English for designers. Английский язык для дизайнеров. Ю. Н. Зиятдинова

Чтение книги онлайн.

      The 1800s were a time of modernity. The needle trade grew exponentially due to technological advances. Mass production was possible because of inventions like Elias Howe’s sewing machine in 1846. Machines that specialized in sewing buttons making button holes, and knitting made large production runs a reality. Isaac Singer patented the first home-scaled sewing machine and distributed it widely. At the same time, standard paper pattern became available through mail order. Of great significance, the first modern department store, the Magasin au Bon Marché, opened in Paris as early as 1852; across the Atlantic, Wanamaker’s opened in Philadelphia in 1861.

      By the 1820s women’s fashion had moved away from the classically influenced empire style and returned to the corseting and full skirts of the previous era. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, however, it was the bustle that defined fashion. The conservative Victorian era is known for a prudish societal focus on moral values, especially female purity. Ironically, the fashionable silhouette of the day, although covering most of woman’s body, amplified the hourglass proportions of the bust, waist, and buttocks, eroticizing and idealizing an extreme version of the feminine form. Some liken the allure of this extreme silhouette to the interest in a woman known as Saartjie “Sarah” Baartman, who was exploited as a sideshow attraction called the Hottentot Venus. Baartman was considered an exotic curiosity because of the exaggerated scale of her posterior in relationship to the rest of the frame, a genetic characteristic of the Khoisan people of South Africa, in particular the women. Thus, a fascination with novelty and the uneasy suppression of sexuality could be seen to come together in the Victorian bustle.

      The early bustle of 1870s can be described in terms of the lightness of material and lack of decoration. It was often created through the manipulation of the fabric that was draped in the rear, using pleats, flounces, and bows. The front of the silhouette had the appearance of an apron. For a short time, from 1878 to 1883, the bustle disappeared in lieu of a more natural, flat-backed dress. The cuirass bodice, a long waisted bodice that extended below the hips, and the polonaise, a princess sheath dress, achieved this slim shape. The period from 1883 to 1893 constituted the revival of the bustle. This new bustle had the look of an upholstered shelf, due to its large, almost horizontal protrusion. It was further accentuated with heavier fabrics and more ornate decoration. By the end of the 1800s, though, the bustle had been reduced to a small pad that carried into the Edwardian era.

      Parallel to mainstream fashion, a movement emerged in the 1860s and 1870s known as artistic and, later, aesthetic dress. In protest against crinolines and restrictive corsets, as well as the idea of mass-produced clothing, a group of artists, writers, and actors, most famously associated with Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris, promoted this looser, distinctly bohemian style that embraced many medieval and Renaissance sensibilities.

      With the decline of the bustle, sleeves gained more prominence, culminating in the mid-1890s with gigantic leg-o’muttons offset by a tiny waist. The American artist Charles Dana Gibson captured the ideal in his satirical illustrations of the modern woman. Although she became an icon of the era, the “Gibson Girl” was meant to caricature the sense of competition, independence, and athleticism that defined this new woman – not necessarily traits that were encouraged for genteel ladies. The embellished blouse became a signature of the Gibson Girl, featuring details like lace inserts and trim, embroidery, appliqués1, faggoting2, tucks, and pleats. She also sported shirt collars with ties, bows or cravats. She wore these tops over skirts shaped like a bell or an inverted tulip. Tailored travelling suits were a fashionable and practical variation of the new look.

      → What do you know about Saartjie Baartman?

      → What do you know about Victorian era?

      → Can you describe fashion of the 19^th century?

      → Who became an icon of the era in the end of the 19^th century?

      1. В 1860-е годы в моду вошли кринолины из овальных обручей, которые создавали определенный силуэт юбки.

      2. Он изменил пропорции платья с кринолином, предложив завышенную линии талии и отказался от пышных складок на талии.

      3. СКАЧАТЬ