Women's Fashion timeline.

Women in Colonial Times wore elaborate dresses, at least by modern day standards, with their corsets and layers of petticoats. Wealthy women wore a wire underneath their skirt to give it an extra poof and most dress had a square neckline that was open but not too low. The bodice was fitted and sleeves came just below the elbows while floor length skirts sometimes gathered in draped material at the hips. Hair was worn in a simple bun or sometimes covered with a muslin cap.

In the 1780's, the wiring that women wore under their dresses a decade before, had practically disappeared and was replaced by small pads or cushions on the sides, as well as a pad in the back. A large horizontal hat worn at a diagonal angle, usually decorated with ribbons and/ or feathers, had also started to become more popular during, and after, this era.

By this time, the wires and pads had seemed to be completely removed from women's dress although cushions would still sometimes make an appearance. Women's dresses were starting to become a little looser fitting and their hair was still worn up in buns but now a turban was sometimes worn to match the dress. The turbans were decorated with feathers and jewels; women had started carrying around parasols with them as well.

During the 1800's dress had become much more comfortable as well as loose fitting. A casual every day dress looked somewhat like a covering in which you would sleep in but the materials were different and they had more designs on them. The dresses mostly consisted of a white type of gown and a patterned covering on top of it.

This time era was used a sort of transitional period from the previous Empire style of dressing, to the new Romantic style. The waist line for this style of clothing continuously dropped and dress skirts were fashioned into an “A” shape. This meant that the thinnest part of the skirt was at the top and the fullest part of the skirt was at the bottom.

The once loose skirt was replaced by a much fuller one and small pleats or gathers were used to take bunches of the fabric, which drew in fullness at the waistband. The old style of untrimmed gowns and garments had returned and dresses were typically ankle length but the hem line was sometimes shorter. The style for sleeves was varied but the most common was for them to be puffed up at the shoulders. Since the new era was bringing attention to waist, corsets and petticoats were needed once again

By this time, sleeves had become more fitting on the arms and rested lower on the shoulder which kept women from lifting their arms above their heads. The skirt had now become a sort of bell shape rather than the old "A" type of style.

Oval hoops had made their way back into the skirts of dresses during this decade and the bottom of the dress, as well as the bodice, had also received more surface decoration. The traditional long, corset requiring dresses had been disregarded in the early 1860's and were replaced with dresses that were more naturally waisted and loose fitting.

The years starting in 1870 all the way to 1876 were known as the bustle period due to the type of dress women liked to wear. When viewed from the front, the dress looked slim, narrow, and very form fitting, but, when it was viewed from the side as a profile, the back, bottom portion of the dress protrudes out tremendously. Ruffles of fabric as well as cushions are used to give this effect.

By this decade, the over exaggerated back of the dress had gone for good and dresses were now slim fitting in the front yet still big in the back but without much of the extra poofs or paddings. Compared to early decades, one might say the dresses of this era were plainer, simpler, and more practical. The use of a shirt waist or blouse and skirt had become much more popular now as well.

This was more or else the Victorian era of time where women wore dresses that were mostly white with colored under slips. The bodices had a slightly wider shoulder line than those of the decades before and the skirts were at the waist that fit smoothly over the hips. Sleeves were slightly puffed and elbow length as most women wore gloves with their dresses. A parasol was also brought along most of the time when women went somewhere.

The shape that bustles and corsets gave women was a type of unnatural 'S' shape so, in the 1910's, the shape of dresses were changed to give women a more straight type of appearance. The skirt was loosened and a straight line was adopted while the ruffles and lace of the previous decade was gone perhaps for good.

The dresses in the 1920's were much lighter ,due to less material and new fabrics, as well as brighter and shorter than any time before. Women were adorned with dresses of all type of colors and patterns but evening dresses and fancy coats were often trimmed with fur. Women accessorized their outfits with waist length cardigans and flat fitting hats that were almost like today's beanies but much more sophisticated.

Due to the Great Depression, the flapper look of the 1920's was replaced with a more sophisticated look. Women often wore the same outfit throughout the day rather than changing for every event and they reused old dresses instead of buying a new one every week or so. Some skirts ended about mid-calf for the everyday look while a tailored suit was more commonly seen for a women in business. Sleeves were sometimes puffed up and seen with slight ruffles as well as the skirts of dresses.

The style for women's clothing in the 1940's was mostly modeled after the utility outfits men wore during war due to the increased amount of work women were being expected to do with the men gone. Tailored suits had become more popular along with dresses of more full colors that had squared shoulders, narrow hips, and skirts that ended just below the knee.

After war, women began to suddenly care much more about their appearance once again. The most ideal shape that a women was supposed to be was on hourglass shape with a thin waist. A lot of girls wore special undergarments under their dresses to create the effect of having a small waist. Women dressed to impress now that the men were back and often claimed they couldn’t leave the house without a hat, gloves, or handbag to compliment their lady-like outfit.

The early 1960's was more reflective of the !950's style, conservative and causal, while the late 1960's was complete opposite. Clothes were often decorated in bright swirling colors as the psychedelic, tie dye, long hair style was popular during this time period. Women also began to show more skin as their dresses were looser fitting and only knee length.

Bright colors were everywhere in the 1970's and both men and women alike wore tight fighting jeans. However, in 1973, bellbottoms made an appearance where the pants were tighter at the top and gradually loosened as they went down the leg until it completely flared out at the bottom. By the late 1970's, the pant suit, leisure suit, and track suit was the most popular and typical style of clothing women wore.

Women's clothing in the 1980's was much different then any other quirky style of any decade before it. Ever since pop stars like Cyndi Lauper introduced an interesting type of fashion in the mid 80-s, it was since then filled with extravagant and over exaggerated styles. Bright colored accessories like sunglasses, bangles and hoop earrings as well as loud makeup, teased hair, and anything neon were all a must with the younger crowd.

Women's clothing was very distinct during this decade, not as much as the 80's of course but still very original at the time. Women typically wore high waisted shorts and pants with baggy shirts that they tucked in. As time went on, major changes in fashion for females went a little something like this; there were black leggings with oversized sweaters, low heel shoes, flannel shirts, denim everything, t shirts, sweatpants, skirts, solid colors, turtle necks, and, eventually, camouflage.

Fashion in the 2000's was not nearly as bold as previous decades but still rather interesting all the same. Girls everywhere had weird things stashed in their closets that they may or may not have worn with everything. In the early 2000's, sweat suits had made a reappearance and young girls wore UGG boots with just about everything. Special name brands like Hollister and Abercrombie were seen more often as well as denim skirts or shorts with the pockets hanging out.

Fashion today is very similar to that of the early 2000's and the 199's. Most females have taken to wearing tight, high waisted shorts and pants for everything. Shirts that were cut low and more commonly decorated with stripes could also be seen more often now. Skinny jeans are the most popular type of jeans for women as well as just tight fitting clothing in general since girls have taken to showing more skin now a days.

Women's Fashion

1776

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1835

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1860

1876

1890

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1920

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1940

1950

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2015