costume--nineteenth century

“Fashion is an odd jumble of contradictions, of sympathies and antipathies.”
----William Hazlitt (1778 – 1830)

The nineteenth century is when everything changes. Fashions accelerate along with the social, political, intellectual, and technological advances of each decade. Issues related to taste and aesthetics become more apparent. This is the century when men’s clothes change to take on the appearance we know today. The tailored man’s suit became the great social leveler, permitting the common man and the gentleman to share the same form of dress. The man’s suit exhibited staying power and authority, aided by the rapid development of modern nationalism. Men wore dark garments that were universally recognizable and devoid of any distracting ostentation.

The same is not true for women’s wear, however. They were given an almost dizzying array of alterations in gown style, silhouette, padding and ornamentation with each passing decade of the nineteenth century. In fact, by mid-to-late-century, the sexes exchange fashion leadership roles: men with their democratic dress take a back seat to the haute couture dreams of the fair sex. Fashion belonged to women more than ever before in the history of clothing and dress. And yet the numerous details that defined and complicated feminine dress have a surprisingly disturbing social meaning…