Paul Poiret’s wife, Denise, was both his model and muse, thrusting her into the role of a fashion icon: “Muse as well as model, Denise Poiret was a living advertisement for her husband, who used her as the prototype figure for his Empire line dresses” (Lécallier). This would eventually develop into the popular flapper look of the next decade and Poiret’s pleated skirt and cocoon coat (Fig. Skirts were still long, but an attempt was made to confine the body in a cylinder” (230). Fashion historian James Laver writes in Costume and Fashion: A Concise History that “the effect was completely tubular. 9) are especially evocative of styles worn by the Suffragettes.Īfter the war ended, simple styles continued and a “barrel”-like silhouette emerged. The white uniforms of the female Navy Yeomen (Fig. For women, military uniforms had elements of current fashion: the long skirts with tunics or jackets worn over them were reminiscent of civilian dress. 10), as does the image of women who came to enlist in the Marines in 1918 (Fig. The Worth evening dress from 1916 shows that fashion was not entirely forgotten (Fig. France had been the center of fashion for years and the war slowed, though did not stop entirely, production and distribution of new fashions. Though the US didn’t enter the war until 1917, the war’s effect on fashion was already felt in France, the UK, and the rest of Europe. Women began to wear uniforms, including overalls and trousers, as they worked in munitions factories for the war effort. Even French designers like Jacques Doucet produced simple, cotton designs during the war (Fig. 2), were a popular wartime fashion, as were simple, utilitarian clothing. In 1914, the world was thrown into the “war to end all wars.” Tunics worn over skirts, like the ones seen in the picture of the Rockaway Hung Meet (Fig. French designer Jacques Doucet enjoyed popularity for his fluid designs, while Mariano Fortuny of Venice patented new processes of pleating and dyeing. Lucille, or Lady Duff Gordon, was a popular designer whose London-based business crossed the Atlantic to New York and Chicago at the beginning of the decade. Though Poiret made a formidable impression on early 1910s fashion, he was by no means the only prominent designer. Another of his innovative silhouettes included the “lampshade tunic.” In this way, you begin to see how Poiret’s playful and inventive approach to fashion led to the popular styles of the twenties. He liked to claim that he had abolished the corset and, indeed, his loose chemise dresses no longer required the rigid undergarment, though other designers were also moving away from corseted looks at the same time. 5) which narrowed so much at the bottom of the skirt that it made it difficult for women to walk. In 1911, he introduced the “hobble skirt” (Fig. Poiret’s fashions dominated the first half of the decade if only because they were inventive and news-making. 4) worn to his party “The Thousand and Second Night” epitomizes this style. He even introduced “harem” pantaloons in 1911, a ballooning pair of trousers that only the most daring of women opted to wear. Paul Poiret helped popularize this look, which featured draped fabrics, vibrant colors, and a column-like silhouette. The Ballets Russes performed Schéhérazade (a ballet based on One Thousand and One Nights) in Paris in 1910, setting off the craze. 3) and a completely new style, that of a revived empire waist, emerged as well.Īn important development at the beginning of the decade was the rise of Orientalism. As this S-shape began to disappear altogether, skirts began to taper towards the bottom, like the example by Doeuillet (Fig. 1) shows how the S-curve softened in the early part of the decade but still relied on the top-heavy look. The 1910s opened with a softer silhouette than the decade before, which was dominated by the “S-shape.” While the contorted shape created by straight-fronted corsets had softened into a more natural silhouette, the style in the early years of the decade still had an emphasis on the bust that echoed styles of the previous decade. While changes in women’s fashion that manifested in the 1920s are often attributed to changes due to World War I, many of the popular styles of the twenties actually evolved from styles popular before the war and as early as the beginning of the decade. World War I had a profound effect on society and culture as a whole and fashion was no exception. Fashion in the 1910s, like the decade itself, may be divided into two periods: before the war and during the war.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |