books0977:

Young Girl Reading a Book. Eva D. Cowdery (American). Oil on canvas.

“We are of opinion that instead of letting books grow moldy behind an iron grating, far from the vulgar gaze, it is better to let them wear out by being read.” ― Jules Verne

OLD FASHION MAGAZINE IN 1913 

oldhollywood:

The Actress (1928, dir. Sidney Franklin) (via)

carolathhabsburg:

Mother and son. 1900s.

carolathhabsburg:

12- American Types by ayacata7 on Flickr.

Fashion History - Edwardian Fashion Designs of Late 1890’s - 1914 With Pictures

Edwardian fashion refers to the clothing that was in style between the late 1890’s and 1914 or the beginning of the Great War (World War I). Also called La Belle Epoque (the Beautiful Era), and the Gilded Age, this was a time when women’s fashions took on a new opulence and extravagance, inspired by the hedonistic lifestyle of Britain’s King Edward VII.

The design trends of Edwardian times revolved around the S curve when corsets created an S shaped female silhouette, a change from the Victorian hour glass figure.

The S bend corset forced the hips back and bust forward. The ideal female figure was a mature woman with a pigeon shaped monobosom.

Edwardian Directoire Style

King Edward VII

After the death of the highly influential Queen Victoria in 1901, her son Edward rose to the throne. Edward VII has the distinction of being the longest lasting Prince of Wales (59 years) and spent much of his attention on his lavish life style. Edward is rumored to have had 55 love affairs, including romantic liaisons with famous actresses Lillie Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt.

The British royal family were the trendsetters of the day. British high society reigned as the cultural elite and Edward’s extravagance ruled fashion and set the tone for behavior and fashion. Middle class women looked up to the elite for inspiration and hoped to emulate their ‘betters.’

“Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde

The Influence of the Industrial Revolution on Ladies’ Fashion

By the late 1890’s, the Industrial Revolution had created new technologies that changed the way people lived. The growth of factories spawned a large middle class as large corporations generated new wealth and an upwardly mobile middle class.

Sewing machines enabled the production of ready made clothing and made it easier for women to sew their own clothes.

An increased literacy in the new middle class gave women access to information.

The inventions of the typewriter, telephone, and telegraph offered women increased employment opportunities when previously, womens’ jobs were restricted to domestic servitude or factory work.

Despite the fact that a large majority of working women labored long hours for low pay in dimly lit, poorly ventilated factories and mills, a new kind of women was beginning to emerge. The new women of the early 1900’s was educated and informed, with an interest in politics and social causes.

The opposing concepts of an educated middle class woman who was active and outgoing contrasted with the urge toward luxury and hedonism to create the culture we call Edwardian.

Gibson Girl by Charles Dana Gibson

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Edwardian Fashion Icons

All fashion eras have their archetypes. Edwardian trendsetters included the Gibson Girl and Alice Roosevelt Longworth.

The Gibson Girl was a fictitious, unnamed character portrayed in the illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson who created what would become the feminine ideal for 20 years.

The Gibson Girl was shown as youthful and strong, fun loving, yet sophisticated.  She was tall and slender with a long neck, ample bust and hips, and a small waist. Her upswept bouffant hairdo was all the rage and her aristocratic bearing inspired young women everywhere. The Gibson Girl was smart and independent, charming, and intelligent but was never shown to be political or interested in social causes.

The Gibson Girl became a merchandising bonanza. Her face and form were depicted on trays, on prints, pillow cases, souveniers, and ashtrays.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the eldest daughter of Theodore Roosevelt was a high profile society figure in the USA. Beautiful and outspoken, Alice rode in cars with men, smoked, and kept a pet snake. The song ‘Alice Blue Gown,’ referred to the popular shade called Alice Blue named after her eyes - light blue with a hint of gray.

Her father, the President of the United States once said, ‘Either I can run the country or tend to Alice but I can’t possibly do both.”

Edwardian Golfing Costume with Tailored Jacket

A New Century - New Fashion Trends in Skirts and Dresses

As the century changed so changed clothing design trends. Gone was the bustle (a pad at the rear end) and heavy fabrics.of the previous century. A new, lighthearted concept overtook women’s fashions along with a sentiment of eternal summer with dresses made of light weight fabrics for a more active lifestyle.

• The 2 pieces dress came into vogue. Skirts hung tight at the hips and flared at the hem, creating a trumpet or lily-like shape.

• Skirts in 1901 had decorated hems with ruffles of fabric and lace.
• Some dresses and skirts featured trains.

• Tailored jackets, first introduced in 1880, increased in popularity and by 1900, tailored suits became hugely popular.

• By 1904, skirts became fuller and less clingy.
• In 1905, skirts fell in soft folds that curved in, then flared out near the hemlines.

• From 1905 - 1907, waistlines rose.

• In 1910, the hobble skirt was introduced; a tight fitting skirt that restricted a woman’s stride.

• Lingerie dresses, or tea gowns made of soft fabrics, festooned with ruffles and lace were worn indoors.

The S Curve

Edwardian Longline Corset - 1910

Edwardian Blouses and Bodices

The blouses and bodices of the Edwardian period were embellished with pieces of lace and bead work, and lines of ruffles.

• In the late 1890’s, bodices were bloused with a pouched effect. Corsets gave women a monobosum - the corset did not divide the bust but rendered a pigeon-like look.

• By 1904, blousing spread to the sides of the bodice.

• Blouses, or bodices, featured high necks in light fabrics or lace.

• Evening wear bodices showed more skin with sweet heart, round, or square necklines.

• Early Edwardian sleeves fit tightly at the top of the arm, filled toward the lower end and gathered into a tight cuff.

• 1900 - 1905 Edwardian fashion trended toward open end pagoda sleeves.

• By 1905, fullness at the wrist was gone and sleeves were wide and full at the top.

• Sleeves stayed full at the top through 1909. They narrowed below the elbow and fit snuggly at the wrist in a style often called Leg of Muttun.

• In 1910, the kimono sleeve was open, loose, and comfortable.

Edwardian Fashion’s Big Hats - Queen Mary and Ladies

Edwardian Fashion - Grande Duchess Tatiana 1912

Edwardian Shoes, Boots, and Hats

SHOES AND BOOTS

The lace-up boots of the late 1800’s continued on into Edwardian footwear.

• Better shoes and boots were made of sealskin and were thin, durable, and nearly waterproof. Expensive sealskin was thin, comfortable, and insulating for both hot and cold weather.

• Lesser priced shoes and boots made of tooled Moroccan leather were stiff, hot, and heavy.

• Kid boots and shoes were a lesser quality footwear that did not maintain their shape.

• The Great War created a leather shortage and saw the introduction of cloth topped shoes and boots, functional footwear that appeared mostly in black.

HATS

Wide brimmed hats were trimmed in feathers that often extended beyond the hat brim. By 1911, smaller hats still used a lot of feathers taken from the breeding plumage of wading birds created in factories called Plumassiers.

When the Audubon Society informed the public of the dire threat to the American bird population and the decline of wading birds due to the heavy demand for feathers, women responded in shock. Commerce in feathers ceased abruptly, leaving warehouses full of feathers. Some of these factories and warehouses caught fire and burned when unscrupulous businessmen sought to recoup loses through insurance.

1910

Paul Poiret Fashion Illustration

Design by Paul Poiret 1914

Influential Edwardian Fashion Designer Paul Poiret

Ladies’ Edwardian fashion was greatly influenced by the designer Paul Poiret, known as the creator of modern clothing shapes and designs. His clothing designs were inspired by art including classicism, Orientalism, and Art Nouveau. Poiret’s comfortable styles freed women from the constriction of corsets and relied on draping for effect.

In 1908, he introduced the straight tube sheath dress. Women abandoned the S corset for longer, straighter corsets and bras. His Oriental style became popular after the Ballet Russes performedScheherazade in Paris in 1910. Fashion concepts included exotic designs based on harem wear in bright colors with beaded embellishment. The lampshade tunic came into vogue toward the end of Edwardian times as did the Directoire style of 1912 (as pictured at the top of this article) which featured a high waist that accentuated a long, slim figure.

Turbans and jeweled slippers were a feature of Orientalism and a new exotic style of dress for Edwardian women.

But, the Great War (World War I)put an end to extravagant trends as the world turned to a war economy with shortages of fabric and leather, and the more austere fashions usually dictated by the privations of war.

(All images are from Wikimedia Commons)

Women’s Fashions of World War I Era - 1914 - 1920

• Women’s fashions of 1914 - 1920 were heavily influenced by World War I, or the Great War, as well as the women’s suffrage movement. By 1914, women’s clothing had lost the rigid, tailored lines of the…

Vintage Fabrics and Their Care

• The use of vintage fabrics can add interest to any home. Whether your decorating style is quirky, eclectic, classic, traditional, bohemian, minimalist, or organic; antique textiles lend a note of individuality…

We Often Think of the Edwardians as Being Stiff and Formal - Not Quite So - Check Out This Hilarious Video

Edwardian Costume - the Lampshade Tunic

Edwardian Suit by Paul Poiret

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

• In 1911, workers locked in a garment mill so they could not take unauthorized breaks could not escape the inferno that erupted when a scrap bin ignited.

Queen Victoria’s Children

• Is Queen Victoria really the Grandmother of Europe? Isabella of Castille may want to lay claim to that title for herself! Queen Victoria was certainly a very fertile Queen having 9 children - 5 daughters…

Edward VII Love Chair

• ‘Bertie’ the playboy Prince of Wales, the ‘prince of pleasure’ and future King Edward VII of England was a regular client of the Parisian brothels during the late 1800’s. A particular favourite of his was ‘Le…

More About the Gibson Girl

• Those buxom, bloomered babes were quite the rage in their day. Incredibly sexy, despite their turn of the century moral standards, Gibson Girls possessed more than an alluring mystique. They possessed powerful skills and attributes that todays women

Clothing of the Early Middle Ages

• The Early Middle Ages, also known as the Dark Ages, or medieval times, refers to that period in European history after the fall of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell in 400 CE (or AD) , the once…

Clothing of the Middle Ages

• In the High and Late Middle Ages, European clothing began to evolve into what we think of today as fashion. The cut, shape, and decoration of clothing changed at a much faster pace than in the Early Middle…

Early 1900 Fashion

In early 1900, fashion enjoyed its last true age of elegance. There is no doubt that the pinnacle of fashion belonged to the wealthy dames of early 1900 aristocracies. It was an era of grace , dedicated to time-honored values and traditions.

Woman at the time were above all slender in their fashion. The silhouette of the early 1900 dame was curved, flowing and extremely feminine. Maturity, sophistication and superiority were well known traits for these extremely well-bred ladies.

The long elegant lines from 1890s fashion had continued on into early 1900. The spectacle of an Edwardian lady stepping out of her horse and carriage was something to witness indeed. There is no doubt that the early 1900 lady had grace poise and self assurance.

However, in early 1900, it was believed to be improper fashion for a woman to show her ankle. If she smoked in public, it was concluded that she must be an actress. If she wore red lipstick she was the next best thing to a prostitute. And if a woman wore trousers, she was going against her moral obligations to society. Early 1900 fashion condemned trousers as audacious, offensive and hideous.

If you wanted to be considered even remotely good looking in early 1900, it was important for you, as a woman, to follow the fashion expected at the time. And the fashion expected in early 1900 meant tiny waists, emphasized hips, and protruding posteriors.

Corsets were an absolute must throughout early 1900 and earlier. Assorted corsets offered various series of folds, curves, and contortions for new and upcoming silhouettes. The timeless elegance of the corset, was true to fashion as it reduced the waist with beautiful tight lacing.

Early 1900 Fashion

At the dawn of the Edwardian era, the shape of the woman’s fashion transitioned from the popular “hourglass” figure to dresses designed with an “S” curve. Early 1900 fashion was designed to show off the woman’s figure and highlight delicate curves. When the S-bend corset came into fashion, woman were able to define the spine nicely and even out the rest of the body.

Early 1900 Edwardian woman were certainly flamboyant in their everyday dressing. Feet were squashed in tiny shoes, and hats were balanced on a creation of pads, wigs and human hair. Dazzling enamels and gold filigree dressed as peacocks and dragonflies, became early 1900 standard trimming for ladies’ combs and brooches.

The high collar, S-bend corset, trained skirt, and generous hat, all had an effect on the posture of an Edwardian lady. From the shoulders, falling within a few inches of the belt, soft folds of satin formed the corsage below a modesties of white tulle shirred to round yoke of embroidery. The skirt and lower corsage were usually joined together by a three inch belt of English embroidery on fine batiste.

Fashion in early 1900, meant wearing an incredible number of under garments. Women dressed in countless petticoats, fringed with lace, which created a captivating foam around the ankles. Alas, early fashion in 1900, meant that no respectable lady would ever get away without wearing up to six petticoats.

Stylish woman in early 1900, went to dressmakers for the perfect cut.Fashion was made to fit and was led by high society fashion designers connected to the aristocracy and the royal court. Every early 1900 fashion outfit was made with microscopic detail from colour to cut.

Early 1900 fashion was owned by five notable designers; Callot Soeurs, Madeleine Chéruit, Jacques Doucet, Jeanne Lanvin and Charles Worth. Fashion movements in early 1900 did not spring from fashion shows and cat walks, but instead at prestigious French racehorses, which was a magnet for the classy, fashionable and exclusive society.

During the early 1900 fashion era, woman’s garments progressively became more comfortable, practical. This period was ,indeed, the la Belle Epoque “The beautiful epoch”

carolathhabsburg:

Fashion plate. 1844