In the early 1800s, women's fashion was highly influenced by fashion in Europe, especially Britain and France. Ladies' clothing pieces were meant for ornamental purposes only–the tight, constraining corsets of the time caused damage to internal organs and made breathing difficult for women, and the expensive French and Victorian fabrics and styles made it impractical for women to do much work.
However, as more Americans migrated to the West in the later 1800s, women's fashion adapted to accommodate for the new roles women had to fill. European styles fell out of fashion, as their designs were not made for the pioneering life American women faced. Cheaper materials were used, such as muslin, cotton, and calico, as they were more financially sustainable than the French and Victorian fabrics of the beginning of the century. Dresses became more practical as women did more work in the fields and did more chores.
Later 1800s fashion for women
Just like the American lifestyle, American women's fashion changed as values and expectations of women shifted. Women in the later 1800s, as seen in their clothing, became more involved in fields outside of the domestic sphere. It could even be argued that the evolution of women's clothing was one of the indicators of the beginnings of women's rights: if women could expand outside the stereotype of keeping house and looking nice, how else could women become more equal to men?
Sources:
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http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/late-1800-s-farm-clothing-8342.html
I like how you structured the article and how you talked about the presence of women from a different angle. It was very informative and well written and I think the pictures helped emphasize and elevate your article.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how the changes in society influenced the changes in women's clothing to fit these new lifestyles. I also want to add that a woman's social class standing could have also affected the way they dressed; for example, people in a more elite social class would have clothing more similar to ones from the earlier 1800s (fancier), while people primarily involved in a labor profession like farming or factory working would have clothing more similar to the later 1800s fashion since it would better fit their job's activity needs of having to move more easily in the manual work that they did.
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