When talking about fashion design, we must realise that prior to the time of Charles Frederick Worth, 'the father' of haute couture fashion, largely unknown people were the creators of fashion apparel. They were mainly known then as dressmakers.

These dressmakers were the ones who inspired style, and made the high fashion elaborately made garments worn at the royal courts.

Being the first real haute couture fashion designer, he opened 'The House of Worth' in 1858, a boutique that dominated Parisian fashion through the second half of the nineteenth century.

ABOUT FASHION DESIGN - HAUTE COUTURE IN THE 1900's

About the end of the 19th century, the horizons of the fashion design industry had generally broadened, due to the more mobile and more independent lifestyle many wealthy women were beginning to adopt, and the practical clothes demanded.

By the beginning of the 20th century, many haute couture fashion houses hired artists to sketch and paint designs for dresses, gowns and other garments. These images replaced sample garments previously made in the sewing workrooms of the previous century, and were presented to clients who in turn made the orders if they liked the designs of the sketched designs.

The outfits worn by the fashionable women were strikingly similar to those worn in the heyday of the fashion pioneer Charles Frederick Worth, famously known as 'the father' of haute couture fashion. He had dominated Parisian fashion in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and was the first real fashion designer (1826 to 1895).

By the 1900's, fashion and style couture magazines began to include sketches and sepia photographs and thus became quite influential than in the past. This had a profound effect on public taste.

Its 1910, and the fashionable silhouette is the order. We see softness in haute couture fashion styles. More lithe than in the previous years, dresses can now be worn without any help from the maids. And that was a problem that had to be contended with in the 19th century.

The 1st female couturier, Jeanne Paquin a French fashion designer (b 1869 1936), organised the first real fashion shows.  She designed gowns of quiet sophistication, which appealed to women of refined taste, with clients such as the queens of Belgium, Portugal, and Spain.

The days of necessity of dress style was brought upon by the 1st World War because more women had to go out to work, so the clothes demanded were better suited to their new activities. Simple felt hats and turbans replaced the popular headgears of the 1900's.

Darker and muted colours became the norm because of the increasing number of dead sons, brothers, fathers and husbands, and the general conditions of the times.

1915, and the fashionable skirts rose above the ankle, and then, to mid-calf.  This period, the Golden Age of French haute couture fashion, was one of great change and rapid reformation.

At this time, haute couture began to find new clients in the ranks of film actresses, heiresses and the wives and daughters of wealthy industrialists.

The first world war changed how women were perceived in society, constraints were removed and women experimented with fashion.

A radical change in haute couture  fashion emerged soon after the war. Dresses with long trains gave way to above the knee dresses and pinafores. Showing the knee was the height of fashion. Bouffant coiffures gave way to short bobs, and there was no more need for corsets because women clothing tended towards a 'boyish' style.

When you talk about fashion design in the 1920s  the flapper dress was the most popular. Also referred to as the charleston, these dresses became popular between 1926 - 28.

Although, at first, many couturiers were reluctant to adopt the new  style, they embraced them whole-heartedly from around the mid-twenties.

A flat chest and waist-less silhouette cuts emerged, and aggressive dressing-down was mitigated by feather boas, embroidery, and showy accessories.

It is also during this decade that sheer stockings become fashionable. Up to this time, legs had been covered by thick unattractive woollen stockings.

The effects of the great depression sets in slowly by the beginning of the 30's, and fashion stepped down to be more compromising. There had to be a balance between preserving feminism, and re-discovering subtle elegance and sophistication.

Haute Couture fashion became more romantic. Waistlines were restored and the hems started to  drop.  The bust re-appears and the backless evening attire, and soft  slim fitting day dresses, become appreciated.

The female body, slim, toned and athletic, become the vogue, as outdoor activities increased. This new found athleticism stimulated designers and couturiers to begin the manufacture of sportswear, which in essence, was another term for ready-to-wear  in the 30's.

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