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Garment Industry
Contents
History > Composition
of the Garment Industry > Dressmaking >
Dressmaking in the 1870s > Women's
Fashions in the 1890s > Department
Stores and Changing Fashion > Garment
Industry in NYC Today > Garment
Labeling > Sweatshops >
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory > Sewing
Machine
Women's Fashions in the 1890s
Daywear
While the dress was the dominant silhouette
for the nineteenth century, during the 1880's and 1890's the tailored
costume or suit became an increasingly popular choice for daytime
costume. In the 1890's, women's tailored suits took their cue from
menswear, frequently adopting details such as lapels, double breasted
fronts and military details such as frogs, silk cord, and epaulets.
Purposely made to resemble men's clothing and often featuring man-tailored
jackets opening onto vests and simple blouses, the tailor-made suit
was worn during the day and reflected the growing independence of
women and their new roles outside the home. As the decade progressed,
"tailored suits continued to be popular, but blouses began
to be worn more and more on their own." The shirtwaist and
skirt was by far the most important development in women's fashion
in the 1890's, because it was the first practical women's uniform:
less constrictive, easily interchangeable, and versatile. "The
outfit of a plain dark skirt (light in summer), a belt, and a crisp
white blouse was suitable for working women and college students,
for street wear and lunching in a restaurant, and also for golf,
tennis, boating, and other summer sports." Thus the tailored
suit provided women with appropriate dress for any daytime occasion.
Furthermore, tailored jackets, skirts and suits formed the basis
of the first women's ready-to-wear industries, allowing the look
to be worn by rich and lower middle class alike.
Another dominant daytime fashion in the 1890's was the two-piece
lingerie dress. Worn for summer sports and leisure activities (i.e.
picnics), the lingerie dress was made of white lawn, batiste (both
lawn and batiste are thin cottons) or heavy linen and was usually
inset with bands of lace and embroidery. The lingerie dress was
extremely popular, partially because it was both decorative and
practical: the two pieces were interchangeable and could be washed
and ironed easily. The lingerie dress was available both in ready-to-wear
and custom-made versions.
Wrappers or Tea-gowns
In the late 1870's, women began to wear déshabillés
at home to allow themselves some hours of comfort in between their
constricting daywear and constricting eveningwear. The déshabillé,
which did not require a corset, but was elegant enough for receiving
visitors, became the tea gown of the 1880's and 1890's. Tea gowns
are sold in Montgomery Ward's catalog of 1895 (page 36), and are
made of cashmere or wool. Wrappers were also worn at home and resembled
the reigning fashion of shirtwaist and skirt, but were one-piece.
Wrappers were simpler and worn for house chores. They are sold in
both Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck (pages 35 and 272, respectively).
Evening Wear
Evening dresses in the 1890's has the same
hourglass silhouette (huge leg o' mutton sleeves, tiny waist, flaring
skirt) of daywear but were typically lower cut through the bodice
and more elaborately decorated with ribbons, lace, beads, pearls
and silk cord. Most evening gowns were back fastening (as opposed
to front fastening daywear). They often consisted of a separate
bodice and skirt.
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