History of fashion design: Nineteenth Century

History Of Fashion (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The first designer who was not merely a dressmaker was Charles Frederick Worth (1826–1895). Before the former draper set up his maison couture fashion house in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous people, and high fashion descended from style worn at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. The term couturier was in fact first created in order to describe him.

It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments. The images alone could be presented to clients much more cheaply than by producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked the design, they ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.

Nineteenth Century

The influence of English dress on America, the growth of the industry, and the the impact fashion had on English and American cultures is documented throughout the century through various literary means.

Fashion in Literature Nineteenth-century transatlantic literature reflected the importance and progression of fashion British author Charles Dickens references the importance of the female seamstress and her role in English society, as well as ideas surrounding femininity in his novel Little Dorrit (Famine 55). Dickens' American Notes continues to illustrate a preoccupation with the fashion of both American and English with his opinion regarding the dress of American women (Dickens 36). American author Leander Richardson's The Dark City: Customs of the Cockneys further compares the relationship between American fashion trends in New York and Boston with those of London women. His criticism regarding the tendencies of American women to mimic British fashion trends reflects the idea of fashion as a transatlantic industrial market (Richardson 110). The American magazine, Godey's Lady's Book, edited by Sarah Josepha Hale connects nineteenth century fashion as a reflection of moral values of the time. Her praise of Queen Victoria's style of dress in 1868 revealed her understanding of women's dress reflecting the morality of English speaking people (With Grace 27).

Aesthetic Fashion As the century progressed, the importance of dressing correctly and dressing in aesthetically pleasing forms were also documented by nineteenth century authors. By the end of the 1870s, fashion in both American and English societies saw a shift from corsets, padding, and petticoats to fabrics that revealed the shape of the female body, a trend noted by English novelist Wilke Collins (With Grace 22). The aesthetic importance of nineteenth century transatlantic fashion appears in other various literary works. Several essays by Oscar Wilde, as well as Mary Hawei's Art of Decoration (1881) and Art of Dress (1878) encouraged women to dress in a more aesthetically pleasing manner inspired by nature (With Grace 22). In 1880, the importance of Aestheticism further inspired authors and performers in the arts field, ultimately leading to the increased recognition of aesthetic styles of fashion in the Western world. In addition to aestheticism, several reform movements, such as the American movement started by the National Dress Reform Association in 1856 sought to make women's clothing safer and more practical (With Grace 17).

Technology and Fashion As the century proceeded, the continued advancements of communication and technology allowed for an increase in production of textiles, particularly in America. American shoppers known as shopping agents traveled to Paris and were able return to America with clothing that would otherwise be unattainable for American women to own (With Grace 2). The increasing ability for transatlantic traveling in the nineteenth century allowed for the fashion trends of England and France to be seen in America. As the American economy grew with the expansion of markets like the cotton and fur industries, much attention fell upon transatlantic consumers.

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