Following my post on the history of stripes, I’ve been doing some research on polka dots.
So here’s the history of Polka dots starting in Medieval Europe.
In Medieval Europe, due to the lack of machines clean regular dotted patterns were very hard to make. Uneven dots made people think of diseases such as small pox or leprosy so it wasn’t a good look.
In the 17th and 18th century the upper class started “patching”, a practice of hiding blemishes by sticking dots or shapes of fabric on their face. There’s an interesting article on this here. The concept of wearing dots is not as repulsive as before.
The position of the dots is significant. This lady is letting you know that she is provocative, flirty and generous ;D.
19th century, the industrial revolution brings in machines. Dotted fabrics start to appear more frequently and are known generally by three different names, polka dots is not one of them. So where did they get their name from? Keep on reading to find out.
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Dotted-swiss. The raised dots on a transparent tulle. Like the ones you find on a wedding veil.
Quinconce. The French term used to describe the layout of dots on the 5-side of a dice.
Thalertupfen. German name used to describe dotted patterns with large dots. Named after Thaler coins some of which were 12 cm in diameter.
1830 Bohemia (current Czech republic), polka dancing becomes popular and eventually sweeps across Europe and the United States. If I’m not mistaken, Jack and Rose from the titanic movie are dancing it here. Looks like fun :)
1840 France, Polka dancing reaches stages in Paris and then leads onto a craze known as “polkamania” in 1843
Polka dancing becomes so fashionable, marketers start adding “polka” (which means polish lady in Czech) to various items. One being the “polka” dot.
In 1857, The American Women’s magazine, a very popular magazine at the time, coined the term “polka dot” for the first time in a description of a
“scarf of muslin, for light summer wear,
surrounded by a scalloped edge,
embroidered in rows of round polka dots.”
Fashionable dotted patterns start to be referred to as polka dots.
Entering the 1900s polka dancing is still popular and polka dot dresses and bikinis are increasingly common. Icons throughout the 20th century adopt the pattern boosting it’s popularity. Throughout, polka dots are associated to good-looking women making it a feminine pattern. Here’s a few:
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1926 Norma Smallwood, Miss America, wears a polka dot swim suit.
1928 Polka dots have their first cinematic debut when Disney goes Polka dots with Minnie Mouse.
Throughout WWII- Popular pin up girls wear polka dot bikinies. This one is Bettie-Page, later known as the Queen of pinups.
Chili Williams, also an actress and pin up girl during WWII who became world famous as the “polka dot girl”
1944 Elizabeth Taylor, an immensely popular actresses wears a polka dot yoke.
1951 Sex symbol Marilyn Monroe takes photo in a polka dot swim suit.
In the 1940s and 50s Polka dots enter high-end fashion when Christian Dior includes polka dot dresses to his “new look” collection. The “New look” collection had a massive influence on the fashion industry as it introduced the hourglass figure to the fashion world.
1950s, now everyone from movie stars to housewives are wearing polka dots. Due to the 1950s being a decade of relative happiness and prosperity, polka dots adopt the same connotations.
In 1960 Polka dots gain further popularity after the No 1 hit song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Brian Hyland.
1962 Marvel invent Polka dot man???
There onwards, polka dots go in and out of fashion and still appear on garments all over the world. To me polka dots remain a very feminine pattern with a vintage, cheerful, playfulness to them.
All the info and images have come from the following sources. They’re all great articles to read so I would recommend them for additional reading. If you see any errors or have anything to add, please let me know in the comments below :D.
For a short history of polka dots and info on some polka dot fashion designers.
A more in-depth history of polka dots with good pictures and a very interesting digression about bikinis.
A good article on the history of dotted patterns and what polka dots mean today.
Source of the Christian Dior polka dot dress.
An entertaining easy to read history of polka dots.
Wiki for those that need to know more about the Polka-dot Man
Interesting article on “patching”
A great article on how the Polka (dance) spread throughout the world.
Another article on the history of polka dots with lots of good photos.
A good article on Christian dior and his “New Look”. Find out how he relates to Yves Saint-Laurent.
For more “polka dot girl” Chili Williams.
For more Bettie Page pics.
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If you have any time to spare please also check out my monochrome pattern art on my Zazzle store, Printapattern. I’ve recently added watches and notebooks to the “Just pattern” series in my store. :D
New blog post: The #History of #Polka #Dots in Bullet Form Following my post on the history of stripes, I've been doing some research on polka dots.