1890-1920 Haute Couture
Early 90s was marked by rise of haute couture in Paris. The Parisian designs were donned by the upper class women who set tone for rest of the world. The corsets and full skirts with hats were popular in this era. The fashion which was adopted found its way through magazines to the world about what was going on and what is being worn. But with the end of First World War, the attention was withdrawn from fashion.
1920-1929 Roaring 20s
With the war taking over, masculinity was mostly retained in clothing as women wore comfortable clothes with shapeless fits, loose clothes and flattened busts. The 20s are marked by “Flappers” which did not fully emerge until 1926. Flappers mostly wore short hair with short shift dress. This style was comfortably followed by the people as it was easy to make shift dresses at home.
1930-1940 Great Depression and World War I
In this era, movies became a media of catching up with the fashion trends. Another war was expected seemingly close and fashion was taken over by more of military style with square shoulders. Uniforms became public wear. There was large scale production of clothes and hence started ready-to-wear fashion.
1950s-The Postwar Era
The designers back then, after the war period was over introduced fitted jackets, slim skirts and full calf length dresses. This made sure that women dressed femininely which was well longed by them. Teenagers for the first time became a force in the fashion market because of a huge influence of movies on them. Fabric like acrylic and synthetic found its popularity as they required less maintenance and even affordable.
1960s-Flower Power
The youth ran this era and it was undoubtedly a colorful decade. British adopted the trend of black leather jackets and America’s answer was “hippie movement”. The youth in America wore bell bottom jeans and tie-dyed shirts. Men mostly were inspired by Beatles.
1970s-Saturday Night Fever
Fashion became global phenomena as now travel became easier which meant not only people travelled freely but with them, the fashion too took a tour. There was “disco dance” craze and clothes which shone under the disco lights were much preferred by people. Late seventies was taken over by the rise of ‘punk’.
1980s- Material Girls
This era can be well described as dominated by ‘Materialism’ as the western economy witnessed an economic boom. People became brand conscious and use of credit cards made shopping even easier and encouraged spending. Creation of MTV revolutionized the music industry and with it the fashion too. Musicians through their videos made style statements and hence influenced the fashion too.
1990s –Minimalism
Fashion became more laidback and comfortable. As contrasted to the 80s style defined with color pallets, 90s was more about the color black and neutral colors. Fashion industry bloomed the most in United States. Grunge, an alternative rock subculture spawned a style of skuffy dressing.
2000s-Back to the future
The 2000s made us realize that fashion trends are cyclical. The old trends which cycled back is given a futuristic touch and carried by people. The boot cut and flared jeans, for instance are a futuristic version of bell bottom jeans. The vintage clothing still finds its place in the market. The boho and hippie look also made a comeback thanks to the TV media and the influence.
