1912-1914 Class Segregation on Board

In 1912 a tragedy ocurred which shook the lives of many. The Titanic ship deemed "unsinkable" quite ironically sank. However the fashions from the people onboard became very class segregated.

The upper classes wore elegant garments with elaborate hair pieces and hats which at the time the Titanic went on her maiden voyage were the hieght of fashion worn with the hobble skits.

The lower classes however   wore slightly less couture wear and had to make do with worn shawls and rough woolen dresses and suits.

Tophats began to evolve into bowler
hats from 1913

Around 1913 just before the start of the first world war menswear began to change drastically as well. Top hats that were extremly fashionable during the victorian era were beginning to fade and only became used at formal events such as weddings (the tradition of which carries on today). 

With the ladies fashion becoming more relaxed men's casual fashion started to change too. The smoking jacket was considered a masculine tea dress. It gave gentltmen a rest from the starched collars that they had to wear when in formal company

1910-1913 Suffragettes

From about 1910 when King Edward died women had began to tire of being ignored and began to take a stand. They called themselves Suffragettes and they began a change to society and fashion.

The Suffragettes main colours were green which symbolised hope, white symbolising purity and purple which signified dignity.

Naturally many women wanted to copy the style of the freedom fighters.and so began wearing those particular colours both for support and because it was becoming the fashion. As were hobble skirts which emerged in 1910 these skirts are very much alike to the modern  fishtail dress only more restricting.



The hobble skirts came in at the ankles making the women wearing them well..hobble.

Emily Davison's funeral was a
monumental moment .

In June 1913 suffragette Emily Davison was tragically killed when she jumped in front of the King's horse at the Derby. She became a martyr to the suffragette movement allowing her sacrifice to be a historical landmark in the suffragettes history.

1901-1910 The Bohemian Revoltion

Fashion was starting to become very relaxed during the Edwardian era. Although corsets were still worn with formal wear women were given the liberty of wearing tea dresses when not with company.

S-Bend corsets became fashionable around 1904 in order for women to retain their structure and support but in a slighty more comfortable way.

the moulin rouge: a painting by 

Toulouse LeTrec

a bohemian revoltutionary 

The bohemian revoltution was partly inspired by the pre-raphaelite art movement focused on romance poetry and art Both art movements changed Edwardian fashion greatly.

In 1909 Ballet choreographer Sergei Diaghilev came up with the Ballet Russe. An innovative idea that influenced many different people.

The Ballet Russe's costumes were delicate and feminine and based upon the seductive dresses the bohemian revoltution brought to a high.

The ballet russe became an inspiration to designer Paul Poreit who took eastern oriental influences to create such eccentric garments that the shocked the people of high society simply because they were so unusual.

The Pre-Raphaelite movement also inspired the Liberty shop to be set up.

This shop sold many eccentricities like fancy dress costumes and fabric covered furniture which was an entirely new concept.

Art Nouveau

In 1890 Art Nouveau was introduced. This innovative art movement influences both art and architecture. It led the way into romanticism which evolved in the early 1900s.

Art Nouveau ended in 1910 when King Edward VII who came to the throne in 1901 died. The traveller king became a fashion icon due to his love of travelling to far off places. He influenced many of his subjects to wear clothes inspired by the countries he visited.

1867-1901 The Start of Change

OK so lets start from the beginning, 1900 what happened? 

Well for a start it showed the death of the longest reigning monarch to date Queen Victoria who reigned from 1867 to 1901 and was only just alive to witness the Industrial Revolution and the Expo Universalle which occured in 1900 in  Paris celebrating the acheivements the industrial revoltution led to. The industrial revolution meant the development of the electrical sewing machine and many other engineering aspects which greatly influence the world of fashion today.

 

The Exposistion Universelle made a great impact by having the newly constructed Eiffel Tower at the entrance.