“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”
-Oscar Wilde
In the 16th century, shoes with a long, curved toe called “poulaines” were popular among the nobility. Some poulaines were so long that the tips had to be fastened to the legs with chains to prevent the wearer from tripping over them.
At one time in Japan, fashionable women painted their teeth black.
During the French Revolution, it became fashionable to wear red ribbons around the neck to show support for the guillotine.
In Italy, a fashion custom that was in vogue for a while was that women would shave the hair off the front of their heads.
3,500 years ago, not only did women in Egypt remove all the hair from their heads, they also polished their heads to a mirror-like finish.
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The United States Treasury Department spent thousands of dollars to issue a report on the monetary value of tuxedos. It contains 54 pages. The only ones who read this report are employees of the IRS.
When London inventor James Hetherington first wore his new invention, the top hat, in 1797, it caused quite a stir. He was immediately thrown in jail because he “appeared on the public highway wearing upon his head a tall structure of shining luster and calculated to disturb timid people.”
Men’s jackets button up with the left side overlapping the right so the clothing will not be in the way when the man has to quickly draw a sword or gun. Women’s clothing buttons the other way to make breast feeding easier.
This assumes right-handed individuals. 11.11% of people are left-handed.
The first fashion magazine, “The Cabinet des Modes,” was published in Paris in 1785.
Mayan Indians used to shape their teeth. They would make their front teeth pointed and carve holes into which were mounted jewels.
Sometimes people go to what others would consider ridiculous lengths to make themselves look appealing. Some women about 1,000 years ago squirted a plant juice into their eyes, believing that the way it dilated their pupils was attractive.
“If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle.” – Hilary Clinton
American women spend $900 million per year on lipstick.
Why was it illegal to buy more than three pairs of shoes in the United States during the 1940’s? Leather was needed for the war effort. Most shoes at that time were made almost entirely from leather, yet today many are made from cloth, plastic and synthetic rubber.
The term “denim” comes from the French phrase “serge de Nîmes,” which refers to the fabric’s origin in the town of Nîmes, France.
When Marie Antoinette became pregnant, many of the fashionable women of Paris started wearing padding over their stomachs. As the pregnancy developed, the ladies wore thicker and thicker pads. When her child was born, the women’s fashions all returned to normal dimensions.
Marie Antoinette
The iconic Chanel No. 5 perfume was created by Coco Chanel in 1921.
In the 1960s, it was fashionable for women to wear dresses made entirely out of paper.
In the Middle Ages, a person’s social status could be determined by the color and fabric of their clothing.
The first recorded use of the word “jeans” was in 1567.
The oldest pair of pants in the world were found in China and are believed to be over 3,000 years old.
High heels were originally designed for men and were worn by Persian soldiers to help them stay in their stirrups.
In the 18th century, women’s hairstyles became so elaborate that they had to be created with the help of wire frames.
The term “fashionista” was first used in the 1990s to describe someone who is passionate about fashion.
In the 19th century, women wore “cage crinolines,” which were metal hoops worn under their skirts to give them a bell shape.
The corset, a garment designed to shape the waist and hips, has been worn since ancient times.
In the 1920s, women’s fashion became more androgynous, with shorter hemlines and looser silhouettes.
According to a study by Sears, Roebuck, women have become less curvy, more tube-shaped during the past century.
The color purple was once considered the most expensive and luxurious color to wear because it was made from a rare mollusk found only in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the 19th century, women’s clothing often included a “bustle,” a padded or boned structure worn at the back of the waist to enhance the hips and buttocks.
The earliest known pair of high heels were worn by King Louis XIV of France in the 17th century.
In the 1960s, the “mod” style became popular, characterized by bold patterns, bright colors, and geometric shapes.
During World War II, rationing of clothing and textiles led to the popularity of “make do and mend” initiatives and the creation of clothing from unusual materials, such as old parachutes and curtains.
The first fashion show was held in 1903 by designer Paul Poiret.
In the 18th century, “macaroni” was a term used to describe men who dressed in an exaggeratedly foppish and effeminate style.
The bikini, a two-piece swimsuit, was introduced by French designer Louis Réard in 1946.
In the 1970s, platform shoes became popular, with some styles reaching heights of over 12 inches (30 cm).
Power dressing was a fashion trend in the 1980s that emphasized strong, authoritative, and successful looks for women in the workplace. The trend was characterized by tailored suits with shoulder pads, oversized jackets, and wide belts. The idea behind power dressing was that the right clothes could help women to look and feel more confident and assertive in traditionally male-dominated workplaces. The trend was popularized by influential women such as Margaret Thatcher, the first female British Prime Minister, and high-profile businesswomen in the United States. The power dressing trend was often criticized for being too masculine and for reinforcing gender stereotypes, but it also helped to pave the way for greater acceptance of women in positions of power and authority.
The following was found in a book written in 1858:
“Female dress: It is well known that a loose and easy dress contributes much to give the sex the fine proportions of body that are observable in the Grecian statues, and which serve as models to our present artists, nature being too much disfigured among us to afford any such. The Greeks knew nothing of those Gothic shackles, that multiplicity of ligatures and bandages with which our bodies are compressed. Their women were ignorant of the use of whalebone-stays, by which ours distort their shape instead of displaying it. This practice, carried to so great an excess as it is in America, must in time degenerate the species, and is an instance of bad taste. Can it be a pleasant sight to behold a woman cut in two in the middle, as it were like a wasp? On the contrary, it is as shocking to the eye as it is painful to the imagination. A fine shape, like the limb, hath its due size and proportion, a diminution of which is certainly a defect. Such a deformity also would be shocking in a naked figure; wherefore, then, should it be esteemed a beauty in one that is dressed? Everything that confines and lays nature under a restraint is an instance of bad taste. This is as true in regard to the ornaments of the body as to the embellishments of the mind. Life, health, reason, and convenience, ought of be taken first into consideration. Gracefulness cannot subsist without ease; delicacy is not debility; nor must a woman be sick in order to please.”
For a while in Greenland it was fashionable for women to paint their faces blue and yellow.
See also: Clothing.
See also: Shoes.
