Beauty Evolution

As a fun experiment, study the appearance of the first ten people walking past you on the street. Write up a little profile report of each individual. Then, if you're still in the mood, take those same ten people and put them all completely naked in a room without makeup or chairs. Turn around ten or twenty times until you're dizzy. Write new profiles. Compare.

Fashion designers often push the idea that clothing is about sex, beauty, expression, and power. And then it's awful easy for the young to say that clothing is an expression of individuality—an indication of what a person wants, who they want to be, who they think they are, what message they want to project.

Fashion historians however, reflect a little deeper. If you know how to look, and if you understand what's happening behind the runway curtain, the changing trends of fashion actually reflects the dynamic twists and turns of our culture—from religion to political trends. Almost nothing happens by chance or comes out of the blue. Almost no lasting trend or fresh idea stands alone without historical support or social application from somewhere—you just have to know where to look.

Fashion history also paints the dynamic up and down tension between our concept of a woman's (or man's) beauty and their social role, freedoms, and expectations. Some can be blamed on the self-absorbed projection of what men want, some can be blamed on the self-absorption of what other women want.

Cultural historians generally divide our American fashion epochs into ten year periods. There are, of course, cultural, class, and demographic differences within each period.

1900-1909: “La Belle Epoque”

Characterized by the Parisian haute couture at its peak the era consisted of broad hats, trailing skirts, european snobbery, a mature woman with full low bust and curvy hips, the “health corset,” full in front-puffed “pigeon breast,” and raised waistlines. Cloths were conspicuous, extravagant, elaborate, ornate, and painstakingly made.

The idolized “Gibson Girl” of the period was personified as a tall, shapely beauty, with limited independence, personal fulfillment and American national prestige‹a sometimes teasing companion to men. But then, by the outbreak of World War I, changing fashions favored a sober, masculine suit, first designed and popularized by Coco Chanel.

1910-1919: “Age of America”

The Age of America is characterized by rich and exotic opulence, lithe, fluid and softness. Skirts rose from floor length to well above the ankle. Women began to bob their hair. The Art Nouveau movement began to emerge.

Then changes in dress during World War I (1914-1918) were dictated by necessity. As more and more women were forced to work, they demanded clothes that were better suited to their new activities. Social events had to be postponed in favor of more pressing engagements and the need to mourn the increasing numbers of dead, visits to the wounded, and the general gravity of the time influenced style and color. Darker colors became the norm. A new monochrome look emerged. By 1915 fashionable skirts had risen above the ankle and later to mid-calf.

When the Paris fashion houses reopened after the war, styles for 1919 showed a lowered and even more undefined waist. Women dropped the cumbersome underskirts from their tunic-and-skirt ensembles, simplifying dress and shortening skirts in one step. Called ³war crinoline² by the fashion press, they promoted the style as “patriotic” and “practical.” Worn out with the war, people began to dress less extravagantly.

1920 ­ 1929: “Age of Jazz”

Women got the vote in 1920 and were entering the workforce in record numbers. The confining corset was discarded. The Flapper Age was born in 1925. No bosom, no waistline, hair nearly hidden under a cloche hat. Powder, lipstick, rouge, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, colored nails, pearls, feather boas, embroidery, showy accessories became the norm. The spread of ready-to-wear fashion had arrived.

More women became wage earners. They borrowed clothes from the male wardrobe and dressed like boys. The status of fashion lost its charm. Class distinctions became blurred. Inexpensive fashion was finally available. Paris fashions was too expensive. Clothes had to last. Styles did not change every season. The simple print dress with a waist line and longer hem length replaced the flapper attire of the 1920's.

1930-1939: “Age of Glamour”

The Great Depression. Because Paris fashions were expensive American designers came into their own. Fashion became more compromising in an attempt to preserve feminism's victories while rediscovering a subtle and reassuring elegance and sophistication.

Women's fashions moved away from the brash, daring style of the Twenties toward a more romantic, feminine silhouette. The waist was restored to its proper position, hemlines dropped, there was renewed appreciation of the bust, backless evening gowns and soft, slim-fitting day dresses became popular. The female body was remodeled to a more neo-classical shape and slim, toned, and athletic bodies came into vogue. Attention at the shoulder became apparent, with butterfly sleeves and banjo sleeves and exaggerated shoulder pads. Hollywood movie stars such as Bette Davis and Greta Garbo set the high-end standard. Synthetic fibers, new fabrics, new closures—rayon, zippers, metal hooks. The new appreciation for outdoor activities stimulated couturiers to manufacture what would nowadays be called sportswear. The term “ready-to-wear” was not yet widely used, but the boutiques already described such clothes as being for “sport. ”

1940-1949: “Age of War”

Most of the fashion world closed down for WWII (1939-1945). During this time, the only true way for a woman to flaunt her extravagance and add color to a drab outfit was to wear a hat.

Paris' isolated situation enabled the Americans to exploit the ingenuity and creativity of their own designers. American fashion houses presented coordinates in plain, simply cut outfits and also introduced innovations to men's work clothes. Boots were transformed into a major fashion accessory. The birth of original American sportswear—ready-to-wear was not simply thought of as second best, but as an elegant and comfortable way for modern women to dress.

The birth of the zoot suit even sprang up until it was limited by war restrictions for cloth allocations.

Christian Dior created a tidal wave with his first collection in February 1947. The collection contained dresses with tiny waists, majestic busts, and full skirts swelling out beneath small bodices in a manner very similar to the style of the Belle Époque. The extravagant use of fabric and the feminine elegance of the designs appealed greatly to a post-war clientèle and ensured Dior's meteoric rise to fame.

1950-1959: “Conservative Age”

Reflecting the cold-war tension, clothing in the fifties was conservative. Men wore gray flannel suits and women wore dresses with pinched in waists and high heels. French fashion designers such as Dior, Chanel and Givenchy were popular and copied. When the French fashion houses reopened, the New Look silhouette included longer skirts, either full or fitted. Emphasis on the waist and soft shoulder lines also marked Dior's influence at this time. Also notable is the return of Coco Chanel (who detested the New Look) to the fashion world. Following the closure of her salons in the war years, in 1954, now over seventy, she staged a comeback and presented a collection which contained a whole range of ideas that would be adopted and copied by women all over the world—including her famous little braided suit with gold chains, shiny costume jewelry, silk blouses in colors that matched the suit linings, sleek tweeds, monogrammed buttons, flat black silk bows, boaters, quilted bags on chains, and evening dresses and furs that were marvels of simplicity. Hemlines began to rise and a more futuristic egg-type silhouette began to appear in 1958. The designers of Hollywood created a particular type of glamour for the stars of American film. Outfits worn by the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, or Grace Kelly were widely copied.

1960- 1969: “Age of Aquarius”

From the 1960's onward, there would never be just one single, prevailing trend or fashion but a great plethora of possibilities indivisibly linked to all the various influences in other areas of people's lives.

The post World War II Baby Boom had created 70 million teenagers and these youth swayed the fashion, the fads, and the politics of the decade.

The 1960's began with crew cuts on men and bouffant hairstyles on women. The basic shape and style of the time was simple, neat, clean cut, and young. Men¹s casual shirts were often plaid and buttoned down the front, while knee-length dresses were required wear for women in most public places Synthetic fabrics became popular. In stark contrast to their mature, ultra-feminine mothers, the women of the 1960's adopted a girlish, childlike style, with short skirts and straightened curves, reminiscent of the look of the 1920's. At the start of the decade skirts were knee-length, but steadily became shorter and shorter until the mini-skirt emerged in 1965. By the end of the decade skirts were above the stocking top, making the transition to tights inevitable.

By mid-decade, miniskirts or hot pants, often worn with go-go boots, were revealing legs, bodywear was revealing curves, and women's hair was either very short or long and lanky. Women wore peasant skirts or granny dresses and chunky shoes. Unisex dressing was popular, featuring bell bottomed jeans, love beads, and embellished t-shirts. Clothing was as likely to be purchased at surplus stores as boutiques. The hippie and psychedelic movements late in the decade also had a strong influence on clothing styles including bell-bottom jeans, tie-dye and batik fabrics, as well as paisley prints.

Women's hair styles ranged from beehive hairdos in the early part of the decade, to very short styles popularized by Twiggy just five years later to a very long straight style as popularized by the hippies in the late 1960's. Between these extremes, the chin-length contour cut was also popular.

The pillbox hat was fashionable, due almost entirely to the influence of Jacqueline Kennedy who was a style-setter throughout the decade. Also, the 60's gave birth to the skinny jean (slim-fit pants), worn by Audrey Hepburn which is again popular with young women today.

1970-1979: “Age of Radicals”

The decade began with a continuation of the hippie look of the late 1960's with afghans, Indian scarves, and flower-print tunics. Jeans remained frayed, tie dye was still popular, and the fashion for unisex mushroomed. An immense movement claiming civil rights for blacks combined with the influence of soul music created a nostalgia for Africa and African culture. A radical chic emerged, influenced by the likes of James Brown, Diana Ross, Angela Davis, and the Black Panthers, in everything from afro hairstyles to platform soles.

During the Seventies brands greatly increased their share of the international market. Hems began dropping in 1974 to below the knee, until finally reaching the lower mid-calf in 1977.

In the United States, the general trend in fashion was toward simplification and longer skirts, although many women reacted negatively to the mid-length, which they felt was dated. Pants, on the other hand, earned unanimous approval. Jeans profited most from becoming an accepted part of the American fashion scene in the 1970's, their new-found respectability deriving from their inclusion in collections under the heading of sportswear. The new stars of American ready-to-wear adapted the best of what they learned from Europe to the massive American clothing industry. Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren rose from anonymity more or less simultaneously to tackle the question of designing clothes for the men and women of a new world.

Two opposing movements dominated fashion in the U.S.A. during the Seventies. On one hand there was the tailored, unisex look; on the other hand, a fluid, unstructured style with a strong feeling of Thirties glamour ensued.

1980-1989: “Age of Excess”

Like the fashion of all modern decades, 1980's fashion in popular culture incorporated distinct trends from different eras. The conservative, more masculine fashion look that was most indicative of the 1980's was the wide use of shoulder pads. While in the 1970's the silhouette of fashion tended to be characterized by close fitting clothes on top with wider, looser clothes on the bottom, this trend completely reversed itself in the early 1980's as both men and women began to wear looser shirts and tight, close-fitting pants. Men wore power suits as a result of the greater tendency for people to display their wealth. Brand names became increasingly important in this decade. In the United States, Madonna was crowed the “Material Girl” with many teenage girls looking to her for fashion statements.

The age also gave rise to the concept of “Power Dressing,” as emanated by the TV show Dynasty; “Dancewear,” as illustrated by “Flashdance” and Jane Fonda; The Thriller and “Lost Boys” look, Madonna's “Like a Virgin” style; Rap Music and Designer Sneakers; Hair Metal, and even Preppy Dressing. Also notable is the extreme popularity of the Adidas sports label, which achieved an incredible level of street credit in the '80s, inciting the hip hop group Run DMC to release the single “My Adidas” in 1986. The legendary shoe designer Manolo Blahnik also rose to fame during the 1980's.

The multiplicity of trends that bloomed during the 80¹s were curtailed by the economic recession that set in at the beginning of the 1990's.

1990- 2000: “Post-Modern Age”

In the 1990's, for most people, it was no longer as popular to follow fashion, a sharp contrast to the highly á la mode '70s and '80s. The phobia of being underdressed was finally completely displaced by the fear of overdressing. Fashion in the '90s united around a new standard, minimalism, and styles of stark simplicity became the vogue. Despite the best efforts of a few designers to keep the flag for pretty dresses flying, by the end of the decade the notion of ostentatious finery had virtually disappeared. The styling of the product, its promotion in the media became crucial to its success and image.

Fashion at the end of the 20th century tackled themes that fashion had not previously embraced. These themes included rape, disability, religious violence, death, and body modification. There was a dramatic move away from the sexy styles aimed at the glamorous femme fatale of the Eighties. Many designers, taken with a vision of romantic poverty, adopted the style of the poverty-stricken waif, dressed in a stark, perversely sober palette, with a face devoid of make-up. Clothes by ready-to-wear retailers such as The Gap, Banana Republic, and Eddie Bauer rose to the forefront of fashion and tapped into the needs of women who simply wanted comfortable, wearable clothes. Retro clothing inspired by the 1960's and 1970's was popular for much of the 1990's.

The higher-end designers like Kors, Jacobs, and Klein began producing simple well-cut garments, whose sophistication and elegance appealed to a whole new breed of wealthy American customers drawn to the new vogue for minimalist chic.

Rap music also became a prominent influence on popular and street fashion during the early and mid-Nineties. Followers of hip hop adopted huge baggy jeans, similar to those worn in American prisons, with big patterned shirts and heavy black shoes. The sports label Nike had great popularity and materials such as Lycra and Spandex were increasingly used for sportswear. Increasing eco-awareness and animal rights made even top couture houses such as Chanel introduce fake fur and natural fibers into their collections.

2000-Present: “Digital Age”

In the early 2000's, as the world¹s future began to seem increasingly bleak, fashion, and indeed the Arts in general, looked to the past for inspiration, arguably more so than in previous decades. Vintage clothing, especially from the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties became extremely popular‹the eighties idea of clashing, electric colors became especially popular in mid-late 2007. Fashion designers often sought to emulate bygone styles in their collections.

The early 2000's also saw a continuation of the minimalist look of the Nineties in high fashion. Later on, designers began to adopt a more colorful, feminine, excessive, and “anti-modern” look. Name brands became of particular importance among young people and many celebrities launched their own lines of clothing. Tighter fit clothing and longer hair became mainstream for many men and women. Many women exposed more than ever before, underwear, low slung pants, bare bellies, and minimal tops. Rap music also had a considerable influence on popular fashion in the early part of 2000's.

For many of the own-label designers who emerged in the early years of the twenty-first century, financial factors became increasingly critical. Many new young talents found they now depended on investors (to whom, in extreme cases, they would even surrender their names) and were always burdened by the risk that these business partners, motivated by market realism and the desire for quick returns, would severely restrict their autonomy.

The mid-2000's celebrated the return of a more feminine look, beginning with the comeback of the dress. The figure-hugging look was disbanded in the summer of 2007 when designers began to experiment with flowy, tunic shapes. Bright, block color also became a focus. Menswear has also become increasingly more important, going in a slightly feminine direction, especially apparent after the middle of the decade.

Popular culture categories emerged such as Emo, Indie, NuRave, Scene, Preppy, Cybergoth, Lolita, Harajuku, Urban, and Casual.