1900’s in fashion for women. Learn the history of the authentic Edwardian fashion look. The trends, dresses, corsets, makeup, hairstyles, and where to buy.
As the 20th century dawned and the Edwardian age began, fashion belonged only to the privileged few.
The Paris couturiers catered only for wealthy society ladies in their frills and corsets. It was La Belle Epoch, the beautiful age. It would see the advance of modernism, and the culmination during WW1 of the fight for women’s suffrage and emancipation.
This was echoed by the styles featured here in these historical posts.
Read the history of Edwardian style, featured in period films and television dramas such as A Room with a View, Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs. Get inspiration for your Edwardian costume, boots, tea dress.
Edwardian Beauty – 1908 Face Massager. The Edwardian fashion era saw the phenomenon of ‘beauty science’ taking hold, with patent after patent promising women eternal youth. This product – a face massager -courtesy of the Museum of London was invented by a Doctor John Wilson in 1908 or thereabouts. It promised to reduce wrinkles and …
The Finishing Touch. An Everyday tale of Edwardian Fashion and male patience. 1903 cartoon from The Times Dispatch in 1903 poked fun at that age old male issue of waiting for a woman to ‘get ready’ before going out. Image courtesy of The Library of Congress. Enjoy! Click to Enlarge:
The real women who served as muses to Charles Dana Gibson. The illustrator created the iconic Gibson Girl look of the 1900’s. See a 1904 film of real life Gibson girls brought to life with AI upscaling. The Real Gibson Girls Charles Dana’s Gibson’s pen and ink illustrations of what was to become known as …
In 1906 – Model Evelyn Nesbitt causes a stir at her husbands murder trial – with her outfit! Evelyn Nesbitt – one of the 20th Century’s first style icons was a young model /actress thrust into the limelight in New York when her name was involved in the infamous murder of Stanford White, a respected …
These poignant photos by Edward Linley Sambourne of Edwardian women, taken in London and Paris in 1906, captures the Edwardian street style of a forgotten age. A wonderful set of fashion images found via Retronaut from The Library Time Machine, the Kensington Library blog curated by Dave Walker. A leading Punch cartoonist at the time …
The Gibson Girl. The idealized Edwardian pin up illustrations of Charles Dana Gibson cemented the Edwardian style myth of nipped waists. The Gibson Girl Look – Edwardian Style Gibson Girls became the first 20th century standard of female beauty and style. Named after Charles Dana Gibson, a Life Magazine illustrator. His fanciful illustrations inadvertently created …
Margaret and Francis Macdonald – Photo of Margaret and Francis taken by Charles Mackintosh 1894 These two remarkable sisters were highly regarded artists of their day and were the bright young things of their time ! Margaret was married to the famous Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a member of the Glasgow ‘ Immortals’ in the late …
Women’s Vintage Swimwear Secrets Before you go shopping for some cool Vintage swimwear or Retro Swimwear, why not sit back and learn a bit about what you’re wearing! Photo courtesy My Vintage Vogue Perhaps more than any other garment, the swimsuit has changed beyond all recognition in the last century. One of the most appealing …
1900’s Fashion I personally feel that that belle epoch period of 1890’s to 1914 in fashion is unique. Those wonderful days when women wore morning dresses, afternoon dresses, evening gowns, formal dresses . of course it helped to have an army of servants running after you.It was also the time when women began to wear …
Vintage Swimwear and Bathing Beauties – 1900’s -1920’s The new swimsuits post relied heavily on the form of the “fashionable” body, gradually exposing more and more skin. The beginning of the twentieth century marked a new daring era in swim wear for women. In 1909, Australian Annette Kellerman was arrested in the United States for …