An Introductory Timeline of Western Women's Fashion
I think a good place to start to get into dress history is general overview of the whole timeline. Understanding especially how the silhouettes change is really important ground knowledge to build the rest of the information on.
I'll start the timeline from Middle Ages and go till the first world war. I'll focus on upper class England/French sector, so keep in mind that before 17th century there were huge regional differences in fashion inside Europe and class differences too. There is a lot variance, changes and nuance inside any century and decade I'm about to discuss, but I'll try to keep this short and introductory and very simplified. I used a very scientific method of basically what makes most sense to me to divide the periods. I've made sketches what I would consider to be the basic silhouette of the period stripped mostly out of the detail and then I give couple of primary source examples.
12th century (Middle Ages)
Dress was simple one or more tunics over a chemise. They were overly long for upper classes, made out of straight lines. There were loose tunics often worn over another tunic, and tunics with laced bodice called biaut. In France bliaut sleeves often widened from the elbow, in England they often widened in frists.
13th century (Middle Ages)
Clothing was mostly very similar as in the previous century, though bliaut was mostly gone and new popular style was a loose sleeves surcoat.
14th century (Middle Ages)
Tailoring basically revolutionized clothing production, since clothes weren't made out of rectangles anymore and could be better made to fit form. Also functional buttons and lacing was popularized resulting in very fitted styles. The underlayer tunic, kirtle, became a fitted supporting layer.
15th century (Middle Ages)
Improvements in weaving technology and trade and growing prosperity in Europe showed in clothing as excess of fabric and variety of trends. Houppelande, a loose A-lined overdress lined with fur and fastened with a wide belt under breasts, became a very popular clothing item, and in later decades developed into the iconic Burgundian dress (the red dress). Fitted overdress continued to be popular alongside the warmer houppelandes.
1500s-1550s (Tudor period)
In the renaissance era clothing became increasingly structured and elaborate. The bodice was heavily boned and the skirt was also structured.
1560s-1610s (Elizabethan Era)
Both structuring and elaborate decoration reach it's peak during Queen Elizabeth's reign. She became the defining fashion icon of the late renaissance.
1620s-1670s (Baroque)
In baroque era the bodice was still heavily structured, but more curved than the conical Elizabethan bodice. Otherwise though structuring was replaces with dramatic excess of fabric.
1680s-1710s (Baroque)
In the late 17th century there was a huge shift in the clothing industry as mantua, a loose open robe inspired by Japanese kimono, came to dominate fashion. Rigid bodice was replaces by structured under layer, stays. Stays brought back the conical silhouette of Elizabethan era.
1720s-1780s (Rococo)
Mantua developed into the iconic Rococo dress in France, robe à la francaise (first example picture), and in England robe à la anglaise with closed bodice. Rococo fashion was characterized by the wide silhouette of the skirt.
Since Tumblr won't accept more than 10 pictures per a post I'll have to continue in a reblog. So to be continued!
...Aaand continued
1790s-1820s (Regency Era)
Already before the French revolution the excess of Rococo had gone out of fashion as hatred against the ruling class and their lifestyle started mounting. After the revolution the rest remains of the Rococo style and silhouette were very quickly abandoned in favour of much more simple ancient Greece inspired dress. Structuring was minimal and the new stays had very little boning if at all, their main purpose was to push up the chest.
1830s-1860s (Victorian Era)
I included 1830s here even though it's not actually part of the Victorian era, since Queen Victoria wasn't in power yet. However it's the start of Romantic fashion, which characterized the first half the Victorian era too. Start of the Victorian era is characterized by the increasingly wider round skirt and wide neckline. More structuring was back with boned shapely corsets.
1870s (Victorian Era)
Natural form era is a brief fashion characterized by the long sloping trail. The strongly curved corset of the late Victorian period takes shape and creates the curved hourglass figure.
1880s (Victorian Era)
1880s is often considered the quintessential bustle period. The bustle becomes very high and shelf-like.
1890s (Victorian Era)
Last decade of Victorian era is very distinctive. Art Nouveau movement was at it's height and it shows in fashion too in the bold shapes and organic details. The bustle is gone, though a bit more volume remains in the back, but the skirt is more A-lined now. Volume goes to sleeves which reach their peak in the middle of the decade.
1900s (Edwardian Era)
Art Nouveau continues as the dominant art movement in the Edwardian era. The S-shaped corset and the round pigeon chest dominate the silhouette.
1910s
Sometimes 1910s is also counted as the Edwardian era, even though Edward VII died on the first year of the decade. The fashion has a lot of visible similarities to Edwardian fashion, Art Nouveau is still going strong, but the silhouette is significantly different. The corset used is very similar so there's still a bit of the S-curve left, and the round chest is emphasized, but otherwise the curves are gone in favour of much more slender and simple figure.
Further reading under the cut!
These are very fair things to point out and I thought it would be nice to dig a little deeper into these points for everyone interested and also expand on the inherent flaws of narrative history! It got a bit long so it'll be under the cut.
