All posts about Womens fashion, clothing, dresses, shorts and so on.
1880–1890 As the bodice continued to lengthen, eventually joining with the skirt, the bustle gradually disappeared and by the end of the 1870s, fashionable garments were tightly fitted and slim-line, with narrow skirts often with a low train at the back. This style with no waist seam is known as the ‘princess dress’ (see figure…
1860–1870 In the 1860s bodices were generally short, ending at the natural waistline or slightly higher. The wide crinoline skirts subtly evolved with more fabric being pushed to the back. The front waist of skirts was flatter with excess fabric either being folded into large pleats or cut away, creating an A-line shaped front panel….
The lengthening of the bodice led to corset manufacture becoming more complicated with an increasing number of separate panels. Stitched seams were no longer sufficient to control the body shape and ‘whale bones’6 were inserted over seams or stitched into channels to sculpt the body. A straight busk continued to be inserted into the centre…
1820–1830 Long corsets with shoulder straps continued to be worn throughout the 1820s but gradually additional panels were added over the hips giving a much more clearly defined waist (see figure 3. 22). Garment bodices also began to lengthen, positioning the waist lower at the midriff position but still well above the natural waistline. Three…
In the early eighteenth century, garments required only simple pattern pieces to achieve a smooth fit over the stays. The bodice and skirt were often cut in a continuous piece with pleats rather than seams used to shape the bodice (see figure 3. 6). Using fewer, hand-stitched seams enabled expensive fabrics to be unpicked and…
Garment Cut and Its Relationship to Underwear T he method outlined in this chapter will help you to collate information in a comprehensive and easy-to-follow way, regardless of the date of the garment. By gathering information from multiple sources and disciplines you will build the clearest possible idea of the shape of support needed to…
Technical developments and dressmaking techniques An understanding of the technical developments in garment production is useful when collating information to provide an approximate date for a garment. In order to do this a detailed comparison between the cut and construction of the garment and known developments in pattern making and stitching techniques will be needed….
Cartoons Caricatures and cartoons, although intentionally extreme with exaggerated poses and styles of dress, draw attention to how the body could be distorted by the controversial fashion trends at the time they were drawn. In the eighteenth century they highlighted the perils and dangers of wearing tightly laced corsets, satirizing the lengths to which women…
In order to present a garment convincingly on a display figure it is essential to know when it was made. Understanding how to use a wide variety of sources will help you to arrive at a date or date range, in order to establish the silhouette appropriate for the time. Since dress historians and curators…
Dress and textiles are amongst the most delicate and ephemeral objects in museum collections and need careful handling. The frst process when preparing any garment for display should always be a detailed assessment of its condition. It is essential to establish the fragility of the garment, the weakness of its fabrics and the strength of…