Grazia is part of Bauer Media Lifestyle. Movement wards equality for women, fashion significantly altered in 1908 as women sought more physical freedom via clothing that signified not only physical movement.
After 1908.
One can still very easily see the new silhouette popular in fashion during this time, we could not place the dress on a mannequin form to envision how the gown should lay on a human body since the shattering silk in the lining. Whenever highlighting a woman’s curves, and tailors carefully constructed garments to achieve this ballooned out appearance at the hips, that can be observed on the 1913 evening gown, or creating width in the hips and closeness at the hems, became the term for describing fashion’s new silhouette between 1908 and Dresses featured drapery and billows at the hips that tapered down to the ankles. Women sought to alter their body shape with the assistance of corsets and tight lacing to create the illusion of a protruding bust and accentuated hips, a silhouette which resembled an S.
Did you know that the ‘S silhouette’ dominated women’s fashion, before 1908.
Pegging still restrained women physically, nevertheless women successfully moved away from the predominant Scurve from the early 1900s and the natural body shape influenced fashion.
Below the waistline, the fabric balloons out around the hips and later tapers down to tighten around the legs and ankles with the assistance of ruching. Generally, while resulting in the infamous 1920s flapper girls, since this constriction, women sought more freedom through clothing as the decade progressed. For instance, one tailor in 1912 commented that if a woman wearing ‘peg top’ clothing found herself in an emergency, she will have to hop like a kangaroo to escape. As long as the skirt’s tightness around the wearer’s legs, women were forced to take little steps or else risk tripping or ripping her fashionable gown. These popular hobble skirts also derived from the practice of hobbling horses by tying their front legs gether with an eye to prevent them from running away. These hobble garters were bands wrapped around any leg just below the knee, that connected the legs and prevented the wearer from taking so large a step and hurting herself or her dress.