UNIT BEVOLUTION AND MOVEMENT OF FASHION

2.03 Recognize the relationship between historical events and fashion evolution.

Mood of the decade World War II

Women re-entered the workforce Parisian Fashion houses closed

their doors due to German invasion of Paris

American fashion designers emerged

Shorter skirts Sloppy Joe sweaters Bikini introduced

Sloppy Joe Sweater

On July 5, 1946, French designer Louis Reard unveils a daring two-piece swimsuit at the Piscine Molitor, a popular swimming pool in Paris. Parisian showgirl Micheline Bernardini modeled the new fashion, which Reard dubbed "bikini," inspired by a news-making U.S. atomic test that took place off the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean earlier that week.

The First Bikini

Mood of the decade World War II (cont.)

L-85 (General Limitations Order) restricted amount of fabric used in production of apparel.

Designers had to create fashions that would remain stylish through multiple seasons.

A new style of suits for women had short skirts and short jackets of twenty-five inches or less in length.

Sheath evening dresses replaced the long flowing gowns of the thirties.

Sheath Dresses

Long and straight

Mood of the decade World War II (cont.)

Restrictions limited use of silk, wool, rubber, metal

Tailored masculine-looking suit

The young danced the jitterbug.

Mood of the decade

Postwar fashion freedom Women wanted a return to more

feminine designs. Christian Dior introduced the “New

Look” with rounded shoulders, fuller bustlines, and fuller skirts fifteen inches off the ground.

Paris was re-established as the center of the fashion world.

The New Look – Christian Dior

People who influenced fashion

Christian Dior—designer of the “New Look”; first to license name

Norman Norrell—winner of the first Coty American Fashion Critics Award; founder of CFDA

Cristobal Balenciaga—known for huge evening coats, long, full skirts, pillbox hats, and chemise dresses

Balenciaga

People who influenced fashion

Jacques Fath—first French designer to export designs to the United States

Elsa Schiaparelli — known for surreal designs and bold use of color

Adrian—Hollywood costume designer whose screen fantasies influenced street fashions

Fath and Schiaperelli

Adrian

Your Assignment

Create a poster or PP. The poster will show current fashions that

reflect fashions from history. Select three current looks or garments from

magazines. Cut them out and glue to poster. Label each outfit as the decade that it

reflects. For example: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s