The concept of fashion “has to do with the change of styles and looks over time.”[1] To study the evolution of fashion from a historical perspective, fashion historians look to artifacts, murals and sculptures and in later eras, works of art such as paintings for evidence of the fashion of a specific culture.
The first image below is the Inner Coffin of Henettawy during the Reign of Psusennes I in Egypt ca. 1040-992 B.C. Henettawy died during a period “when the art of coffin decoration was at its height”.[2] This archeological finding was especially important to historians, because during this time period, no images or murals decorated the underground chambers in which people were buried. [3]
This second image is of a “marble grave stele” found on the island of Paros, from the Greek Classical era, ca. 450-440 B.C. “The gentle gravity of the child is beautifully expressed through her sweet farewell to her pet doves. Her peplos is unbelted and falls open at the side, and the folds of drapery clearly reveal her stance.”[4] For fashion historians, the dress of the child in the peplos and the depiction of draping methodology lend insight to the fashion of this era and culture.
The third image is a bronze statue of an aristocratic boy from a wealthy Roman family during the time of the Roman emperor Augustus, ca. 27 B.C.- A.D. 14.[5] From this statue, fashion historians are able to gain further insight into to the look and style of the times for wealthy Romans and their children.
The fourth image is a bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer from the Greek Hellenistic period, 3rd-2nd century B.C. This statuette is an excellent example of artwork that is valuable to fashion historians, as it displays several layers of dress and identifies the woman as a professional entertainer. “Over an undergarment that falls in deep folds and trails heavily, the figure wears a lightweight mantle, drawn taut over her head and body by the pressure applied to it by her right arm, left hand, and right leg. Its substance is conveyed by the alternation of sharp pleats and flat surfaces as well as by their contrast to both the tubular folds pushing through from below and the freely curling softness of the fringe. The woman's face is covered by the sheerest of veils, discernible at its edge below her hairline and at the cutouts for the eyes. Her extended right foot shows a laced slipper”.[6]
The fifth image is a hanging scroll depicting the bodhisattva Kshitigarbha (Jijang Bosal) from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) during Korea’s Age of Enlightenment. This scroll was created during a time of luxury and refinement [that] was unprecedented in the history of the country.[7] The elegance and richness of colors depicted in the dress of the bodhisattva provide evidence to fashion historians as to the styles and look of dress, including popular fabrics and other materials and the prominent colors and dyes used to create the fashion of this period.
The sixth image is simply entitled Portrait of a Woman, by German artist Bernhard Strigel, ca. 1460-1528. This oil on wood painting not only evidences the look and style of dress for this period, but also shows fashion historians “a fine example of sixteenth-century needlework” as depicted on the woman’s bodice.[8]
The seventh image is of Queen Mary I of England depicting the popular “Spanish Farthingale”, the cone shaped hoop skirt, of the middle 16th century.[9] As one can see from the painting, the cone shaped look was created by a corset that cinched the waist and flattened the breasts.[10] This corseted look would remain popular well into the next century.
The eighth image depicts Mid-Late Victorian Fashion after 1860. As the sewing machine had now been developed, the tedium of hand sewing was relieved and clothes could be made more intricately and faster than ever. Synthetic dyes were now available allowing for more and “intense” colors. Women’s fashion silhouette also changed during this period as is depicted in the image below, as the front of the domed skirt was flattened and the back of the garment became fuller eventually evolving into the bustle style.[11]
The last image is a painting by James Tissot in 1873 entitled Too Early. This painting shows the “soft polonaise bustle” in which the fullness of the bustle “was waning and complex tape arrangements were being used inside the dress back to draw in the silhouette shape and produce a more slender silhouette.”[12] The bustle became trains that “were very heavily ornamented with frills, pleats, ruffles, braids and fringing”.[13]
[2]http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/egyptian_art/inner_coffin_of_henettawy/objectview.aspx?page=16&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=&fp=16&dd1=10&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=10&OID=100005122&vT=1
[4]http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/greek_and_roman_art/marble_grave_stele_of_a_little_girl/objectview.aspx?page=2&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=&fp=1&dd1=13&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=13&OID=130013380&vT=1
[5]http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/greek_and_roman_art/bronze_statue_of_an_aristocratic_boy/objectview.aspx?page=1&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=&fp=1&dd1=13&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=13&OID=130009369&vT=1
[12] http://www.fashion-era.com/bustles.htm
[13] http://www.fashion-era.com/mid-late_victorian_fashion.htm
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