Women's dresses and culture
Posted by Tilde on December 21, 1997 at 11:10:38:
In response to Sexual Attitudes During The Regency, written by Marie Bernadette on December 21, 1997 at 00:31:49
I find your comments on corsets and restriction very interesting. When younger, I read a book by a Danish author on dress and culture (Body and Dress, I think it was called) and he compared the relative wealth of western society with the prevailing fashions of womens wear.
One of the things he noted was, that the Wall-Street index and the length of womens gowns, more or less tallied in the first half of this century. Another thing he noted was, that when western society grows more poor (relatively speaking) the tendency is for fashion to grow more ostentatious.
If this is true, then the regency/ Empire period would be a realtively affluent society, with the following restrictions and (relative) increased poverty over the ensuing years, where crinolies and tournures became the fashion.
Tilde
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