| Art Nouveau fashion |
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Already in the late 1880s in fashion, like in art, a fatigue with aesthetic historicism increasingly began to be manifested. Especially fatigue with lacking meaningful purpose, heavy decorations of forms taken from the Renaissance, Baroque or Rococo. Even before 1890 bustle for good went out of fashion and skirts have been freed from the rococo draperies surrounding hips in decorative folds. This was the first small step towards reform of female clothing, so that it becomes more comfortable and more suited to active lifestyle. While dresses still reached to the ground, tightly concealing women's legs, straight, flared skirts without stiffening cushions and frames provided unprecedented for several decades freedom of movement. Still, there was no question of abandoning the corset, despite increasingly fierce campaign of doctors and hygienists, seeking to eliminate it from fashion.During the Art Nouveau period they were supported by among others Austrian artists associated with the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstätte), creating designs of loose, uncut at the waist, reformed dresses, which however, had not enjoyed a widespread acclaim and usually served as casual house clothing. Harbinger of change was the emergence in the late 19th century of first bras, even though initially they were not considered an alternative to the corset, as they were worn with it, and later also with a half-corset ending below the breasts.
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In the 1890s fashion was still not free of tendency to look back. This time however, a closer references were sought. Grand grandmothers’ clothes of Biedermeier period with their most characteristic elements such as huge puffy sleeves a’la gigot or ‘ram leg’ style contrasted with narrow waistline and skirt extending to the bottom become a new unpretentious source of inspiration and defined a style of dress in 1890s. The apogee of puffy sleeves fashion was year 1896 – later, quickly their width decreased.
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At the end of 1890s new trend in art - Art Nouveau – whose creators aimed at integrating all forms of art and artistic craftsmanship so that they could give a homogeneous expression of all men’s surrounding, free of imitation of the forms from the past - was fully reflected in women's fashion. Historical ornaments had been replaced by fluid, restless motifs from the world of plants and animals and the dark, strong colors replaced by palette of subtle, subdued, often glittering colors, which was also reflected in the design of apparel fabrics. Wavy line typical for Art Nouveau was also reflected in the shape of perfect feminine silhouette, slim and flexible, which was supposed to be similar in shape to letter S. This ideal was primarily reflected in graphically designed, finely stylized pictures in fashion magazines, but also in reality through proper selection of accessories and dress style, and above all by style of corset, attempts were made to approach this ideal shape. Typically Art Nouveau, relatively long corset, flattened the abdomen, emphasizing buttocks and breasts. Additionally, through the appropriate pad on the back of the hips and blouse-like bodice of the dress or especially fashionable at that time blouse appropriate inflection of woman's figure was being obtained. It was made even more slim by the use of train, which - although in this case small - was appearing even in everyday casual dresses. S-shape of the silhouette was also emphasized by a hairdo with a roll of hair over the forehead and a by a big hat with feathers strongly shifted to the front. Art Nouveau style was especially given to ball dresses sewn of lace or transparent see-through fabrics in soft pale shades (such as celadon or violet) visible one under the other. Sparkling glow effect was also obtained by decorating dresses with sequins, spangles and peacock feathers or motifs of peacock's tails also popular in decorating fans. Ball gowns airy sleeves were modeled in the shape of the dragonfly or butterfly wings. Restless line in ball and formal clothing was completed with ostrich feather boa wrapped around a slender neck.
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Favorite Art Nouveau motifs from the world of plants, animals, birds and insects have been particularly often used by jewelers, led by the famous French glass and jewelry designer René Lalique. His most famous and sophisticated brooches were decorated with very popular at the time, enamel and took shapes of dragonflies, snakes, butterflies, peacocks or a winged female figures, and also of viburnum flowers or thistles.
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Art Nouveau style dominated fashion until 1908, when Paul Poiret created his first designs in the spirit of art deco, initiating a new era in women's fashion.
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