GREEK / CLASSICAL (~500BC - 339AD):
- only the amount of fabric that was needed was woven; no wastage
- cloth was seen as a gift of the Gods
- in artistic / sculptural representations of a clothed body, a wet look was used to show the female form (in this way, artists were almost like the first form of designers; realistic fiction)
- we can only base what we know of this period on imagery (eg. pictures on vases / sculptures), which could just have been stylised representations
- types of clothing were indicative of different occupations
BYZANTINE + MEDIEVAL (1300/1400s - vague overlap from Byzantine to the Middle Ages):
- silk was traded from Italy to China
- fashion was more or less born in 1340 when clothing was cut to follow the shape of the body, while the excess that was cut off while fitting sleeves was used for sections such as hems / cuffs
- growth of the merchant / city class meant more production of clothing
- purple indicated royalty
- dress was seen as an expression of the soul (eg. slashes / stripes / scalloping was seen as the Devil's clothing and indicated an equally slashed soul)
- sumptuary laws were enforced by aristocrats to restrict the use of cloth and rich materials and therefore restricting lower classes from imitating their dress
- the Burgundy Court created the birth of fashion, dictating trends to Europe and the church
RENAISSANCE (~1400 - 1600):
- the introduction of guilds and division of labour / hierarchy
- international trade
- pattern making was based on mathematical proportions (i.e. Vitruvian man of perfect proportions and the idea of Humanism; individual potential / centrality of the human being)
- Queen Elizabeth I + Henry VIII as fashion icons
- in Florence, clothing was fundemental to the economy and the rise of the city state and flourishing arts, along with the invention of the bank
\
BAROQUE + ROCOCO (late 1700s - French Revolution 1789-1799):
- tailors / men made the clothing while women made headpieces / shawls / underwear / embellishments..
- Paris as the hub of fashion and change
- pastels used
- excess / refinement / surface embellishment / lightness / frivolity
- cross-cultural aesthetic influence (eg. kimono-inspired dressing gowns)
- fashion (Marie Antoinette) had political power in the court; aristocracy had to keep up
- 1600s brought on the printing of fashion illustration plates and the first circulation of fashion images portraying aristocrats in the latest trends
- Louis XIV built Versailles in 40 years (the hub of culture / arts) and supported fashion
- 1789 French Revolution as a revolt against the existence of luxury while other people starved (monarchy > democracy)
NEO-CLASSICISM (/Jane Austen / Napoleonic) (early 19th century):
- more opening of boutiques in Paris
- the invention of powered looms
- a return to classical and political / aesthetic ideas of the Greeks
- romanticism / regency / a cycle back to naturalism
- statues and ruins discovered at Pompeii in 1748 revived interest in antiquity / the authentic / natural + a rejection of the Renaissance
- after the French Revolution, no-one wanted to be associated with being an aristocrat
- principles of citizenship / individual rights were introduced; individualist rigor
MENSWEAR (/Dandies) (early 1800s):
- parallel to romanticism
- tailors made handmade / bespoke clothing; the rise of tailors + exclusivity
- sporty / simple / functional / naturalness / superior + unattainable / no bright colours or decoration
- English + French influences (English country clothes spread in Europe)
- men had a greater role in social life
- Dandies were cultured / intellectual / refined VS Bucks / Bloods with sexual energy / boisterous / sporty / worked for the state
- Lord Brummell was the creator of the understated look which is today the archetype of English male dress (the three-piece suit)
- perfection / exhibitionism
- to avoid another revolution, the British court allowed equality in menswear and relaxed sumptuary laws
- Armani was the 'mass Dandy' by allowing couture to become mass fashion as part of 1975's renewal of fashion and gender-blurring / creating a 2nd skin through clothing
VICTORIAN (19th century - parallel to reign of Queen Victoria):
- women in sweatshops / factories
- black became fashionable
- 1850 - the invention of the sewing machine; part hand / machine made
- the industrial revolution
- clothing allowed to be made more readily at home
- menswear - dark / little ornamentation / active (allowed movement) / strong / agressive
- womenswear - frivolous / pastels / lace / inactive / delicate / submissive
- corset - disciplining women and their bodies
- ready-to-wear pieces included crinolines / corsets / vests / stockings..
- the introduction of magazines (covering fashion / recipes / etiquette..)
- conspicuous consumption at its height
- size standardisation (eg. shoes)
- department stores - new technologies VS expansion of middle class buying power VS creation of the RTW market
(images via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Portrait Gallery (London), The Louvre)
- only the amount of fabric that was needed was woven; no wastage
- cloth was seen as a gift of the Gods
- in artistic / sculptural representations of a clothed body, a wet look was used to show the female form (in this way, artists were almost like the first form of designers; realistic fiction)
- we can only base what we know of this period on imagery (eg. pictures on vases / sculptures), which could just have been stylised representations
- types of clothing were indicative of different occupations
BYZANTINE + MEDIEVAL (1300/1400s - vague overlap from Byzantine to the Middle Ages):
- silk was traded from Italy to China
- fashion was more or less born in 1340 when clothing was cut to follow the shape of the body, while the excess that was cut off while fitting sleeves was used for sections such as hems / cuffs
- growth of the merchant / city class meant more production of clothing
- purple indicated royalty
- dress was seen as an expression of the soul (eg. slashes / stripes / scalloping was seen as the Devil's clothing and indicated an equally slashed soul)
- sumptuary laws were enforced by aristocrats to restrict the use of cloth and rich materials and therefore restricting lower classes from imitating their dress
- the Burgundy Court created the birth of fashion, dictating trends to Europe and the church
RENAISSANCE (~1400 - 1600):
- the introduction of guilds and division of labour / hierarchy
- international trade
- pattern making was based on mathematical proportions (i.e. Vitruvian man of perfect proportions and the idea of Humanism; individual potential / centrality of the human being)
- Queen Elizabeth I + Henry VIII as fashion icons
- in Florence, clothing was fundemental to the economy and the rise of the city state and flourishing arts, along with the invention of the bank
\BAROQUE + ROCOCO (late 1700s - French Revolution 1789-1799):
- tailors / men made the clothing while women made headpieces / shawls / underwear / embellishments..
- Paris as the hub of fashion and change
- pastels used
- excess / refinement / surface embellishment / lightness / frivolity
- cross-cultural aesthetic influence (eg. kimono-inspired dressing gowns)
- fashion (Marie Antoinette) had political power in the court; aristocracy had to keep up
- 1600s brought on the printing of fashion illustration plates and the first circulation of fashion images portraying aristocrats in the latest trends
- Louis XIV built Versailles in 40 years (the hub of culture / arts) and supported fashion
- 1789 French Revolution as a revolt against the existence of luxury while other people starved (monarchy > democracy)
NEO-CLASSICISM (/Jane Austen / Napoleonic) (early 19th century):
- more opening of boutiques in Paris
- the invention of powered looms
- a return to classical and political / aesthetic ideas of the Greeks
- romanticism / regency / a cycle back to naturalism
- statues and ruins discovered at Pompeii in 1748 revived interest in antiquity / the authentic / natural + a rejection of the Renaissance
- after the French Revolution, no-one wanted to be associated with being an aristocrat
- principles of citizenship / individual rights were introduced; individualist rigor
MENSWEAR (/Dandies) (early 1800s):
- parallel to romanticism
- tailors made handmade / bespoke clothing; the rise of tailors + exclusivity
- sporty / simple / functional / naturalness / superior + unattainable / no bright colours or decoration
- English + French influences (English country clothes spread in Europe)
- men had a greater role in social life
- Dandies were cultured / intellectual / refined VS Bucks / Bloods with sexual energy / boisterous / sporty / worked for the state
- Lord Brummell was the creator of the understated look which is today the archetype of English male dress (the three-piece suit)
- perfection / exhibitionism
- to avoid another revolution, the British court allowed equality in menswear and relaxed sumptuary laws
- Armani was the 'mass Dandy' by allowing couture to become mass fashion as part of 1975's renewal of fashion and gender-blurring / creating a 2nd skin through clothing
VICTORIAN (19th century - parallel to reign of Queen Victoria):
- women in sweatshops / factories
- black became fashionable
- 1850 - the invention of the sewing machine; part hand / machine made
- the industrial revolution
- clothing allowed to be made more readily at home
- menswear - dark / little ornamentation / active (allowed movement) / strong / agressive
- womenswear - frivolous / pastels / lace / inactive / delicate / submissive
- corset - disciplining women and their bodies
- ready-to-wear pieces included crinolines / corsets / vests / stockings..
- the introduction of magazines (covering fashion / recipes / etiquette..)
- conspicuous consumption at its height
- size standardisation (eg. shoes)
- department stores - new technologies VS expansion of middle class buying power VS creation of the RTW market
(images via The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Portrait Gallery (London), The Louvre)
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