1900s in fashion - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fashion in the period 1900–1910 in European and European-influenced countries continued the long elegant lines of the 1890s

1890s in fashion

Fashion in the 1890s in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by long elegant lines, tall collars, and the rise of sportswear.-Women's fashions:...

. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl

Gibson Girl

The Gibson Girl was the personification of a feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen-and-ink-illustrated stories created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States.Some people argue that the...

" hairstyles. A new, columnar silhouette introduced by the couturiers
Fashion design
Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....

of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

late in the decade signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset

Corset

A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...

as an indispensable garment of fashionable women.

General overview

With the decline of the bustle, sleeves began to increase in size and the 1830s silhouette of an hourglass shape became popular again. The fashionable silhouette in the early 1900s was that of a confident woman, with full low chest and curvy hips. The "health corset

Corset

A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...

" of this period removed pressure from the abdomen and created an S-curve silhouette.

In 1897, the silhouette slimmed and elongated by a considerable amount. Blouses and dresses were full in front and puffed into a "pigeon breast" shape of the early 20th century that looked over the narrow waist, which sloped from back to front and was often accented with a sash or belt. Necklines were supported by very high boned collars.

Skirts brushed the floor, often with a train

Train (clothing)

A train in clothing is the long back portion of a skirt or dress that writes a trail on the ground behind the wearer in ruler , or a separate trailing overskirt. It is a common part of a court dress or a wedding dress....

, even for day dresses, in mid-decade. Around 1908, the fashion house

Fashion design

Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....

s of Paris began to show a new silhouette, with a thicker waist, flatter bust, and narrower hips. By the end of the decade the most fashionable skirts cleared the floor and approached the ankle. The overall silhouette narrowed and straightened, beginning a trend that would continue into the years leading up to the Great War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

An early 1910 survey of wealthy high school senior students at a private New York City girls' school

Girls' School

Girls' School is a single by Wings released in 1977.Written and produced by McCartney, it is the other side of the double A-side with "Mull of Kintyre" and was the band's sole UK number one, spending nine weeks at the top in December 1977 and January 1978. The song was in complete contrast to the...

found that each spent an average of $556 ($ today) annually for clothing excluding undergarments, and would have spent four times that amount with an unlimited budget.

Sportswear and tailored fashions

Unfussy, tailor

Tailor

A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...

ed clothes were worn for outdoor activities and traveling. The shirtwaist

Waist (clothing)

Waist is a common term for the bodice of a dress or for a blouse or woman's shirt from the early 19th century through the Edwardian period.A shirtwaist was originally a separate blouse constructed like a shirt....

, a costume with a bodice

Bodice

A bodice, historically, is an article of clothing for women, covering the body from the neck to the waist. In modern usage it typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern dress to distinguish it from...

or waist tailored like a man's shirt with a high collar, was adopted for informal daywear and became the uniform of working women. Wool or tweed suit (clothing)

Suit (clothing)

In clothing, a suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in the United Kingdom as country wear...

called tailor-mades

Tailor

or (in French) tailleurs featured ankle-length skirts with matching jackets; ladies of fashion wore them with fox

Fox

Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

fur

Fur

Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...

s and huge hats. Two new styles of hats that became popular at the turn of the century were the automobile bonnet for riding and sailor's hat worn for tennis matches, bicycling and croquet.

Rise of haute couture

See also main article History of fashion design (1900s)

This decade marked the full flowering of Parisian haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...

as the arbiter of styles and silhouettes for women of all classes. Designers sent fashion model

Model (person)

A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

s or mannequins to the Longchamp races

Hippodrome de Longchamp

The Longchamp Racecourse is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes in the Bois de Boulogne at Paris, France. Built on the banks of the Seine River, it is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced tracks and a famous hill that provides a real...

wearing the latest styles, and fashion photographs identified the creators of individual gowns. In 1908, a new silhouette emerged from Callot Soeurs

Callot Soeurs

Callot Soeurs was a fashion design house opened in 1895 at 24, rue Taitbout in Paris, France. It was operated by the four Callot sisters: Marie Callot Gerber, Marthe Callot Bertrand, Regina Callot Tennyson-Chantrell and Joséphine Callot Crimont. The eldest sister, Marie, was trained in dressmaking...

, Vionnet

Madeleine Vionnet

This article is about the haute couture designer. For the fashion label, see Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet was a French fashion designer...

at the house of Doucet

Jacques Doucet (fashion designer)

Jacques Doucet was a French fashion designer, known for his elegant dresses, made with flimsy translucent materials in superimposing pastel colors....

, and most importantly, Paul Poiret

Paul Poiret

Paul Poiret was a French fashion designer. His contributions to twentieth-century fashion have been likened to Picasso's contributions to twentieth-century art.-Early life and career:...

. The styles were variously called Merveilleuse, Diréctoire, and Empire after the fashions of the turn of the nineteenth century, which they resembled in their narrow skirts and raised waistlines.

The new styles featured form-fitting gowns with high or indefined waists, or ankle-length skirts and long tunic-like jackets, and required a different "straight line" corset. The Paris correspondent for Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

described this new look as "straighter and straighter ... less bust, less hips, and more waist...how slim, how graceful, how elegant...!"

Hairstyles and hats

Huge, broadbrimmed hats were worn in mid-decade, trimmed with masses of feathers and occasionally complete stuffed birds (male hummingbird

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...

s for those who could afford them), or decorated with ribbons and artificial flowers. Masses of wavy hair were fashionable, swept up to the top of the head (if necessary, over horsehair pads called "rats") and gathered into a knot. Large hats were worn with evening wear.

By the end of the decade, hats had smaller drooping brims that shaded the face and deep crowns, and the overall top-heavy effect remained.

Style gallery 1900–1906

Mrs. Charles Russell wears a sheer patterned dress with fullness at the front waist over a soft sash. This dress might have been called a tea gown at this time (1900).
Fashion illustration for Summer 1901 shows sloped waistline, "pouter pigeon" front bodices, high necklines and large hats with ribbons.
Photograph of three sisters c. 1902 illustrates the "pouter pigeon" blouse or shirtwaist and trumpet-skirt that was a mainstay of middle-class clothing.
Underwear (camisole
Camisole
A camisole is a sleeveless undergarment for women, normally extending to the waist. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, or cotton.- Historical definition :...

(or, more likely, top half of combinations), corset, and trumpet-shaped petticoat) of 1903–04.
Fashion plate shows the frothy trained
Train (clothing)
A train in clothing is the long back portion of a skirt or dress that writes a trail on the ground behind the wearer in ruler , or a separate trailing overskirt. It is a common part of a court dress or a wedding dress....

afternoon dress descended from the tea gown, worn with an oversized hat and gloves, 1904.
Elizabeth Wharton Drexel wears an off-the-shoulder orange evening gown with long gloves, 1905.
Mrs. John Philip Sousa wears a checked suit with elbow-length sleeves and long gloves, and carries a muff purse, c. 1905.
French dress of 1906 is trimmed with embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....

or passementerie
Passementerie
Passementerie or passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings of applied braid, gold or silver cord, embroidery, colored silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings....

. The wide-brimmed hat is cocked up on one side. Elbow-length sleeves are worn with gloves.
Summer evening fashions of 1906 have short or three-quarter-length sleeves. Some ladies wear hats, and the gentlemen wear dinner jackets.

Style gallery 1907–1909

Golfing costume of 1907 features a tailored jacket and matching ankle-length skirt with patch pockets.
Motoring required voluminous coats or dusters
Duster (clothing)
A duster is a light, loose-fitting long coat.The original dusters were full-length, light-colored canvas or linen coats worn by horsemen to protect their clothing from trail dust. These dusters were typically slit up the back to hip level for ease of wear on horseback and were the recommended...

to keep clothes clean and wearers warm in open automobiles. They were worn with fashionable hats wrapped in veils, gloves, and often goggles, 1907.
1908 portrait captures the fashionable combination of masses of wavy hair beneath a broad-brimmed hat.
Dresses by Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret
Paul Poiret was a French fashion designer. His contributions to twentieth-century fashion have been likened to Picasso's contributions to twentieth-century art.-Early life and career:...

point the way to a new silhouette, with a high waist and narrow, ankle-length skirts, 1908.
Newspaper insert of fashions for 1908 shows dresses of a more conservative cut than the latest Paris modes, but waists are higher and the figure slimmer and more erect than in the first half of the decade.
Bib-front apron with pouter-pigeon cut, 1909.
High-fashion costume of 1909 has a narrower silhouette. The bodice fits closer to the body, although the waist still slopes, and the hat has a deep crown.
Dresses of 1909 show the new fitted, higher-waisted silhouette and are worn with huge hats.

Men's fashion

The long, lean, and athletic silhouette of the 1890s persisted. Hair was generally worn short. Beards were less pointed than before and moustaches were often curled.

Coats, waistcoats, and trousers

The sack coat or lounge coat continued to replace the frock coat

Frock coat

A frock coat is a man's coat characterised by knee-length skirts all around the base, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The double-breasted style is sometimes called a Prince Albert . The frock coat is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back, and some features...

for most informal and semi-formal occasions. Three-piece suits consisting of a sack coat with matching waistcoat

Waistcoat

A waistcoat or vest is a sleeveless upper-body garment worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear, and as the third piece of the three-piece male business suit.-Characteristics and use:...

(U.S. vest) and trousers

Trousers

Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...

were worn, as were matching coat and waistcoat with contrasting trousers, or matching coat and trousers with contrasting waistcoat. Trousers were shorter than before, often had turn-ups or cuffs, and were creased front and back using the new trouser press

Trouser press

A trouser press, sometimes referred to as a Corby Trouser Press, is an electrical appliance used to smooth the wrinkles from a pair of trousers...

.

Waistcoats fastened high on the chest. The usual style was single-breasted.

The blazer

Blazer

A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...

, a navy blue or brightly-colored or striped flannel

Flannel

Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fibre. Flannel may be brushed to create extra softness or remain unbrushed. The brushing process is a mechanical process...

coat cut like a sack coat with patch pockets and brass buttons, was worn for sports, sailing, and other casual activities.

The Norfolk jacket

Norfolk jacket

A Norfolk jacket is a loose, belted, single-breasted jacket with box pleats on the back and front, with a belt or half-belt. The style was long popular for boys' jackets and suits, and is still used in some uniforms. It was originally designed as a shooting coat that did not bind when the elbow...

remained fashionable for shooting and rugged outdoor pursuits. It was made of sturdy tweed or similar fabric and featured paired box pleats over the chest and back, with a fabric belt. Worn with matching breeches

Breeches

Breeches are an item of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles...

or (U.S. knickerbockers

Knickerbockers (clothing)

Knickerbockers are men's or boys' breeches or baggy-kneed trousers particularly popular in the early twentieth century USA. Golfers' plus twos and plus fours were breeches of this type...

), it became the Norfolk suit, suitable for bicycling or golf with knee-length stockings and low shoes, or for hunting with sturdy boots or shoes with leather gaiters

Gaiters

Gaiters are garments worn over the shoe and lower pant leg, and used primarily as personal protective equipment; similar garments used primarily for display are spats....

.

The cutaway morning coat

Tailcoat

A tailcoat is a coat with the front of the skirt cut away, so as to leave only the rear section of the skirt, known as the tails. The historical reason coats were cut this way was to make it easier for the wearer to ride a horse, but over the years tailcoats of varying types have evolved into forms...

was still worn for formal day occasions in Europe and major cities elsewhere, with striped trousers.

The most formal evening dress

Evening dress

Evening dress may refer to:* White tie, the most formal civilian dress code in Western fashion* Black tie, a semi-formal dress code for evening events and social functions in Western fashion...

remained a dark tail coat and trousers with a dark or light waistcoat. Evening wear was worn with a white bow tie and a shirt with a winged collar. The less formal dinner jacket

Black tie

Black tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions. For a man, the main component is a usually black jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo...

or tuxedo

Black tie

Black tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions. For a man, the main component is a usually black jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo...

, which featured a shawl collar with silk or satin facings, now generally had a single button. Dinner jackets were appropriate formal wear when "dressing for dinner" at home or at a men's club. The dinner jacket was worn with a white shirt and a dark tie.

Knee-length topcoat

Topcoat

Topcoat may refer to:*A lightweight overcoat*The guard hairs of an animal's fur*A transparent or translucent coat of paint applied over the underlying material as a sealer...

s and calf-length overcoat

Overcoat

An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment. Overcoats usually extend below the knee, but are sometimes mistakenly referred to as topcoats, which are short coats that end at or above the knees. Topcoats and overcoats together are known as outercoats...

s were worn in winter.

Shirts and neckties

Formal dress shirt collars

Collar (clothing)

In clothing, a collar is the part of a shirt, dress, coat or blouse that fastens around or frames the neck. Among clothing construction professionals, a collar is differentiated from other necklines such as revers and lapels, by being made from a separate piece of fabric, rather than a folded or...

were turned over or pressed into "wings". Collars were overall very tall and stiffened. Dress shirts had stiff fronts, sometimes decorated with shirt stud

Shirt stud

A shirt stud is a decorative fastener that fits onto a buttonhole on the front of a pleated shirt, or onto the starched bib of a stiff-front shirt. Such shirts have special buttonholes solely for shirt studs....

s and buttoned up the back. Striped shirts were popular for informal occasions.

The usual necktie

Necktie

A necktie is a long piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck or shoulders, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat. Variants include the ascot tie, bow tie, bolo tie, and the clip-on tie. The modern necktie, ascot, and bow tie are descended from the cravat. Neck...

was a narrow four-in-hand. Ascot tie

Ascot tie

An ascot tie, or ascot, is a narrow neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of pale grey patterned silk. This wide, formal tie is usually patterned, folded over, and fastened with a stickpin or tie tack. It is usually reserved for wear with morning dress for formal daytime weddings and...

s were worn with formal day dress and white bow tie

Bow tie

The bow tie is a type of men's necktie. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar in a symmetrical manner such that the two opposite ends form loops. Ready-tied bow ties are available, in which the distinctive bow is sewn into shape and the band around the neck incorporates a clip....

s with evening dress.

Accessories

Top hat

A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...

s remained a requirement for upper class formal wear; soft felt Homburgs

Homburg (hat)

A homburg is a felt hat, a Tyrolean hat-style fedora, characterized by a single dent running down the center of the crown and a stiff brim shaped in a "kettle curl". The Homburg is a stiff, formal felt hat....

or stiff bowler hat

Bowler hat

The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...

s were worn with lounge or sack suits, and flat straw boater

Boater

Boater may refer to:*Boater, a type of hat*Boater, one of the first disposable diapers*Someone involved in boating...

s were worn for casual occasions.

Shoes for men were mostly over the ankle boots. Toe cap, lace up boots in black, gray, or brown were the most common for everyday wear. Formal occasions called for formal boots with white uppers (spat style) and buttons on the side. In the Edwardian times basic lace up oxford shoes were introduced.

Style gallery 1901−05

Antoni Wodzicki wears a fur-collared overcoat and a Homburg, 1900.
Fashion illustration of a topcoat (left, worn with a top hat and morning dress) and overcoat (right, worn with business dress and Homburg), December 1900.
Fashion plate from the Sartorial Arts Journal shows a three-button suite with patch pockets
Pocket
A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets may also be attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items...

(left) and a golfing costume consisting of a Norfolk jacket
Norfolk jacket
A Norfolk jacket is a loose, belted, single-breasted jacket with box pleats on the back and front, with a belt or half-belt. The style was long popular for boys' jackets and suits, and is still used in some uniforms. It was originally designed as a shooting coat that did not bind when the elbow...

and knickerbockers (right), 1901.
Staffmembers of the Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...

wear coats with high front openings and contrasting trousers, many striped, c. 1902.
Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

by John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...

in a formal frock coat, 1903.
Caricature of a fitting at Charvet in 1903.
Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt in a vividly patterned tie, light waistcoat, and dark coat, 1904. The very short hairstyle is typical of the period.
Formal frock coat, 1904.
Two Irishmen in San Francisco wearing bowler hat
Bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...

s, 1905.

Style gallery 1906-10

Men's formal daywear consists of a cutaway morning coat, high-buttoned waistcoat, and creased fly-front trousers worn with a high-collared shirt, top hat, and gloves, 1906.
Photo William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...

wears a cost with a very high closure, a stiff collar, and a tie with a stickpin, 1906.
John Singer Sargent wears a gray formal coat and a winged-collar shirt, 1907.
Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister of Canada and his wife, 1907
Photo of William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

is a three-piece suit, c. 1907.
British formal dress: David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

(left) and Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

wear frock coats and top hats, 1907.
Irish immigrants in Kansas City, Missouri, 1909. The man second from the left is wearing a flat cap
Flat cap
A flat cap is a rounded men or women's cap with a small stiff brim in front. Cloths used to make the cap include original wool, tweed , and cotton. Less common materials may include leather. Cord flat caps are also worn in various colours. The inside of the cap is usually lined with silk for...

.

Children's fashion

Girls' fashion for this time period imitated older women of the same period. Girls wore dresses of knee length, with trimmings at the hem such as lace and embroidery similar to women's lingerie dresses. Normally, black shoes and woolen stockings went with the dress. Their hair was generally worn long and curly with decorations of ribbon. For play, bloomers and woolen jerseys were acceptable.

A new attempt was made to design garments that are more suitable for playing by designing girls' dresses with short sleeves.

Young boys found comfort in Russian style blouses.

Fashionable clothing for boys included sailor suit

Sailor suit

A sailor suit is a uniform traditionally worn by enlisted seamen in the navy, and other government funded sea services. It later developed in to a popular clothing style for children....

s, consisting of a shirt

Shirt

A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...

with a sailor collar and trousers or knickerbockers. For automobiling, boys wore a duster with knickerbockers, a flat cap, and goggles.