There are several features that typically makeup the common definition of fashion.
Social Status, Production and Consumption, Systemic Change and Trends.
Social status, I would argue being the biggest use for fashion in from the 1700s, in this time period higher class, middle class and lower-class civilians living in England all dressed different. Typically, you would see higher class women in Loose gowns worn under a chemise and a petticoat (corset), the style of their clothing showing off their wealth as well as their fabric colors and textures showing of their status. The outfit worn were very regal and were worn to show off to ‘peasants. The middle class would wear similar but with less bold colors and cheaper fabrics, the lower class wearing long dresses and stocking made of wool, the same pieces of clothing probably worn every day. I don’t like how fashion is used to set this social status and as a representation of money, if we look at how social status is reflected in modern day society, the use of silk, cashmere, rare wools etc. are all incredibly pricey due to their complex manufacturing and limited availability - this makes the fabrics and style exclusive which richer/elite societies go wild for. Also, luxury, the increase in luxury products being bragged about, being copied into cheaper versions and popping up in mainstream fashion outlets is crazy.
Streets like Bond st and New Bond st in London, a famous luxury shopping street that house names such as Cartier, Tiffany, YSL, Prada, Gucci etc. has become a landmark for London and a street that every time I go down to get to work, I come across multiple photoshoots just to document that they can afford a 12,000 bag. The whole concept of Luxury fashion in many eyes is overrated, I agree to some extent. 95% of luxury brand and classed as ‘luxury’ because of their quality, the tailoring of the garments, the intricate detailing, the hand embroidering, the eco-friendly fabrics.
Many consumers would see a Chanel bag and spend 10,000 on it just because it’s Chanel, yes it’s Chanel and yes you buy it for the name but many don’t look at the construction of the bag, the legacy of quality that comes with the Chanel name, I definitely don’t think all luxury brands and items are worth the price they sell for but if you educate yourself in quality and what to look for when purchasing a luxury item
you can then justify the price and prove it’s
not just being bought as a ‘I have a Chanel
bag look at me situation’.
The evolution of fashion isn’t just about social status, fabrics and styles there was also many great inventions created that have shaped the fashion industry to date. The industrial revolution sees many new inventions from 1733 - John Kay invents the flying shuttle which makes weaving my hand loom more efficient. 1779 - Samuel Crompton invents an improved spinning machine that could spin different types of yarn, 1825 - The first railway was built, then in 1884 - Charles Parsons develops a steam turbine to generate electricity, some of these especially the last two many not seem relatable to the fashion topic but everything helps everything in inventions, electricity helps powers machines, which help production, which help make clothes and the railway helps transport fabrics across England to different mills and production houses to then produce and create garments.
The spinning wheel - one of the greatest inventions to fashion and textile history, if you
don’t know what one looks like just think of when aurora pricks her finger of a round sharp thing in Sleeping Beauty and the dramatically falls asleep, the sharp wheel thing is an original version of the spinning wheel. This model obviously updated through the years helped textile workers go from producing textile products on a limited scale with individual workers, usually on their own premises, go to fast, efficient manufacturing that allowed for more material to be spun in just less time and with less effort and labor. Inventions like these allowed textiles to be identified as the catalyst of technological changes and from 1815-1870 Britain reaped the benefits of being the world's first modern industrialized nation.
Other developments through this age where the developments of haute couture, the life of individual seamstresses, the dress reform movement, and the 20th century Madeleine Vionette, overall, the evolution of fashion is wide and lengthy but there are important points and discoveries in every year that have led to fashion as we know it now.
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