Essay On European Fashion

1393 Words6 Pages
From the freeing movement of the French revolution to the cost-saving measures of the second World War, European fashion is steeped in history. Every single trend originated from specific events in time, that many of us may know. Namely, the French revolution, Queen Victoria’s rise to power and her reign, WWI and WWII. Though Europe has been an undeniable fashion powerhouse for centuries, what would European fashion be without the events that shaped its history? The answer is simply nothing. Without these major occurrences from 1770 to the 1940s, the clothes that once defined England and France’s now bygone times would have been considerably different. The first piece of this history starts in 1770’s Paris, France where a revolution of immense…show more content…
After the death of dictator Maximilien Robespierre, the Directoire took charge under the facade of freedom. In reality, the five men behind the Directoire had complete and total executive power. As the public tasted their first sip of freedom, they also enjoyed their first steps towards promiscuity. Dresses slimmed down and the waists rose, but most importantly the classic restricting corset* was nowhere in…show more content…
Their influence was at its peak when Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837. Englishmen and women always dressed less extravagantly than their Parisian counterparts but in the queen’s opinion nobles were still spending far too much. Queen Victoria took it upon herself to set a good example but “How should a young girl of only eighteen stem the torrent of extravagance?” 5 She went about this by limiting her and her courts spending. Queen Victoria also set the fashion trends for the entire decade when she married Prince Albert in 1840. According to the Victoria and Albert museum, “1840s fashion is characterized by low and sloping shoulders, a low pointed waist, and bell-shaped skirts” 6 Corsets were worn as well. Her wedding dress displayed all of these and it was white. She single-handedly popularized for the masses the white
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