Women's Fashion 1900s Timeline Women's Fashion 1900s

History of Women'due south Fashion in Europe and the Us 1900-1910

Channeling the elongated and dignified lines of the 1890s, women'due south style at the time of the Dunston-Weiler postcards' apportionment was characterized by tall collars, large hats and piled "Gibson girl" hairstyles.

Fashionable woman in this decade (known every bit the first office of the Edwardian Era) often required chichi morning and afternoon dresses for social engagements around town, elegant evening gowns for parties, and coincidental dresses (known as wrappers) for daily indoor use. Women at this time were also rather active, participating in activities such equally cycling, skating, and tennis, which required sporting clothes often made up of a shirtwaist and long skirt ensemble. Corsets and corset covers were worn underneath all of the garments to maintain the coveted hourglass figure of the time.

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Dresses

Regardless of the endeavor, women'due south vesture embraced the hourglass figure: chests were puffed out to enhance the "monobosom" of a bosom (for day, necklines were high and the bosom was undefined with full sleeves to the wrist, while evening wearing apparel necklines savage off the shoulder, with or without sleeves); a corseted torso shrunk the waist and intensified the hips; skirts were always long, falling to the tops of shoes on very causal dresses, and to the flooring or continued on in a train in formal dresses. Nigh stylish women achieved these looks past visiting custom dressmakers who fitted linings to a adult female'south verbal specifications. Once a lining was tailored perfectly, more expensive fabric was cut to build the final garments.

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HistoricCatalogsofSearsRoebuckandCo.1896-1993 copy Women's wrappers (casual indoor dresses) and tea dresses for auction from the Sears Roebuck Catalogue, Spring 1905

women mccalls Women's gowns and patterns featured in McCalls Mag, 1905

HistoricCatalogsofSearsRoebuckandCo.1896-1993 copy 2 Fashionable women'southward day gowns for auction from the Sears Roebuck Itemize, Spring 1905

fall1907fabric Loftier quality fabrics to be purchased and tailored into evening gowns from the Sears Roebuck Catalog, Fall 1907

HistoricCatalogsofSearsRoebuckandCo.1896-1993 Fashionable women'due south hats for sale from the Sears Roebuck Catalog, Spring 1905

fall1908 fall1908fancy Women's shoes for sale from the Sears Roebuck Catalog, Fall 1908

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Corsets

Typical corsets for this time caused the lower dorsum to curvation due to the rigid busk inserted in the heart front of the garment. This element moved the trunk forward and the hips back, making a woman'due south body resemble the letter of the alphabet "S", which is why this silhouette was known equally the S-bend, S-curve, or straight front. By around 1908, this silhouette began to modify to adopt a more natural form.

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S-Bend Corset illustration

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Illustration from the Ladies Dwelling Journal advertising the S-Curve corset, October 1900.

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Photo of Camille Clifford, an Edwardian extra and model, in an S-Curve corset

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S-Curve corsets for sale from the Sears Roebuck Catalog, Leap 1907

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Corset Covers

A typical corset cover for this fourth dimension shows the dove breasted "monobosom": the bust support is very low, and there are no gussets underneath the bust to dissever the breasts.

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