Incorporating Fashion - Part One
After researching concept artist Claire Hummel I decided to look at different periods of fashion that I feel could be relevant to my themes and ideas, and how I could use this within my concepts. I could use this research to design characters and create staple outfits for them all, or to create different clothing, accessories and possibly armours to collect/buy then dress the characters with. During a 2014 panel about world designing for video games featuring Claire Hummel (here), the panellists spoke about how it is important to use real life references, history and culture as a basis for your designs, as this makes them easier to understand by the audience and creates a more accurate design (if the design is based on reality). Learning about what people wore during different time periods will help me with not only this project but with developing my work and portfolio as a whole. I also think doing this will help me decide on a specific time period to set my story because I am stuck between a historical story or a more modern tale.
I initially found some reference images from pinterest of various different styles (mainly vintage or old fashioned). I then drew from these in my sketchbook to see what type of style I liked best.
After drawing I wanted to look at specific time periods to get a more historically informed perspective like I talked about in the first part of this post.
Middle Ages - During the Middle Ages of England a set of laws were put in place called the sumptuary laws. These laws were designed to restrict people of certain social status’ and classes from consuming or wearing extravagant and luxury goods. For example, you could only wear a crown if you were of royal blood. Velvet, fur and headdresses were also only allowed to be worn by those of higher status. The rules also applied to fabrics and materials too. When buttons were invented in the 1300s, you were only allowed a certain amount depending on your background. If you were caught breaking these rules, you could risk fines, loss of title and property, or even death. One of the most well known dresses during this time is called a bliaut (also spelt bliaud). They have long exaggerated sleeves and a long stretched out skirt. These dresses had tight fits for the torso, a girdle, and either a round, keyhole or v shaped neck opening. Long braids decorated with ribbons were also used to elongate a woman’s figure. If they didn’t have long hair they would also use fake hair. Men also wore long tunics that sometimes had bliaut sleeves, and long hair. Women would sometimes cover their hair with a hood or a wimple, which were worn around the head, cheeks and chin. The wimple could be kept in place using a circlet, a band that was placed upon the top of the head.
After the 1100s the fashion was more focused on layering. Another type of dress was called a kirtle. It was a simple long sleeved garment worn by both men and women. Over the kirtle people they wear a surcoat. It was quite loose and long with deep cut sides. They could be quite simple or have a more extravagant look about them. During this time they wore a fillet, which was worn over a wimple. They also wore a headdress called a crespinette, and looks similar to the modern day hairnet (and were used for the same purpose). It was used to confine the hair and were sometimes decorated with jewels and gold.
In the 1300s dresses became more form fitting. Dresses could be tighter and more form fitting due to the invention of the button, though not everyone was allowed to wear dresses with buttons due to the sumptuary laws. A common dress during this time was called a cotehardie. It was made tighter with the use of buttons and was worn by both men and women. During this time women would also often wear a type of headdress called a crespine. Crespines and cauls held hair, real or fake, by the side of the head (and could either look like buns or cylinders). Another trend during the 1300s were mi-parti dresses, which meant middle part. These dresses and tunics were split down the middle, and the two halves were different (often contrasting) colours or patterns. This is similar to the more recent trend ‘colour blocking’, where bold contrasting colours are used together in a garment or outfit to create a statement look.
During the 1400s, a outer-garment called a Houppelande became popular. They had enormous sleeves, a train, and high collars/neck openings. Houppelande gowns were usually decorative and dramatic. The use of the collar wasn’t practical, it was purely for decorative purposes. A later type of houppelande had a higher waist and a v neck collar, which was sometimes made of fur. Headdresses during this time were higher than they had previously been. The hennin was a cone shaped headdress worn by nobility. Other types of hennin were the truncated hennin, which was shorter with a blunt top, and the butterfly hennin.
Georgian Era - Throughout the 18th century the silhouette for women’s clothing was constantly evolving. One of the first named dresses is called the Robe Volante (flying dress). It was different from the traditional restrictive dresses from the past centuries, and was supposed to be a more comfortable dress for women to wear. The dress sometimes still had a fitted bodice giving it a slight bit of shape, and the ones that didn’t could be used as maternity dresses (called a ‘robe battante’).
Another dress was the Robe à la Française, also known as the sack-back gown. The dress had pleated fabric at the back that fell down to the floor in a train and had a decorative, fitted front. Dresses with a panel of fabric at the back are still called Robe à la Française. This dress is sometimes called the Watteau dress after the artist Antoine Watteau. This is because many of the women in his paintings wear this style of dress.
Similar to the sack-back gown was the Robe à l'Anglaise, also known as the close-bodied gown. The gown also features a split gown which shows the petticoat or underskirt underneath it, and when the sleeves only went down to the elbows they had engageantes, which were false sleeves usually in the form of ruffles. Unlike the previous gown, the Robe à l'Anglaise had fitted back pleats, which were placed close to the centre of the back to create a more narrowing and fitted effect.
Underneath gowns, women wore a type of petticoat called a pannier. These undergarments would stretch the width of the skirt and hips while leaving the back and front of the dress flat. It’s suggested that women wore these due to the the 18th century obsession with ‘changing nature’ and man’s ‘triumph over nature’, which extended into fashion. Pannier is the French word for basket, and the panniers were either made of wood, whalebone, metal or reeds. Over the pannier the woman would wear her corset, then her dress.
The next garment is the Robe à la Polonaise. The bodice was fitted to emphasise a small waist, and the skirt had three distinct puffy drapes over the petticoat. The dress would also show off the ankles, which could be quite practical especially for those living in the countryside, and sets this dress aside from those before it.
Another dress is the Robe en Chemise. It had a simple silhouette, with tight long sleeves, a simple sash and a lack of embroidery and other detailing. This dress also carried over to the 19th century.
A staple item was the caraco. It was a jacket that was fitted in the waist and had panels that hung down over the sides of a skirt or dress. The jacket sometimes matched the rest of the dress to give it a more uniform look.
During the 18th century women didn’t typically wear full wigs. Instead they would coil their natural hair and add hair pieces and false hair. Their hair would also usually be powdered white. These hairstyles were often accompanied by novelty hats. The Belle Poule hairstyle featured a boat sat atop the ladies head, named after the military ship the Belle Poule. The hats worn had to be big because the hairstyles were big. One hat (that was usually worn during the summer) was the bergère hat. It was flat-brimmed with a shallow crown and could be worn flipped up or pulled down around the face with a ribbon. Another hat was the Caleche hat. It was used by women with larger hairdos to protect their hair, and looks similar to a bonnet.
Shoes were dramatic and ornate just like the dresses worn during this time. Many of the shoes had novelty heels, and mules were quite popular as well. They were often embroidered with gold, and shoes could also feature ribbons and lace.
Victorian - During the early Victorian Era fashion became quite doll-like an initialized. While I think this style is very beautiful and unique, the reasoning behind it wasn't great. Women were treated like property like land, and either belonged to their husbands or their fathers, and this was reflected in the fashion. This was odd however, as the most powerful woman in the world at that point was the 18 year old Queen Victoria. Embellishments such as lace, ribbons, flowers and feathers meant that you were wealthier. The more decorative your garments were, the more fashionable you were. The iconic puffy sleeves of this era were called gigot sleeves, short for gigot d’agneau, which means leg of lamb. They were called this because the shape resembled a leg of lamb, with the puffy upper arm sleeve going down into a tight forearm sleeve. This look was acheived by filling the sleeves with sleeve ‘plumpers’. These were sacks filled with a type of feather and attached to the corset.
Bonnets were also popular during these times. These bonnets were deep brimmed, making the head look larger and adding to the childlike style.
Poor and working class women wore practical wool or cotton clothes, usually in darker colours as these were cheaper and hid dirt easily. Less decorated bonnets were worn to keep dirt and lice out of the hair. They would wear shawls that they wrapped tightly around their bodies because they couldn't afford coats. Wealthier people responded to this by creating a newer type of dress, with tight sleeves, a more modest skirt and a shawl bodice, like the shawls worn by poor people. These garments lost the previous embellishments and were designed to make richer people seem more socially aware, as this was fashionable at the time.
In the 1870s the dresses changed to emphasise the back and behind. Bustles were used underneath garments to achieve this. Women also stopped wearing bonnets and began wearing small hats to balance out the silhouette.
In the 1890s fashion was responding to the new electronic technologies that had been discovered and invented. Transport was more accessible, so clothing had to become more practical. Bustles disappeared and were replaced with a-line skirts. Puffy sleeves returned but were called leg o’mutton sleeves, favouring a more Americanized name. Throughout the 19th century volume had been synonymous with wealth, so women felt they still had to have some sort of volume to their clothing to be fashionable.
Practical fashion also meant suits for women. The blouses were called shirtwaists, and were also popular into the early 1900s too. Hats were small, and everyone was wearing a type of straw hat called a boater. The world changed very quickly during the 19th century, and fashion obviously responded to this.
Edwardian - The Edwardian era was the start of the 20th century. Electricity had become more widespread and the world was being lit up due to the invention of the light bulb that happened in the previous century. The term Edwardian is used to describe the first 15 years of the 20th century. The ideal 1900s body type was elegant and tall, with a full chest and hips and a small waist. This type of waist is also called a wasp waist. Women used corsets to achieve this shape, and sometimes this was taken to the extreme. Even 100 years ago women were being fed unrealistic ideals and expectations about how their bodies should look. Another dangerous craze was ingesting tapeworms. The tapeworm egg would be swallowed and would hatch inside the stomach, and it would eat a portion of the food that the person eats. The beauty ideal was called the ‘Gibson Girl’, a personification of what was seen as feminine and attractive. It was created by artist Charles Dana Gibson, and had sultry eyes, youthful and slender features, and a large bouffant hairstyle. Women didn’t wear much makeup.
Fashion features of the Edwardian era were a large hat, a long dress (which were especially long for formal events), and a cinched waist. The world was changing wuickly but fashion was hanging on to the old idea that adornment equalled wealth.
Art nouveau became popular at the beginning of the 20th century. It was a style of architecture and art that featured flowing designs and natural motifs.
21st Century - In the early 2000s there wasn’t singular staple fashion trends, and is often described as a global mash up . Most trends were set by celebrities, with ‘hip-hop fashion’ becoming popular amongst younger people. Fast fashion was also popular, making trends easily to take part in but producing questionable working conditions. Notable trends were low rise and capri jeans, bandanas, tube tops and tiny hand bags. I personally most remember the outfits from movies like Mean Girls and Freaky Friday, as well as the doll franchise Bratz and the iconic girl group Spice Girls. Nowadays, thanks to social media, trends are constantly changing and evolving.
(books - costume design and fashion/clothing throughout history)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKklxNLMNdA
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-sumptuary-laws.htm
https://adamselindisdress.blog/2014/04/28/12th-century-dress-the-bliaut/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/wimple
http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/Early-Cultures-Europe-in-the-Middle-Ages/Cote-and-Cotehardie.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OsmWUr_iiM&t=864s
https://18centurybodies.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/the-fashion-for-panniers-in-the-18th-century/
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