Morgue Files Archive: Women’s Fashion History

The Victorian Era

DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA, A WOMAN'S SILHOUETTE CONSISTED OF A BODICE AND A FLOOR LENGTH SKIRT, DESIGNED TO RESEMBLE A FIGURE-EIGHT OR BELL SHAPE. WOMEN WERE EXPECTED TO DO "WOMEN'S WORK" AND THEREFORE CLOTHES WERE NOT DESIGNED FOR COMFORT, LEISURE, OR BUSINESS. THE CRINOLINE HOOP SKIRT IS ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL PIECES OF THE VICTORIAN ERA SILHOUETTE, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE "CAGE." THE CAGE WAS WORN WITH STIFFENED PETT Y COATS THAT HELD OUT THE SKIRT FROM THE HIPS TO CREATE THE DESIRED BELL SHAPE. THE CORSET WAS ALSO POPULARIZED IN THE VICTORIAN ERA. MOST WOMEN GOT THEIR FIRST CORSET AT THE AGE OF THREE AND WAS ALWAYS WORN TO CREATE THE FASHIONABLE SILHOUETTE. IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR WOMEN TO COVER THEMSELVES ENTIRELY WITH ACCESSORIES, DRESSES, SHOES, GLOVES, AND HATS. VICTORIAN WOMEN NEVER SHOWED AN ANKLE, SO HEELS WERE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO THEIR DAILY DRESS.

THE TRENDS OF THE VICTORIAN ERA WERE POPUL ARIZED BY CONSERVATIVE QUEEN VICTORIA, ONE OF, IF NOT THE, MOST POPULAR FASHION INFLUENCERS OF HER TIME. QUEEN VICTORIA, UPON HER HUSBAND'S DEATH, WENT INTO A MOURNING PERIOD AND WORE ONLY BLACK UNTIL HER OWN DEATH, WHICH AS A RESULT, CREATED A SOCIETAL STANDARD.WIDOWS WERE REQUIRED TO WEAR BLACK FOR THEIR MOURNING PERIODS, AND COULD ONLY INCLUDE GRE Y, PURPLE, AND LAVENDER UNTIL HALFWAY THROUGH THE MOURNING PERIOD. OTHER POPULAR TRENDS DURING THE VICTORIAN ER A INCLUDED THE BERTHA COLLAR, PL AID, AND THE COLOR MAUVE. THE BERTHA COLLAR ADDED AN ADDITIONAL LAYER OF WARMTH AND WAS A TRIANGULAR OR RECTANGULAR SHAPE. IT USUALLY MATCHED THE FABRIC OF THE BODICE. MAUVE WAS ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED BY COAL WORKERS UNABLE TO ENTIRELY CLEAN THEIR CLOTHING, AND PLAID BECAME INCREASINGLY POPULAR DUE TO INNOVATIONS IN WEAVING. BAREGE WAS POPULAR IN THE SUMMER MONTHS. FRENCH ZOUAVE SOLDIERS CAME TO NEW YORK, WEARING WHAT WOULD BE KNOWN AS THE ZOUAVE JACKET. IT WAS A COLLARLESS, WAIST LENGTH BRAID TRIMMED BOLERO ST YLE JACKET WITH THREE QUARTER LENGTH SLEEVES THAT STAYED POPULAR THROUGHOUT THE CIVIL WAR IN THE UNITED STATES.

The 1930’s

ON OCTOBER 29TH, 1929, THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED. THIS EVENT, KNOWN AS THE GREAT DEPRESSION, WOULD DETERMINE MUCH OF AMERICAN FASHION IN THE 1930S. AS DUST STORMS DESTROYED FIELDS OF FARMER'S CROPS, THE ECONOMY BEGAN TO DECLINE DUE TO MANY INVESTMENTS IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. PEOPLE BEGAN TO PULL THEIR MONEY OUT OF BANKS AS FAST AS THEY COULD AND UNEMPLOYMENT ROSE DUE TO THE STOCK MARKET CRASH. HOWEVER, IN 1933, ROOSEVELT WAS ELECTED AS PRESIDENT. HE DEVELOPED THE NEW DEAL, WHICH HELPED REVIVE BANKS, RID THE COUNTRY OF PROHIBITION, HELP FARMERS GET THEIR JOBS BACK, AND CREATED GOVERNMENT-FUNDED PROGRAMS FOR THE ARTS. THE 1930S FEATURED A LARGE ART MOVEMENT FEATURING ART DECO, SURREALISM, AND DADA.

THE SILHOUETTE OF THE 1930S FOCUSED ON A LONG, SLIM, NATURAL, AND FEMININE FIGURE. CURVES WERE ONLY SEEN IN EVENING WEAR AND ON FILM. THE NATURAL WAISTLINE WAS IN AND DRESSES BECAME MORE FEMININE, NOW FEATURING PRINTS. HOWEVER, THE 1930S DID FEATURE A STRONG MASCULINE INFLUENCE, AS WOMEN BEGAN TO WEAR SUITS MORE FREQUENTLY. ELSA SCHIAPARELLI, WHO WAS INSPIRED HEAVILY BY SURREALISM AND DADA, DESIGNED EVENING SUITS THAT BECAME THE BLUEPRINT FOR THE UTILITY SCHEME SUIT. MAIN ROUSSEAU BOCHER, OR MAINBOCHER, WORKED AS AN ILLUSTRATOR FOR HARPER'S BAZAAR AND VOGUE MAGAZINE, WHICH HE WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME THE EDITOR FOR, DISCOVERED SCHIAPARELLI. HE MAINLY DESIGNED EVENING GOWNS AND WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN DESIGNER TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL COUTURE HOUSE IN PARIS. FOLLOWING COCO CHANEL'S LEAD, LOUNGE AND BEACH WEAR BECAME POPULAR AS THE ASSOCIATION WITH HAVING A TAN BECAME SEEN AS A SYMBOL OF LEISURE AND WEALTH. SKIWEAR ROSE IN POPULARITY AS MORE AMERICANS TRAVELED TO RESORTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE INTRODUCTION OF CUP SIZES FIRST APPEARED IN THE 1930S AS WELL. THE SOFTENING OF HAIR, REFINING OF MAKEUP, AND SMALLER HATS, SUCH AS THE FEDORA, NOW ACCENTUATED A WOMAN'S APPEARANCE. FEMININE PUMPS AND HEALED OXFORDS WERE STAPLES FOR WOMEN'S FOOTWEAR. HISPANIC AND BLACK MEN POPULARIZED THE ZOOT SUIT, CREATING A SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN THE PROCESS. MANY KNITS AND MARY JANES ENTERED CHILDREN'S WEAR.

The 1940’s

DURING THE 1940'5, WWII BROKE OUT. AMERICAN WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND EVEN THE ELDERLY, WERE ENCOURAGED TO HELP WITH THE WAR EFFORT IN ANY WAY THAT THEY COULD. FOR WOMEN, THIS MEANT GOING INTO THE WORKFORCE, WHICH WOULD CHANGE HOW THEY DRESSED DAY TO DAY. ROSIE THE RIVETER BECAME THE ROLE MODEL AND ICON OF THE 40'5, AND WAS SYMBOL OF LASTING FEMININITY, IRREGARDLESS OF WORKING. ROSIE DICTATED THE SILHOUETTE OF THE 1940'5. THE VICTORY UNIFORM, A PAIR OF OVERALLS, BECAME THE MOST WORN GARMENT. THIS WOULD TRANSFORM INTO THE "WOMANALL." WOMEN'S HAIR WAS COVERED FOR WORK, BUT ACTRESS VERONICA LAKE WOULD POPULARIZE THE PEEK-A-BOO HAIRSTYLE THAT ALLOWED WOMEN TO DISPLAY SOME HAIR AT WORK. AFTERWARDS, DIFFERENT VICTORY HAIRSTYLES BROKE OUT INCLUDING THE CHIGNON, THE HEIDI, AND THE VICTORY ROLL. MANY WOMEN'S DAUGHTERS ALSO DRESSED IN THE ROSIE LOOK. FACTORIES BEGAN TO INCLUDE BEAUTY PARLORS AND MAKEUP VENDING MACHINES, DUE TO THE LARGE EMPHASIS ON WORKING WOMEN TO MAINTAIN THEIR BEAUTY. AS A RESULT, THIS ALSO HELPED MAINTAIN THE WOMEN'S MORALE. AMERICAN DESIGNERS, SUCH AS CLAIRE MCCARDELL, TINA LESSER, AND MIRED ORRICK, CREATED MODERN, EASY TO WEAR CLOTHING THAT WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS SPORTS WEAR AND CASUAL WEAR.

DUE TO THE WAR, CLOTHING WAS RATIONED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING HOLLYWOOD AND ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTIONS DURING THIS TIME. A TEAM OF SEVEN DESIGNERS WORKED WITH THE BOARD OF TRADE TO DESIGN CLOTHING THAT HAD PRESCRIBED YARDAGES OF MATERIAL AND A SPECIFIC ALLOTTED AMOUNT OF TRIMMINGS. COATS, SUITS, DRESSES, AND OVERALLS WERE PRODUCED FOLLOWING THESE REQUIREMENTS. THE PEPLUM SKIRT BECAME POPULAR, AS IT WAS ONE OF THE EASIEST AND MOST ECONOMICAL ADDITIONS TO AN OUTFIT. THE UNITED STATES USED A COUPON SYSTEM AND GAVE WOMEN FEW RATION COUPONS TO BUY CLOTHING. AS A RESULT, SEPARATE GARMENTS BEGAN TO BE PURCHASED. FABRIC WOULD REMAIN IN SHORT SUPPLY UNTIL THE END OF THE 1940'5. DESIGNERS WERE ALSO PROHIBITED FROM USING IMPORTED MATERIALS FROM THE ENEMY.

The 1950’s

THE 1950'S BROUGHT MEDIA, UNEQUAL GENDER STANDARDS, AND NATIONALISM TO THE FOREFRONT OF AMERICAN DAILY LIFE. FASHIONS BEGAN TO GAIN POPULARIT Y FROM TELEVISION, WOMEN WERE ONCE MORE CONFINED TO THEIR HOUSEHOLDS, LEADING TO THE WIDESPREAD OF HOUSEWIFE SYNDROME, AND THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT BEGAN TO PROMOTE PATRIOTISM IN ORDER TO WARD OFF COMMUNISM.

THE 50'S IS THE ERA OF THE DUAL SILHOUETTE. TWO SILHOUETTES WERE POPULAR DURING THIS TIME, ONE FEATURING A FULL SKIRT AND THE OTHER FEATURING A PENCIL SKIRT. PAPER PATTERNS BECAME THE WAY FOR AT-HOME SEWERS TO STAY ON TREND. ALTHOUGH THE SILHOUETTES WERE A BIT RIGID IN DESIGN, VARIATIONS IN THE NECKLINE, SLEEVES, AND DETAILS WERE VAST. DESIGNERS ALSO USED ELEGANT FABRICATIONS RANGING FROM SILK TO ORGANZA TO TAFFETA, TO PRODUCE THESE LOOKS.

BY THE 1950'S, CHRISTIAN DIOR WAS THE MOST WELL-KNOWN FASHION DESIGNER IN THE WORLD. ROGER VIVIER, CRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA, AND CHARLES JAMES WERE ALSO POPULAR DESIGNERS DURING THE 50'S. VIVIER CREATED THE KITTEN HEEL, THE ALTERNATIVE TO THE STILETTO HEEL. BALENCIAGA WAS POPULAR WITH WEALTHIER WOMEN AND WAS KNOWN FOR DESIGNING HIS LUXURY GARMENTS WITH INSPIRATION FROM SPAIN. HE ENJOYED BOXIER SILHOUETTES AND CONTRASTED DIOR'S ST YLE. FOR CHARLES JAMES, THE 50'S WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT YEARS OF HIS CAREER WHERE HIS DESIGNS TRULY FLOURISHED.