European dress dominated by Spanish court’s influence. However, the conquest itself does not have to imply the imposition of new models; after Alexander the Great militarily dominated the world of Greek culture (which impressed him), he himself became its advocate and therefore contributed to the Hellenization of a huge part of the world of his time. The scheme outlined here assumes there are two extremes: a prestigious center which creates models, and peripheries whose aspirations are oriented towards that center. However, it does not explain two phenomena: invariable national or regional dresses, and changeable fashion. Traditional dress has never yielded to fashion’s influence for its essence was to preserve the tradition and not to chase novelties. As designers and most of the consumers declare, contemporary fashion is what brings some color to the prose of everyday life. Certainly, sometimes it does. Nevertheless, it is as well an element of a subconsciously perceived code which identifies members of hermetic and hierarchical casts among a seemingly egalitarian society. Understanding of this fact is more difficult because of the fact that fashion is a gigantic industry as well, which creates the demand and stimulates the economic situation. It is also an element of social engineering: desirable attitudes and behaviors are advertised when everybody is just having a good time. In this chapter none of these phenomena is explained well enough; the history of dress is however quite well set in order and illustrated. Therefore it works well as a basis for one’s own assumptions and interpretations. The pictures on this site have been published in The New Student’s Reference Work for Teachers, Students and Families, Chicago: F.E. Compton and Company, 1914. Thus the last dress shown belongs to fin de siecleperiod. Based on the material assembled in this part of the site, further research should complete this set of pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Fashion

Fashion is popular aesthetic expression at a certain time and in a certain context, especially in clothing, footwear , lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle and body proportions.Whereas a trend often connotes a very specific aesthetic expression, and often lasting shorter than a season, fashion is a distinctive and industry-supported expression traditionally tied to the fashion season and collections.Style is an expression that lasts over many seasons and is often connected to cultural movements and social markers, symbols, class and culture (ex. Baroque, Rococo, etc.). According to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, fashion connotes "the latest fashion, the latest 

Even though they are often used together, the term fashion differs from clothes and costume, where the first describes the material and technical garment, whereas the second has been relegated to special senses like fancy-dress or masquerade wear. Fashion instead describes the social and temporal system that "activates" dress as a social signifier in a certain time and context. Philosopher Giorgio Agamben connects fashion to the current intensity of the qualitative moment, to the temporal aspect the Greek called kairos, whereas clothes belong to the quantitative, to what the Greek called chronos.

Exclusive brands aspire for the label haute couture, but the term is technically limited to members of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris.

With increasing mass-production of consumer commodities at cheaper prices, and with global reach, sustainability has become an urgent issue amongst politicians, brands and consumers.