1910-1920 in Fashion

The 1910s saw an extensive transformation to the 1900 silhouette. Taking influence from Art Deco, dresses became narrow, tubular, and relaxed, reminiscent of the Empire Period, and as hemlines climbed up the ankle women’s fashion became less restrictive. Paul Poiret continued to flourish throughout this decade, and introduced the fashion world of the 1910s to Exoticism [1]. Whilst commissioning a variety of Art Deco artists, Poiret began using silks and satins as well as bright colours to transform and develop the fashion industry. Jeanne Paquin, a modern French designer organised the first ‘real’ fashion shows during this period [2], her use of pastel colours and elaborate gossamer-dresses teamed with Poiret gave a breath of fresh air from previous fashions.

The 1910s saw the end of Art Nouveu, as Art Deco’s geometric forms replaced the organic curves. Art Deco took influence from the geometric shapes of Cubism (which now began to dominate the art styles of this decade), as well as the bright colours of Fauvism. Despite Fauvism beginning in the 1900s, it was not popularised until the 1910s by artists such as Henri Matisse and Andre Derain. Alike Cubism, Fauvism ventured from Renaissance art styles; using strong colours and harsh brush work, Fauvism created pieces of simplified forms and saturated colours working predominately with scientific colour theories. Joining Cubism and Fauvism in their boldly colourful styles was Expressionism, used from the 1910s Expressionism used the non-naturalistic style Cubism and Fauvism possessed.

The start of the First World War brought a swift half to couture fashion; Paul Poiret left his fashion house to serve in the military and when he returned in 1919 his business was in ruin. Chanel began to dominate the fashion industry, producing sleek and simple clothes to an excellent quality Poiret could not reach. Throughout the war, women began to adopt a more practical lifestyle; overalls became popularised, and as the western world went into mourning extravagant clothing became scarce. Coco Chanel took notice of the mundane atmosphere, and invented ‘costume jewellery’ – this replaced unaffordable jewels with glass or crystal. Chanel went on to open a couture house in Paris, in 1918, where Coco Chanel’s fame in the fashion world blossomed.

The end of the 1910s brought devastation and heartbreak as the repercussions of the war settled. Women’s role had altered during the war; they were introduced to the workforce, their clothes became more practical and their mind-sets more independent. Art Deco continued to thrive through to the 1920s; new technologies contributed towards the newfound modernism and allowed Art Deco to prevail. Cubism remained present, offering Art Deco influence through geometric shapes. The simple streamline shapes of Art Deco influenced the new ‘flapper’ style dresses; low waistlines, uneven hemlines, and a tubular shape ventured further into contemporary fashion. The success of Women’s Suffrage (for white middleclass women predominately) in 1918 gave women a new liberation, expressed in the decade’s fashion. The modish flapper dresses brought not only a revolution to hem and waist lines, but to the glamourous beads, tassels, and feathers that were incorporated into everyday clothes. The 20s would later be known as ‘the roaring 20s’, screaming freedom, fun, and fashion.

Chanel’s popularity accelerated throughout the decade as Coco Chanel delved deeper into flapper fashion (as costume jewellery was her forte, after all), as well as taking inspiration from men’s attire. Jersey material, loose silhouettes, and sailor suit-styles once foreign to women’s fashion were being favoured. Chanel continued to exhilarate the developing fashions, [enter] the Little Black Dress [3]. Arguably Chanel’s greatest success of the decade, the LDB was first published as a sketch in Vogue, 1926. Elegantly simple and simply elegant, the LBD immediately began to dictate fashion from the Art Deco inspired tubular shape, to the glamorisation of wearing black. Stealing the nations hearts, the staple wardrobe piece was likened to the Ford car of the 20s: easy to produce. Another new trend of the 20s was the appropriateness of the colour ‘black’. Formerly black had been reserved for mourning, but now with the aid of Chanel’s oh-so-adored costume jewellery and graceful touch, the colour black exploded over the entirety of the fashion world.

[1]: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/poir/hd_poir.htm

[2]: http://www.fashionintime.org/history-couturejeanne-paquin-18691956/

[3]: https://www.littleblackdress.co.uk/life-of-chanel/the-little-black-dress.html