Fashion History, Costume History and Contemporary Design Movements
Fashion History, Costume History and Contemporary Design Movements
The exam tests dated, attributed knowledge and, more importantly, the link between social change and dress. Answers that list dates without an argument earn little.
Key markers
- Nineteenth century: the cage crinoline (patented 1856), the bustle of the 1870s, the S-bend corset of the 1900s; Worth established the designer as a named author from 1858.
- 1910s: Poiret removes the corset and introduces the hobble skirt and harem trousers.
- 1920s: Chanel's jersey daywear and the little black dress, Vionnet's bias cut, the dropped waist and raised hem.
- 1947: Dior's New Look (the 'Bar' suit) - rounded shoulders, nipped waist, full calf-length skirt.
- 1950s: Balenciaga's tunic and sack shapes; Chanel returns in 1954 with the bound cardigan suit.
- 1960s: Quant's miniskirt, Courrèges' space age, Cardin's futurism, Saint Laurent's Mondrian dress (1965).
- 1970s: Biba, then punk from 1976 through Westwood and McLaren's Seditionaries.
- 1980s: Armani's unstructured jacket and power dressing; Comme des Garçons shocks Paris in 1981.
- 1990s: minimalism (Jil Sander, Helmut Lang, Prada) and grunge (1993).
- 2000s–2010s: fast fashion, athleisure, streetwear absorbed into luxury, and the sustainability debate intensified by Rana Plaza (2013).
Worked example
Trace the shirtwaist dress: a 1910s working woman's washable cotton bodice-and-skirt; a 1920s dropped waist; a 1950s Dior-influenced nipped-waist, full-skirted day dress. One garment, three arguments about women's mobility and domesticity - that is the analysis examiners reward.
Traps
- Misdated milestones (New Look 1947, Mondrian dress 1965, Comme des Garçons in Paris 1981).
- Attributing the bias cut to Chanel instead of Vionnet.
- Confusing haute couture with ready-to-wear, or fashion with theatrical costume.
- Calling a period 'romantic' or 'glamorous' with no evidence from silhouette, fabric or construction.
- Ignoring non-Western dress when the question asks about global influence.