Top to Toe: Changing Fashions

There are certain shapes and silhouettes of garments that are often associated with distinct periods in the history of dress. An immediate association can be made between the 1920s and a dropped waist dress or the 1960-70s with boys in flared trousers and wide collared shirts.

However, this is not to say that these styles and shapes only appeared at this time or that styles have always been worn at a time where they were deemed “fashionable”. Many styles of clothing long abandoned by adults were resurrected for children to evoke a sense of quaint nostalgia such as the 17th century inspired Van Dyke lace collar and bloomers of the Fauntleroy suit, and sentimental clothing of the 1800s represented in Kate Greenaway’s illustrations of the 1890s.

In the modern world designers reference a wide variety of different historical shapes and influences, sometimes within the same garment. The shape clothes take is often influenced by function, but socio-historical contexts, periods of dress reform, fashions and the influence of other cultures have all also had a significant impact. Read on for Fashion Drivers...