Analysis of the Different Decades of Fashion

Fashion Trend Analysis
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Fashion Trend Analysis
Fashion in the twentieth century transformed from strict corseted dresses to anything attitudinal of today. In 1900, most men wore suits and hats (Arnold, 2011). The jazz age flapper of the twenties got rid of all restrictions to allow individuals have fun. The First and Second World Wars had an impact on the 1910s and 1940s fashion respectively (Cahalan, 2017). There was a golden age of stunning evening gowns of the evening gowns for women in the forties and fifties. In the sixties, swinging London trendsetters brought in the super-short miniskirt and futuristic fashion (Crane, 2012). The seventies was a time of hippie clothes and the disco era. Studies indicate that, fashion saw a major shift in style in the first two decades of the twentieth century.
The complete development from the Edwardian silhouette to the boyish silhouette of the twenties was a progress with numerous defining turning points. Designers such as Paul Poiret were icons in the development of the twentieth century fashion (English, 2013). Throughout this century, historical and cross-cultural influences exerted an insightful impact on fashion design. Designers could easily access the materials, designs and styles due to improved travel and communication. With photographic developments and printing methods, the designers could also gather ideas from secondary sources like journals, books and magazines (Ewing, 2014). From the fifties, European designers needed to look around them to see various clothing from around the world. This research analyzes the fashion trends in the 1910s, 1940s and 1970s.
1910s
The period 1910-1919 was characterized by a unique fashion. This was a decade where fashion retained most of the class and style of the preceding era, but with a simple flare. According to Reddy (2020), the Second World War had a significant not only impacted culture and society, but it also influenced fashion. Although modifications in women’s fashion that manifested in the next decade were associated with the changes caused by the Second World War, numerous popular styles of the 1920s evolved from popular pre-war styles (Vinken & Hewson, 2015). The 1910s began with a silhouette that was softer than the previous decade. This silhouette was S-shaped. Whereas the knobby shape formed by straight-fronted corsets had become softer in more natural shape, the style in the beginning of 1910s still emphasized on the styles of the early decade (Reddy, 2020). The ball gown by G&E Spitzer in the figure below shows how the S-curve softened during the start of the decade but still depended on the imbalanced look (Vinken & Hewson, 2015).
With the beginning of the disappearance of this S-shape, skirts started to taper towards the bottom like the one in the figure below and a completely new style of a revived empire waist emerged.
A key development in the early part of this decade (1910) was the rise of Orientalism. During this period, the Ballets Russes performed Scheherazade in Paris, triggering the craze. Scheherazade was a ballet based on ‘‘One Thousand and O...