Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, fashion was evolving from large and flashy, to simpler more practical clothes. Women wore lots of clothes that were all very large and extravagant and men always wore clothing that was slightly formal, if you were of the upper class. American fashion was largely influenced by French and English fashion but it was altered considerably to fit the changing times in America.
The fashion of wealthier men during this time was more or less unchanging until a much later period. But men’s clothing during the 18th and 19th century was very similar to the formal dress they wear today.
There was a large part of women’s fashion that was surprisingly influenced by men. Men’s clothing was used to help create clothes that were less formal. For some activities it was more practical for women to wear clothes that were more similar to men’s than to what they usually wore.
The styles of women’s clothing were far too impractical to ever carry on into further periods. It was far more popular then for ladies to look like they had bigger hips than it is now. To stay with the “in crowd” people began to make structures to create shape and volume in dresses and skirts.
For the different leisurely activities that the 18th and 19th centuries provided people needed different clothing. There were specific items needed for swimming and riding; for most of these activities women needed to keep their legs covered all the time. New articles of clothing were created so there would be no controversy about dress during the games.
Women had so many dresses that they had to wear for a variety of different reasons. Sometimes a woman would have to change multiple times a day for reasons like just going out for a walk, or visiting a friend. Each dress had a different purpose and each was constructed very differently; but today that type of a wardrobe would be difficult to deal with today.
Sleepwear and accessories didn’t have to change very much because there wasn’t anything to impractical about them during that time period. Although not very many changes were needed then, they’re still very different from the sleepwear and accessories of today.
A lot of these changes were caused by things like wars and revolutions that were happening during the 18th and 19th centuries. There were causes from these that only allowed for clothes to be much plainer than they were originally. The revolutions and wars that were affecting people’s daily lives during this time is a reason that our clothes are so much different now then they used to be.
During the 18th and 19th centuries women wore clothes that were larger, flashier, more extravagant when they are compared to clothes that we wear today because of a strong need for practical clothing rather than showy clothes.
