Through my job at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Archives, I recently had the amazing opportunity to venture to Toronto and attend the opening show for LG Fashion Week, Beauty by L'Oreal. The first runway show of the evening celebrated L'Oreal's 100th anniversary and featured designs inspired by the style of each decade the beauty empire has been in business, beginning with 1910.On the large screens at the top of the runway, a pictorial history of L'Oreal was shown by utilizing archival pictures and advertisements. It was interesting to see in quick succession, [and I mean quick! Those models can move!] a history of 20th century Western fashion. In my opinion as a historian who knows nothing about the history of 
fashion, it seems like the 20th century saw the greatest change in regards to what people, espcially women, wore. As women began to enter the work force, especially after WWII, they had less time to make clothes, but had the finances to purchase them from department stores and catalogues that springing up all over the country.
What I do know about the history of fashion is that it's cyclical. I learned in my grade 11 Fashion Class that evidence of this cycle can been seen by looking at silhouettes of women's skirts. They start with large, puffy skirts, then it turns into a bell shape, eventually slims down, and slowly, through the decades, volume increases again. A perfect example of this, as was illustrated in the fas
hion show, was going from the slim "flapper" look of the 1920's, to Dior's New Look, which brought back the fuller skirt in the 1950's.This principle can sometimes be useful in my current job when I'm trying to identify which time period a certain play takes place.
I am still, however, trying to find a historical precendent for the 1980's.
My favourite look of the evening was the one inspired by the 1940's. It was an A-line skirt, premeditating Dior's New Look, with a fitted blazer, perhaps a salut to the female military contribution in World War II.
fashion, it seems like the 20th century saw the greatest change in regards to what people, espcially women, wore. As women began to enter the work force, especially after WWII, they had less time to make clothes, but had the finances to purchase them from department stores and catalogues that springing up all over the country.What I do know about the history of fashion is that it's cyclical. I learned in my grade 11 Fashion Class that evidence of this cycle can been seen by looking at silhouettes of women's skirts. They start with large, puffy skirts, then it turns into a bell shape, eventually slims down, and slowly, through the decades, volume increases again. A perfect example of this, as was illustrated in the fas
hion show, was going from the slim "flapper" look of the 1920's, to Dior's New Look, which brought back the fuller skirt in the 1950's.This principle can sometimes be useful in my current job when I'm trying to identify which time period a certain play takes place.I am still, however, trying to find a historical precendent for the 1980's.
My favourite look of the evening was the one inspired by the 1940's. It was an A-line skirt, premeditating Dior's New Look, with a fitted blazer, perhaps a salut to the female military contribution in World War II.
2 comments:
You took a fashion class in grade 11? Was it more social history, or actually making clothes? Either way, sounds fun!
It was actually making clothes. I broke several sewing machines and messed up every project I did, until the teacher told me to take it home and get my mom to "fix" it. But we learned a little about the history of clothes, just a little.
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