Read the Complete History of Dressmaking

According to professionals, the first reason for clothes was primarily practical and clothes were utilized to help defend us us from the elements. The idea of fashion was thought up fairly recently as put in comparison to all the other reasons, although it’s just as important as the other reasons.

Fashion, for all the original shallow connotations that we knew of it, actually deals with the combined social, artistic and political styles of the times. Fashion, in effect, is the basic meter of people’s loves and hates, mores, and popular ethical beliefs.

The early 1900’s saw the corset, a 19th century fashion hold-over, slightly abandoned and women’s skirts even so trailed on the ground, in addition the gowns became narrower. Paris became the creator of trend setting and in 1920, fashion entered into modern times as clothing became comfortable because hemlines rose up to the knees, perfect for some of the more modern dances. Knickers and drawers dissolved and panties appeared, plus clothes now utilized zip fasteners, hook-and-eyes, press studs, and buttons for fasteners.

From nineteen thirty to nineteen thirty five, shoulder pads suddenly became popular in clothing, and hemlines, raised a decade earlier, had now been lowered once again. Nylon was used in the making of stockings, though there had been a brief material shortage for sometime because of the second world war.

In 1945 all the way to 1960, the fashion designers ruled and Dior introduced the New Look, Balenciaga presented the high-waisted frocks and Givenchy created combined separates. Balmain took the market for luxurious clothes, while Chanel invented the braided suit adorned with gold chains as well as brilliant costume jewelry.

In 1964, Mary Quant invented the mini-skirt thereby shocking the entire globe and hemlines continued to rise with the micro-minis ever rising in popularity. Flower people took over the scene with bellbottom jeans, tie-dye shirts and women loved Jackie Kennedy’s signature pillbox hats.

In the 1970’s, bell-bottoms still ruled but there had been add-ons, where polyester, rayon and jersey frocks and tops gained their moment of fame. At this time there were three separate length of skirt to select among: maxis (ankle-length) midis (mid calf level) and the original minis, plus not to forget the hot pants, a shorter version of normal shorts.

The 80s featured Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein on the scene where the street urchin look was popularized by Madonna and the leg warmers seen in “Flash Dance” became the craze even for those who didn’t dance. Shoulder pads came back once again courtesy of the TV shows “Dallas” and “Dynasty” about the same time that body art and piercing, acid-washed denims along with Michael Jackson jackets all became desirable.

When the 90s came around, retro clothing took off being the period of supermodels, in a time when whatever Kate or Naomi or Cindy wore, young women all over wished for the same, and not forgetting Princess Diana, who caused a lot of inspiration with her dresses.

When 2000 rolled in, it was the turn of the music scene “look” with heavy metal music, hip hop, low-rise denims, spiky hair – those fashion markers were most liked.

Trend time periods

Fashion movements are just like seasons, leaving and returning in cycles and only leave as no one is watching, but then come back when least expected. They might appear silly now, however you will probably wear them sometime in the future when they become fashionable again.