THE COSTUME DEPARTMENT
HISTORY OF DRESS
Party Through the Decades
llustration by Robin Richesson
rrichesson@cdgia.com
Text by Marcy Froehlich
mfroehlich@cdgia.com
Through the cavalcade of years, fashion is fickle, morphing from one silhouette to the next,
switching from vertical to horizontal then back again. What are the influences?
Sartorial edicts or royal custom • such as sumptuary laws or the wigs at Versailles
Scientific discoveries • think aniline dye, steel hoops, or lycra
Tradition versus personal choice • Western funerary black versus a fuchsia wedding gown
Wars • produced the trench coat, balaclava, and trousers for women
Color symbolism • green, white, and violet for suffragettes, red or blue for gangs
Shifting mores and social upheaval • free love and civil rights
Climate and home conveniences • central heating or air conditioning
Influence of music • Ragtime, rock-n-roll, and hip-hop
Celebrities •Madonna's bra to James Dean's cool
Costumes • the Ballets Russe, and of course, television and the movies.
The wheel continues to turn. What's next?
22 The Costume Designer Winter 2018
