HISTORIC INFLUENCE IN 19th CENTURY FASHION

This entry will be about the influence of fashion of past times in the English 19th century fashion. The influence of the suits and dresses came from various cultures and different times, but some were used more often like the live colours of the ancient Scottish dresses, the high waist and the straight skirt reminding us of a neoclassical style and voluminous sleeves of the Reneissance. As the decades advanced, fashion took a fancy from one time to another. For example, the typical Greek-roman dress which we have made a reference to was more popular during the first half of the 19th century, on the other hand, during queen Victoria's reign the dresses were interested in following the body's shape and exaggerating it, so in the 60s the blown up skirts from the back and crushed fronts or in the next decade the “princess dresses,” which had the body and the skirt were one whole piece to define the feminine shape.

1. Woman's silk dress with braided stripes. Lined in linen. English, around 1805.

One of the most important aspects to discuss is the ornamentation that other styles acquired, as we can find multiple examples of little details adapted to the contemporary moment. Some of them were the Scottish squares which were used specially during the times of the reign of queen Victoria as she had a great passion for Scotland, the intertwined motifs reminding us of the Celtic drawings on stone objects, metal or manuscripts found in Great Britain and Ireland, or the big buttons imitating the men's jackets and the smock pattern obtained from the past century.

2. Smock pattern from a “pongee” silk dress. Liberty & Co. London, 1893 – 1895.

One of the most curious ornaments to comment are the drawings representing medieval cavalry legends which were in fashion during the 30s and 40s as a result of the aristocrats fascination with the medieval cavalry.

3. Wools Men's waistcoat with back cotton lining. English, around 1839.

Finally we emphasized the role of posterior fashion in the 18th century, keeping in mind that we can find a great number of references. In men's fashion we can find the back buttons sewed at the height of the waist. As for women's fashion, at the start of the century the sewing at the back was tightened to create a diamond shape to create a more slender shape, further on applied a clothed over-skirt inspired in the Polish skirts and front pieces open in the front were made imitating the style of 1770 which copied the Rubens paintings from the 17th century.

4-. Men's velvet silk waistcoat with silk shoulder. English, around 1850.

Extra information: Johnston, Lucy. La moda del siglo XIX en detalle. Ed. Gustavo Gili. Barcelona: 2006