1900s Fashion History - From Long Skirts to the Mini Skirt
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Womens Fashion History - Changes in the 1900s
In the 1900s women's fashion changed and there is no standard length today. Until the 1900s, nearly 100 years ago, fashion history shows that the length of the skirt remained full length as it had been for hundreds of years. In the Victorian Era, wide skirts with crinoline petticoats became the fashion. To make the skirts even wider, hoops were sewn around the hemline making what was later to be called hoop skirts. Later fashion included the bustle skirt with the fullness just in the back. Padding was worn to emphasize the fullness. Then, for a short period of time, the hobble skirt came into fashion. The hobble skirt was uncomfortable to get around in as it was very narrow at the bottom edge, making walking difficult. Slits were sometimes added to offset the constricted hemline.
World War I changed life in many ways and it was necessary for women to become more active in everyday activities. The hemlines changed to mid-calf as it was easier to actively move about. The long skirt length went through more changes through the yeas until the
mini skirt became very popular in the 1960s.
Today, although skirt lengths may go up and down with each season as new ideas are introduced, the length of the skirt is a personal choice for each individual.
World War I changed life in many ways and it was necessary for women to become more active in everyday activities. The hemlines changed to mid-calf as it was easier to actively move about. The long skirt length went through more changes through the yeas until the
mini skirt became very popular in the 1960s.
Today, although skirt lengths may go up and down with each season as new ideas are introduced, the length of the skirt is a personal choice for each individual.
Even though there were strict limits to fashion freedom in the Victorian period, we now tend to look back nostalgically
at what we wistfully imagine to have been a romantic era of days gone by. The wide, long skirts with crinoline for fullness continue to be a fashion statement for special events,
especially for weddings
The Crinoline
The Crinoline in the Victorian Era
Women's vintage clothing during the Victorian era featured wide, full skirts and crinolines (stiffened petticoats). As early as the 1830s, to support more fullness, hoops made out of material such as cane were sewn around the hems of the petticoats. Vintage clothing In 1858 included steel hoops attached to vertical tapes hanging from the waist forming a cage. This called for fewer petticoats to be worn and the cage crinoline became very popular.
Today, crinolines, although not as wide as in the Victorian era and usually made of layers of stiff net, are sometimes being worn under wedding dresses or other formal wear.
The Bustle
1867 - 1870s - The Bustle
The BustleIn the late 1800's, a new draped shape with fulness only in the back of the skirt was developed, the fullness being desired to make the waist look smaller and the extra fabric on the back was supported by more fullness in the fabric or by wearing padding under the skirt.
1880s to 1913
1880s - 1913 - Victorian/Edwardian Era
Queen Victoria's reign was from 1837 until her death in 1901. It was a period of great prosperity as shown in the lavish lifestyle of the upper classes, Edward reigned from 1901 until 1910 and, concerning dress, there is not a marked difference in the elegance of those periods as long skirts, sweeping the floor, continued as fashion in those times.The Hobble Skirt
There was a period from about 1910 to 1913 when further narrowing of the skirt is seen in the development of the Hobble Skirt. Webster's definition of the hobble skirt: "A skirt constricted at the bottom." The hemline was so narrow that it actually affected walking and some of the skirts were designed with slits or pleats in order to move about more freely.
Fashion History
1914 -1960
The rules of dress relaxed during the First World War because at that time women took part in voluntary work and, being out and about more, the fashion rules changed. Lavish fashion ended and in 1915, skirt lengths changed to mid-calf, the shortest they had even been, changing over the next years between longer lengths and knee-high lengths. And then in the late 1960's, the mini-skirt, reaching above the knee, became popular. In the years since that time, fashion freedom prevails and there are no rules determining skirt lengths. Books on Fashion
More Websites on Womens Fashion in The 1900s
- Edwardian Costume History. Fashion History 1890-1914 La Belle Epoque
- 1900s Edwardian Fashion History By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com
- Edwardian Fashions
- Clothing from the Edwardian era and the early 1900s.
- ::: Fashion Plate Collection :::
- Over 400 fashion plates from the 19th and early 20th centuries of women's and men's costume. Drawn from the some of the leading fashion journals of the Time, they depict styles and dress from the Empire (1806-1813), Georgian (1806-1836), Regency (1811-1820), Romantic (1825-1850), Victorian (1837-185
- The Costumer's Manifesto
- by Tara Maginnis, Ph.D.
The Costumer's Manifesto is proudly hosted
by OnlineCostumeStore.com - Edwardian and Victorian Fashion
- A webring for Edwardian and Victorian hat makers & millinery designers, costumers, clothing designers, restoration experts, costume history enthusiasts, vintage clothing/ephemera collectors, vintage c
- Edwardian Fashion
- About a family in 1910: homelife, romance, Edwardian fashion, suffrage, transportation, politics, teachers and teaching,film and entertainment.
- edwardian and world war I fashion plates
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Edwardian and World War I Periods
The Edwardian and World War I Periods (1900-1920) are named after important political events. King Edward VII of England, who became king in 1901 after the lengthy reign of his mother, Queen Victoria, gave his name to the Edwardian era. The World - Edwardian Fashion Pictures
- Edwardian Fashion Pictures, a splendid collection of Edwardian fashion illustrations, Edwardian fashion posters and adverts which can be reproduced as framed pictures in any size
- Maggie May Fashions- Clothing History Research Pages
- Clothing history - illustrations
- FASHION
- FASHION: PAST & PRESENT
Did you know? It was considered unfashionable for Venetian women, during the Renaissance to have anything but silvery-blonde hair. GENERAL & COMPREHENSIVE
**** History of Costume by Braun & Scheider - color plates of dress from Ancient times t
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The 1900s Fashion Comments
Leave a note if you like. We'll post it here.
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JoanneOtt
May 19, 2012 @ 4:42 am | delete
- i like some Victorian things, but wouldn't want to go back to dressing that way. The clothes are beautiful though.
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Li-Li-ThePinkBookworm
Feb 24, 2012 @ 6:01 pm | delete
- Informative lens about a fun topic.
Li Li
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Coe
Aug 31, 2011 @ 3:25 pm | delete
- What an interesting lens. I love the word "crinoline" and wondered what it meant.
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pacevedo1968
May 28, 2011 @ 1:50 pm | delete
- lovely lens, grate info
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missbat
Oct 11, 2010 @ 12:00 am | delete
- It's amazing to see what women wore and thought of as "fashion". I wonder what they'd think of us today? Great lens!
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Ladymermaid
Sep 16, 2010 @ 7:52 pm | delete
- Very lovely images make this article a pleasure to visit :)
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partybuzz
Feb 22, 2010 @ 5:41 pm | delete
- Interesting lens...I remember the miniskirt of the 60's. Lensrolling with my Vintage Decorating Ideas.
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amandaquerque Feb 24, 2009 @ 6:58 pm | delete
- Thank you for being a valuable member of the Vintage Clothing Group on Squidoo! http://www.squidoo.com/groups/vintageclothing
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susannaduffy
Feb 13, 2009 @ 5:03 pm | delete
- Thank heavens I live in the here and now! I rarely wear anything but shorts
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starsam
Feb 12, 2009 @ 6:24 am | delete
- Your lens would be a great addition to the 'Fashion - Fashion Models' Group
( http://www.squidoo.com/groups/fashion-models )
Feel free to add it anytime!
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OhMe Oct 4, 2008 @ 12:59 pm | delete
- Very interesting especially the video. Thank you for sharing all this wonderful information. 5*fav
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by aLundy
The turn of the century saw changes in the length of the skirt. In the 1900s the centuries old skirt length which was to the ankles changed The events... more »
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