Fashion History

Final Project

The Romantic Period

While music and art from the Classical period was based on reason, order and rules, music and other art from the Romantic period was based on emotion, adventure and imagination. The Romantic period was a time of political revolution and new ways of looking at the world. Instead of working for wealthy bosses, composers were for the first time able to work for themselves. They composed music to express what they were thinking and feeling- unlike during earlier days, when they were only allowed to compose exactly what their employer wanted. During the Romantic period, there was a new appreciation of the artist as an individual- someone who had feelings, which were expressed through their creations.

Romanticism was a form of rebellion against restrictions on artistic expression. The artists or the writers should express their innermost feelings in any form they chose. Romanticism had a new set of values: the innermost emotions should be fully expressed. Art should please the senses. Imagination was more important than reason.

After the Napoleonic wars became a memory, French fashion was dominated by a new wave of Anglomania. The British writings of Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron helped popularize a thirst for a more romantic image. There was a snobbish attraction on the continent for all things English, cultivated and refined. Beau Brummell had codified many of the attitudes toward the ‘Art Of Dress’ in his relationship with the Prince Regent. The rules and refinements of manners set at that time were built on and developed by the middle classes of Europe who sought to gentrify themselves.

Women’s social roles and clothing styles

With industrialization and the growing movement of business out of the home and into an external workplace, women’s roles increasingly confined to the home. Affluent women were severely limited in their activities. The home was the center of entertainment, and well-to-do women served as hostesses for their husbands. For this role they required a substantial wardrobe of fashionable clothes. They supervised the servants who did all of the household tasks.

Manufacture and acquisition of clothing and textiles

The advantages in the technology for producing woven textiles were now well established. Machines for producing lace had been gradually growing more sophisticated. Another advance in the 1840s was the development of a power driven knitting frame that could make seamless hosiery.

Sources of evidence about costume

A major source of fashion information was women’s magazines, which carried a number of features about current styles. These periodicals included hand-colored prints showing the latest styles, together with a printed description.

The neo-Gothic influence in fashion history dress fashions was at its peak during the Romantic Era between 1825 and 1835. The romantic spirit in fashionable dress lasted until the late 1840s.

COSTUME FOR WOMEN: 1820 - 1835

The Romantic Skirt Silhouette

Until 1820 dress waists had been round, but in 1828 the bodice waistline took on a V-pointed form. Even so it was the late 1830s before every lady sported the fashion for long pointed bodices. Evidence in museums suggests that real women were still wearing and making dresses with slightly raised waistlines well into the 1830s despite the low waist illustrations of fashion plates.

Beret sleeves were cut from a circle. There was an opening in the centre for the arm and this was gathered and bound into a band. The outer circle was gathered and set into the armhole. Sometimes a sheer over sleeve of silk embroidered shimmering gauze covered the beret puff. Generally the beret sleeve was worn for evening.

The arms and décolletage along with the highly desirable and visible sloped shoulders left some women feeling quite undressed and exposed. So gauze sleeves became very fashionable by the mid 1820s and were worn until the sleeves subsided to new styles.

The Wider Skirt Hemline 1820-1835

Skirts were a source of endless variation. Skirts were gored into panels between 1820 an 1828, so that width could be added to hemlines whilst keeping the waist clear of bulk. They were first stiffened with horsehair about 1815 and gradually padding adding was added. The padding backed the lower six inches of the skirt. Decoration of stuffed rouleau tubes, Italian quilting and flounces and frills were added to push out the skirt hem width in an architectural way. It also shortened the dress to reveal the ankle at the same time. Women's fashions took on a pert cheeky air. When all forms of decoration had been exhausted just the padded hems remained by about 1828.

Gores disappeared at the same time and from then on skirts were made from straight panels of dress material pleated and gathered to waistbands. The silhouette changed and lost its overall puffiness by 1835. The skirts began to get rounder and more bells like, setting the scene for the Victorian Era.

The Gigot or Gigot De Mouton Sleeve 1825-1833

The sleeves of the Romantic Era are the main feature and were built on an inverted triangle bodice. The bodice décolletage was so exposed by the pull of the wide sleeves that it really showed off the chest, throat and the sloping shoulders.

The full-length gigot or leg of lamb sleeve or the gigot de mouton known as the leg of mutton sleeve was first seen in 1824 . The long sleeve pattern was cut on the true cross of the fabric. It was rounded at the top, increasing to greater size. After 1825 the decade saw sleeves billow to huge proportions by 1833. They came to typify the look we now associate with the costume of the Romantic Era.

By the mid 1830s the enlarged top cap was sagging with its own enormity. There was so much material that the fullness initially held up with inner stiff buckram support or 'crin' horsehair fabric began to flop. The buckram was replaced with either whalebone hoops in a cotton cover or feather filled pads. When by 1835 the supports stopped being effective the sagged fabric volume collapsed down the arm and merged into a new sleeve fashion.

ACCESORY GARMENTS FOR DRESSES

Pelerine collars came in several variations. Their similarity was that each covered the very wide shoulders and could aid modesty. The first style was a fine white collar embroidered or lace trimmed and which looked like a cape. The pelerine grew wider as it spread over the increasing shoulder line of gigot sleeves. It accentuated the shoulder width and made the waist of the 1830s look very small and was a popular feature of dress in the Romantic period.

The width of the lace pelerine reached about 31 inches when at its widest fashion and the pelerines were sometimes attached to a chemisette which was a sleeveless side opened blouse fastened at the waist. Another name for this item was a tulle canezou.

In the second version if the lace pelerine had long front ends, it was called a fichu-pelerine. These ends could be crossed at the front waist and tied at the back waist. Another later mid 19th century variation was a fashionable long fronted little shoulder short backed cape mostly made of velvet or wool, trimmed with fur and worn as an outdoor garment. By 1831 the pelisse robe fashionable since 1818 was worn almost as a housedress. After 1848 this day coatdress was called a redingote as fashion writers had called it for many years.

As a dress the pelisse mantle supplanted the pelisse robe in the 1830s. Sleeves on the pelisse robe were too big to wear under coats so shawls and cloaks were more practical. The pelisse mantle was the ideal answer during the Romantic Era. It was an interlined warm deep cloak and was the most used outer garment in chilly weather remaining fashionable until 1845.

HATS AND HEADDRESS

Large romantic wide hats, ornately trimmed with feathers, loops of ribbons and bows complemented the wide shoulder lines of the 1830s. For evening many married ladies liked to wear gauzy silk, satin and velvet exotic turbans or berets especially on one side of the head. The turbans they twisted up from scarves, but as a fashion they were dead by the 1840s.

Bonnets were virtually interchangeable with hats, so little difference was seen between the types. Loose uncut ribbon ties were a feature of the bonnets and by 1828 both bonnets and hats were quite vast affairs. Coalscuttle bonnet styles with deep crowns accommodated the high Apollo knot coiffure and were a great feature of the Romantic Era.

HAIR

Women's hair between 1825 an 1845 was elaborate and ingenious. The most modish hair fashion was the 'Apollo Knot', a striking style tending to lean to one side. Another lesser style was the 'Madonna' coiffure with the centre parted and built up with ringlets at crown and sides. Some even thought this style too elaborate, even when it was mostly worn for evening. Apollo Knot Hairstyle so typical of the Romantic period. There are many fashion plates and paintings that show both these styles because they were so typical of the age.

COSTUME FOR WOMEN: 1836 – 1850

DRESSES

As the 1830s progressed, sleeves became very full at the top, (balanced in part by the widening skirt hem), but in 1836 they began to collapse. By 1837, when Victoria acceded to the throne, fashionable sleeves had collapsed and were caught down in pleats or gathers to the top arm. Wide collars continued to be worn with these modified gigot sleeves which lingered on into the early 1840's; and less fashionable women (such as Emily Brontë) even continued to wear the full gigot into the '40's. But the fashionable sleeve by 1840 had become plain and tight and the armhole was still low and tight.

Bodices generally ended at the waist, which was likely to come to a point at the front and to close with hooks, buttons, or laces down the front or back. Although dresses were predominantly one piece, there were also some two- pieces jackets and skirts styles. One popular style was the gilet corsage, made in imitation of man’s waistcoat.

Most sleeves were set low, off the shoulder after 1838. The Cunningtons (1970) identify several sleeve construction and their fashion names. The bishop sleeve, which at this period was made with a row of vertical pleats at the shoulder that release into a soft, full sleeve gathered to a fitted cuff at the wrist, was popular until about the 1840. The sleeve en bouffant or en sabot alternate places of tightness with puffed out expansions. A variation of this construction, the Victoria, had puff at the elbow.

The shape of skirts widened and lengthened to the ground during the 1830s and continued to widen during the '40's, even when sleeves had become tight. It became increasingly necessary to wear a number of petticoats, at least one of which had to be stiffened with cording or with horsehair (crinoline), to hold out the domed skirt. The fashionable dress bodice of the early 40s was usually plain and tight, like the sleeve, though sometimes gathered at the waist in front. It had also dropped down to the natural waist and extended into a point in the front, the gathers, if there were any, meeting there and emphasizing the point. The plain, full skirt was often cartridge-pleated or gauged to the waistline rather than pleated. This was necessary because of the widening skirt and because thicker, heavier fabrics were increasingly favored.

During the '40's, the waist dropped on some bodices to slightly below the natural waistline. The point of the bodice lengthened and was often emphasized by gathers. The sleeve did not remain plain and tight for long and by the late '40's the wrist began to open and expand into the pagoda sleeve that would endure until the early 1870s in one form or another. Open ended sleeves required under sleeves or engage antes for modesty.

The skirt continued to expand during the 1840's and the skirt of 1845 is noticeably wider than that of 1835. Like the sleeve, it did not remain plain for the whole decade but began to be decorated with a shorter overskirt or by flounces. These helped to add width.

The jacket bodice developed during the 1840s as an alternative style for daywear. It gave a slightly more masculine and authoritative air and was often tempered by a very feminine blouse underneath, filling in the neckline and the sleeve ends. (In years to come, the blouse would emerge as a bodice in its own right). By 1850, the jacket bodice had become popular. Worn over a flounced skirt, it added another layer to the flounces. The alternative dress bodice style was long, pointed and usually with gathers in front, drawn from the shoulders down to the point, in a fan-shape. Sometimes this fan-front was made separately and applied to an otherwise plain bodice. Not all bodices of the late 1840s were joined to their skirts. Certainly jacket bodices could not be; and thus two-piece dresses came into fashion, though usually matching if they were not a jacket costume. The separate bodice and skirt allowed matching day and evening bodices to be made for the same skirt, thus saving on the most costly item of the dress - the voluminous skirt.

Evening bodices throughout the '40's, whether joined to the skirt or not, were made with short tight sleeves and a very low décolletage that defied the fashion for demureness during the day. During the early '30's, not all evening dress décolletage had been quite so revealing and 1830's short evening sleeves had been full puffs a continuation of the preceding Regency style. Long sleeves could also be worn on some dinner dresses but not for full ball dress.

The very plain style of dress of the early 40s did not remain for long. As the sleeve became fuller again, albeit at the opposite end, the bodice more decorated and the skirt flounced, fashion by 1850, clearly favored decoration once more. Dress and its decoration are a method of self-expression and decoration would continue to feature strongly in Victorian fashion. But the woman of 1850, with her voluminous skirts hampering her gait, her corseted figure, her bodice with restrictive armholes and her close bonnet that obstructed her view, was very much a passive and well-behaved creature by necessity.

HAT

Hair was dressed lower on the head and smoothly on the sides, sometimes with long, smooth ringlets, and this smaller coiffure required a much smaller cap and a smaller, more demure bonnet. Adult women continued to wear small white cotton or linen caps indoors. Some had long, hanging lappets. The predominant hats shape was the bonnet, and both utilitarian and decorative types were worn. Including sunbonnets to keep the sun from the faces of women who worked outdoors. These were made of quilted cotton or linen with a bavolet or ruffle at the back pf the neck to keep the sun off the neck.

Fashionable bonnet styles included drawn bonnets, made from concentric circles of metal, whalebone or cane covered in silk; capotes with soft crowns and rigid brims, and small bonnets that framed the face. For evening, hair decorations were preferred over hats.

ACCESORIES

The low evening bodice neckline was usually trimmed with a lace or matching fabric bertha collar. This was a favorite style of collar even for plain, high-necked, day bodices by the '40's and made in matching dress fabric was applied to the outside. Bertha collars could be plain, pleated or gathered. The wide pelerines of the 1830's were no longer worn with these styles, though some dresses of the 1840's still had a separate matching capelet.

The corset once again came into prominence during the early Victorian period. A small waist was important during the 1830s, and during the '40s when the waistline lengthened it was more so. Corsets were therefore indispensable for fashionable women. The corset of the 1830s was very much like that of the early nineteenth century, i.e. quite long, with a long wooden front busk to flatten the stomach and shoulder straps to keep the garment from sliding down. This helped to maintain the bust at a high level. It fastened with lacing up the back only. During the '30s, the front clasp/busk was introduced, allowing the corset to be fastened at the front and further laced up the back, to get a tiny waist if necessary. The shoulder straps also disappeared, as waists grew tighter. Many less fashionable women must have continued to wear the old-fashioned style for a lot longer.

COSTUME COMPONENTS FOR WOMEN: 1820 – 1850

FOOTWEAR Stockings were knitted of cotton and silk or worsted wool. In the 1830s and 1840s, black silk stockings were fashionable in the evening. Most shoes were the slipper type. Very small heels were applied in the late 1840s, Black satin slippers seem to have predominated for evening until about the 40s. In cold weather women wore leather shoes or boots with cloth gaiter.

ACCESSORIES Gloves were worn for both daytime and evenings. Daytime gloves were short and made of cotton, silk. Evening gloves were long until the mid 1830s. Hand- carried accessories included reticules, handbags, purses, fans, muffs and parasols.

JEWELRY Women wore gold chains with lockets, scent bottles, or crosses attached by the 1820s and 1830s. Chatelaines were ornaments chains worn at the waist from which were suspended. Other items in wide use were the brooches, bracelets, armlets, and drop earrings.

By the 1840s, less jewelry was being worn. Watches were suspended around the neck or placed in a pocket made in the skirt waistband.

COSMETIC Rice powder was used to achieve a pale and wan appearance, but obvious rouge or other kinds of face paint were not considered proper.

COSTUME FOR MEN: ROMANTIC ERA

Although men’s clothing had become more subdued in color and ornaments, in this period men's fashion plates continue to show an ideal silhouette with broad shoulders, and a narrow, tightly cinched waist.

COSTUME FOR MEN: 1820 – 1840

Some men used corsets and padding to achieve a fashionable silhouette. Shirts were cut with deep collars, long enough to fold over a cravat or neck cloth wrapped around the neck. Sleeves were cuffed, closing with buttons or studs. With this shirts men wore either stock or cravats. Coat, waistcoat and trousers were the components of a suit. Tail coats and frock coats. Waistcoats were sleeves and had either straight, standing collar or small, rolled collars without a notch between collar and lapel.

Evening waistcoats were white or black, and often made of velvet. The ultra-fashionable English “dandies” of the 1820s wore waistcoats in colors contrasting with dark, evening dress suits. The term of trousers and pantaloons were used interchangeably. Most were close fitting, with an ankle strap pr slit that laced to fit the ankle.

COSTUME FOR MEN: 1840 – 1850

The components of suit, which were the coat, waistcoat, and trousers, underwent some changes. In the 1840’s, the sleeves fir more into the armhole more smoothly. The heavy padding that were used in the coats in the shoulder and chest disappeared in 1837. New coat style included a riding coat or newmarket, which was differed from the tailcoat in the coat, sloped gradually to the back from above the waist. Waistcoats lengthened and developed a point at the front. By the end of the 1840’s, however, lapels grew wider again and were sometimes worn turned over the edge of a coat collars and lapels. By the 1840, breeches were limited to sportswear and ceremonial full dress and trousers were daily wear.

OUTDOORS GARMENTS: 1820 – 1850

After the 1820s, many other garments were quite similar to those of the Empire period and included: - the greatcoats - the box coats - the paletot - chesterfield - mackintosh

By this time, cloaks were used for evening dress. Cut with gores and fitting at the neck and shoulder, capes had both large flat collars and semi- standing collars.

HAIR AND HEADDRESS

The crowns of tall hats were less curvy than in the previous period. Hair was generally parted to one side. Curled hair and sideburns remained fashionable, along with moustache. Men wore their hair in lose curls and loosely waved, short to moderate in length, and cut short at the back. The top hat was the predominant headwear style for day and evening. Different names were applied to top hats, based on subtle different in shape. Hats that were called derby hats in the U.S or bowlers began to worn at the close of the period.

FOOTWEAR

Most stockings were knitted like the women’s made of cotton or silk. Shoes had squares toes and low heels. Bedroom slippers were worn at home.

ACCESSORIES

Gloves were the most important accessories for men, usually made of doeskin or kid leather. Men who took snuff carried pocket-handkerchief.

JEWELRY

Cravat pins, brooches worn on shirts fronts, watches, jeweled shirt buttons and studs, and decorative gold watch chains were the things that most men wore.

Dating Dresses in the Romantic Era

Compared to eras where the dating of dresses can be confusing the Romantic Era has quite definite periods of style variations that make it fairly easy to date garments to within a few years.

Occasionally students confuse the period 1892-1896 fashions because of the similar fashion for leg of mutton sleeves. They are similar, but if you look really closely you will see they are not at all alike. As I have suggested elsewhere on the Fashion-Era.com site always look at the hairstyles and headwear of the wearer of the garment. Hairstyles and hair ornamentation give a very definite feel of an era. The frizzed and curled hairstyles of the Naughty Nineties are quite different from the demure centre hair partings, coiled Apollo topknots and ringlet loops of the Romantic Era.

Reference:

Thomas, P. W. The Romantic Period. Fashion. Retrieved on March 7,

2008, from

http://www.fashionera.com/romantic_era.htm#romantic%20era20%1825-1835

Johnson, J.M. 1991. French Plates of the Romantic Era in Full Color.

New York: Dover.

Back, A.M. 1983. “ Clothes in Fact and Fiction, 1825-1865.” Costume,

No.17, p. 89.

Lacour-Gayet, R. 1969. Everyday Life in The United States Before the

Civil War. New York: Frederick Ungar.

Coleman, E. J. 1979. “ Boston’s Atheneum for Fashions.” Dress, Vol. 5,

p. 25.