If you read
historical novels, you’ve probably noticed how women’s clothing evolved through
the ages. Fashion swung back and forth, usually emphasizing one part of the
female anatomy or the other. How did women’s fashions evolve? Not for comfort certainly,
not even for modesty.
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| Wikimedia Commons |
The world of fashion breathed a sigh of relief after the freedom driven American and French Revolutions. Gone were the elaborate skirts and panniers of the 1700s. The sensible empire gowns of the Regency period gave women some relief. However, even then, the décolleté of the evening gowns plunged, and some daring ladies dampened their skirts for much the same reason people with loose morals have wet t-shirt contests today.
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| Wikimedia Commons |
There was a flaw
with the empire style. It didn’t show the woman’s hour-glass figure to
advantage, so waists got smaller, skirts got bigger with hoops, so they’d stand
out even more. Remember Scarlett’s seventeen inch waist? Glad I didn’t live
back then. No matter how tight I laced my corset, I wouldn’t have managed that.
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| Wikimedia Commons |
By
the 1870s fashion designers had had enough of the hourglass and decided to
emphasize another part of the body, the posterior, and the bustle came on the
scene. At first it looked good but, as with most fashion, when anything becomes
popular, it becomes exaggerated. Before the bustle was done, one could set a
tea service on it, and it
wouldn’t topple.
Vanity has driven
women’s fashion through the ages.
Today’s woman dresses for comfort—for the most part. What do you think?
