19th Century Fashion Revolution: Technology & Trends - Essay Sample

Introduction

During the 19th century, fashion changed dramatically with the influence of shifts in people's tastes, together with the introduction of new machines that were utilized in the construction of clothes. Weaving machines, new dye formulas, sewing machines, electricity, and power looms all increased the ease and speed of manufacturing clothes. Most of the inventions were utilized to add accompaniments to clothes where trimmings made using machines were made used in bulk to the establishment of various gowns that were worn by women, especially in the middle of the century. Towards the end of the 19th century, ditto suits were introduced for men who increased their interest in clothes that were ready to wear; thus, its ruined careers of most tailors as the ready-to-wear clothes needed no alterations. The paper discusses the styles of clothing in the 19th century and their significance during that period. It focuses specifically on men's fashion and women's fashion throughout the century.

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Styles of Clothing in the 19th century

Men's Fashion

The styles of dress that were worn by men throughout the century became less extravagant and increasingly sober. During the first years of the century, the men who dressed in style, mostly known as dandies influenced the fashions of the male individuals as they introduced plain dark jackets, simple cravats, trousers, and highly-collared shirts which replaced various fancy outfits of ruffles and ornate waistcoats to give them small waist. Men wore coats that had long tails at the back, but at the front side, it is cut higher, and it had a waistcoat which was cut squarely showed beneath the coat. Also, the coat was designed with an upper chest and shoulders quilted to enhance its fit.

Knee breeches were replaced with long trousers, which became increasingly fashionable, mainly in the first quarter of the century. The long trousers during its first designs were worn during the day and mostly as an informal dress, but towards the 1820s, long trousers were also accepted during evening hours, and it was only at court where breeches were worn. More so, tall hats which were worn in the past century, which was the 18th century, were still available in the 19th century, but a slight development was introduced on them as they were changed into a top hat which became formal dress worn during day time.

By the second half of the nineteenth century, the white waistcoat still existed, and trousers together with black tail-coat that existed during the early period of the century were even worn during evening hours. During the day, a frock coat was a fashion of that period together with straight trousers, a high stiff collar shirt, and a short waistcoat. The skirts worn were straight, and they reached below or at the mid-thigh. The frock coat was double or single-breasted apart from having a waist seam, and having a square cut at the front; it fits tightly to the torso.

Some men wore loud clothing and corsets during the century. By the end of the century, male clothing was mostly associated with polished and clean clothing instead of fancy ornaments. The black color clothing was loved, and it was the major and proper fashion for the dress worn by males, and the color has been maintained until the current century, which is in the form of dark suits and tuxedos. Man's smoking cap was also common throughout the 19th century, and they were common items in the fashion of men worn at home. The cap was casual in its structure, and the design it was created was more fanciful with the ability to provide a stark, which is different from the stiff top hat which belonged to only business people. Another cap that was worn for leisure activity at home was the knitted silk-stocking cap that originated from Italy. The cap was famous for knitwear from the Renaissance era.

Furthermore, the other famous style was that of evening dress known as the Norfolk jacket, which men wore together with woolen or tweed breeches, which were used mostly for outdoor pursuits, mainly shooting activities. Also, in the 1890s, another style was introduced, which is known as the blazer. The dress was worn on the upper part, and it was designed in a way that resembles a coat. Blazers were significant in that period as they were worn during casual activities like sailing and sports.

Women Fashion

The fashion of women shifted throughout the century, and it started with various styles that revealed to a large extent, the figure of females than ever before, especially in both America and Europe. At first, women wore large dresses that had heavy ornamentation with both vast sleeves and skirts. The fashion changed as the century continue as slimmer profiles or silhouettes were incorporated. The new fashion contained skirts that were full and are restricted to the rear bustle.

The original form of the women's body as the century progressed was revealed by the styles of the clothes worn. The waistline in women deepened in the 1820s and 1830s, returning to its natural position, which forces the women bodice to require a fit that is tighter with a bell-shaped and fuller skirt. Various sleeve styles emerged, but the style that was frequently worn at evenings was short puffed sleeves, and during the day, it was long sleeves. Full skirts were supported by various petticoats layers that contained frilled hems, which were mostly designed from horsehair; the steel hoops supported the full skirts with their frames, which help it away from the woman's legs. In the 1840s, most petticoats were quilted with feathers, and for both 1850s and 1860s, they were made from steel hoops and horsehair. Also, linen caps were worn indoors, while hats or bonnets were worn outdoors by women. The bonnets and hats were designed in a way that accommodates the women's hair that was styled with top knots that are raised. The hats and bonnets were worn until the 1860s, after which other styles emerged, which were elegant and small, and they balanced on top of the head. In the 1870s, women's hairstyles changed as they rose in the form of chignons, which, as a result, changed the design of hats, which now become small in size to fit the new hairstyles. The small hats, in most instances, were decorated with artificial flowers and feathers to make them more fashionable.

In the 1870s and 1880s, there was a need by women for a style that revealed their natural silhouette, which resulted in the introduction of a new style preferred by most women as the princess line dress. The dress was designed without a waist seam to reveal the figure. The skirts at this period were tight, and they needed a combination that streamlined it together in one line with the underwear. Corsets were changed to become longer, and they were rigidly boned. In the same period, a tier or a bustle pad made of fabric frills or stiffened horsehair was introduced. And it went of fashion in the year between 1887 to 1888. In the same years in the 1880s, some women adopted the artistic dress, which was an easier and simpler style. The dress was cut more loosely than the conservative attire, and the style did not need preventive corsetry to be worn.

Near the end of the century, women wore skirts that had a slight train with floor-length. The corsets were fastened or laced up with clips, and the waist was small, and it contained a small pad at its back. In the 1890s, the sleeves were puffed at the top into a shape that required lightweight padding or stiffening. For the daywear, its neckline was high, which features a lightweight fabric stand-up collar boned around the edge to hold sleeve up under the chin. Despite larger variations in the sizes of sleeves and skirts, the waists of women were pinched tighter in several constrictive corsets. The significance of a slim waist in the women fashion all through the 19th century influenced several mothers to confine their daughters in binding corsets as well.

Throughout the century, silk calash bonnets were mostly worn by women. Inspiration was drawn by the shape of such calash bonnet, which comes from horse-drawn carriages, and they had collapsible tops. Most of the calash bonnets were design in a unique way such that it had a double frame which can be folded during storage. Another style is women's shoes made from black velvet, and they are decorated with red and pink ribbon work. Such slippers are mostly lined with fur that imitates ermine. Also, the headdresses of women in the century were famous, and they were made of artificial flowers, tinsel, feathers, and ribbons. They represented a normal part of evening coiffure for women. The headdresses were fashioned into headbands and wreaths to trail over hairstyles that are smooth and swept down the woman's neck.

Another notable style is that of afternoon dress, which was standard in the 1880s made by Charles Frederick, who is recognized as the founder of the current century haute couture dressmaking. The elegant design applied in the afternoon dress by Worth was so significant in the 19th century as it represented a historical style. The dress featured a bustle skirt that was stylish fitted with a tight body, and it contained a train. It had ruffled sleeves, which were three-quarters and a center bow, which was a stomach-like shape. Also, the dress evoked historical styles of the past centuries, which were square and low neckline. The construction of the skirt was split, suggesting a petticoat below. The other fashion is the neckline bertha. The cloth was designed with a neckline below the woman's shoulders to expose them. It was mostly trimmed with a lace flounce, which was about three to six inches. The exposure of the neckline was not allowed for everybody as it was only restricted to the middle and upper classes, and the working-class women as the neckline for such classes were not allowed to expose more of the woman's flesh. Décolleté style was the most know style in which significance impacted essential features of dresses on shawls, and it made corsets lose its shoulder traps. In style, two bodices were to be produced by fashion, one fashion for the evening and the other for day hours.

Conclusion

The 19th-century fashion styles changed after years throughout the century with a large influence of changes being tastes of those who wore the clothes in people's tastes together with technological enhancement, which resulted in the introduction of machines used to manufacture clothes. The most notable styles of men are knee breeds, plain dark jackets, tall hats, kitted silk-stocking cap, white waistcoat, simple cravats, long trousers, and man's smoking cap. On the other hand, women's clothes at the end of the century, the styles of fashions worn by men, were the foundation for men's styles in the centuries that followed. But, for women, the styles did not lay the foundation for styles of the centuries after the 19th century. Instead, fashion designers began to influence the styles of women.

Bibliography

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Nickolai, Carol A. "Decently dressed: Women's fashion and dress reform in the nineteenth-century United States." In Historical and Archaeological Perspectives on Gender Transformations, pp. 215-229. Springer, New York, NY, 2013. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4614-4863-1_10