Understanding Fashion History

Fashion trends come and go throughout the years. At early as the 19th century, there were many unique fashion trends. Women's fashion history has experienced more changes then men's fashion. It is important to understand fashion history in order to keep up with current fashion trends and styles. In order to start you need to highlight the styles of medieval fashion history. This is where the history of fashion started and is the perfect place to start your study of women's fashion history.

Early 19th Century

Women's fashion history took a turn away from medieval fashion history in the 1860s when the iconic hoop skirt was introduced and supported by an undergarment made from a series of concentric circles. At the end of the decade, the hoop skirt had grown into an elliptical shape that could be up to six feet across. Fashion history changed drastically during this time because the sewing machine was introduced so that they could create dresses was faster and cheaper. While the main seams of a dress were stitched with a machine, elaborate details such as fringe, ruffles, braids and beads were still done by hand. At this time, dyes were also invented to provide brilliant colors such as magenta, electric blue and emerald green.

Late 19th Century

By the 1870s, the large hoop skirts changed into a bustle that exaggerated the back of a woman's silhouette. Often women would wear an undergarment that was made from a steel cage or a large stuffed pillow in order to fill out the back of the skirt. Most dresses were draped n the rear and featured a train even for daytime wear. Often skirts were in two pieces with an elaborate draped shorter overskirt worn over the longer underskirt.

Start of the 20th Century

At the end of the 19th century, women's fashion history was starting to soften. The history of fashion was becoming less extreme than in previous years. Everyone wanted the simple and elegant look. Tailored suits along with fitted jackets were complimenting graceful bell shaped skirts. Nearly the end of the 1900s the waistline was raised and wasn't as tight. Skirts became narrower and the history of fashion was drastically changing.

60's Fashion History

60's fashion history was made up of many fashion trends, some more memorable than others. 60's fashion history featured many changes in women's fashion. Unlike other decades, 60's fashion history was a time of emerging and diverse trends. The 60's showcased everything from sophistication to casual; nearly anything became a fashion trend. This decade created a lot of trends in the history of fashion. Many of the trends were focused on what was going on socially at the time. The biggest trend of the 60's was the mini skirt.

Many 60's fashion trends also followed the clothing worn by Jackie Kennedy including a pillbox hat, suits in pastel colors, short boxy-style jackets and shift dresses. In the late 60's there was also new trends from the hippie movement such as bell-bottomed jeans, tie-dyed shirts, long flowing dresses, gypsy skirts, fringed vests and peasant blouses. The biggest change in 60's fashion styles was that of the women's necklines with styles such as boat neck, cowl neck, square, plunging and sweetheart.

80's Fashion History

After the 60, the next biggest trend was in 80's fashion history. During 80's fashion history there were many trends that reinstated contemporary fashion lines. Consider some of the trends from fashion history that re-emerged into modern apparel at this time. 80's fashion history is the perfect example of how fashion trends can re-emerge at other points in fashion history in a more modern style.

80's fashion history may seem silly now, but at the time, it reflected the era fun with color overload, layering and a more-is-better approach to fashion. Nearly every woman in the 80's owned a pair of leggings, which could go with both a short skirt and a t-shirt. Another classic 80's trend was layering. Either dresses layered with tights, leggings or stirrup pants or the classic legwarmer layered over tights, jeans, leggings and pants.

The 80's were big on the ultra casual feature of fashion. Exercise clothing was popular everyday outfits during the 80's. Like other 80's styles they were often layered and a popular type of casual wear was the sweat suit. Lastly, no 80's fashion was complete without a good pair of jeans. Jeans came in three forms during the 80's: acid washed, ripped/torn and skin tight. Jeans were an essential part of many outfits in the 80's.