mid 19th-century french fashion goes for the bell shape. yet late 19th-century trend favors the slimmer silhouette:
Women were not alone in consuming fashion (circa the mid-nineteenth century).
What was the primary driver of fashion in the 19th century?
Industrial Revolution: The mechanization of textile production led to cheaper, mass-produced fabrics and clothing, making fashion more accessible to the middle class. Innovations like the sewing machine (patented in the 1840s) accelerated clothing production.
Social Class and Status: Fashion remained a strong marker of class distinction. The rise of the bourgeoisie and the expansion of the middle class led to a greater demand for fashionable yet affordable clothing.
Influence of Monarchs and Aristocracy: Queen Victoria set the tone for modest and structured styles, such as the Victorian dress with crinoline skirts, corsets, and high necklines.
Technological Advancements in Dyeing and Fabric Production: The development of aniline dyes in the 1850s allowed for brighter, more varied colors, influencing fashion trends.
Art and Literature: The Romantic and later Aesthetic movements shaped styles, with flowing, decorative elements replacing rigid, structured garments toward the late 19th century.
Global Trade and Colonialism: The expansion of European empires led to an influx of exotic textiles, patterns, and styles from Asia and Africa, subtly influencing Western fashion.
Women's Rights Movement: By the late 19th century, the Rational Dress Movement and the growing feminist movement challenged restrictive clothing like corsets, paving the way for more practical women’s attire.
Below, the consummate English dandy, Oscar Wilde:
This is from his diary of an exquisite, London, 1819:
Took four hours to dress; and then it rained; ordered the tilbury and my umbrella, and drove to the fives' court; next to my tailors; put him off after two years tick; no bad fellow that Weston...broke three stay-laces and a buckle, tore the quarter of a pair of shoes, made so thin by O'Shaughnessy, in St. James's Street, that they were light as brown paper; what a pity they were lined with pink satin, and were quite the go; put on a pair of Hoby's; over-did it in perfuming my handkerchief, and had to recommence de novo; could not please myself in tying my cravat; lost three quarters of an hour by that, tore two pairs of kid gloves in putting them hastily on; was obliged to go gently to work with the third; lost another quarter of an hour by this; drove off furiously in my chariot but had to return for my splendid snuff-box, as I knew that I should eclipse the circle by it.
Here's a great site on the evolution of taste in the Nineteenth Century.