The History Of Fashion Accessories: 19th century

The growing population and development in technology in the early 19^th century meant a wider choice of fashion products were needed and produced. Men’s accessories and fashion continued to simplify, while women’s fashion got more and more extravagant. Exaggerated busts, shoulders, waist lines and sleeves were common, with overly decorative embellishment and accessorizing. Shawls, mittens and fans were increasingly worn during this time, but never exactly coordinated with dress. Inspirations came from further afield; the most common being the paisley motif drawn from Indian shawls. Flowers remained a main source of inspiration especially for décor of bags and fans. The introduction of chemical dyes allowed a wider range of colours to be produced, making accessories and clothing alike, more colourful and bright.

  The details I gathered from these centuries all inspired me greatly. I was inspired most by the over-exaggeration and desperation to wear as much jewellery as possible and have the most detailed garments, in order to express wealth.  Pearls were a very common aspect throughout the three centuries and I can see how they can be applied to almost any accessory to make something exquisite. Lines of garments and the use of oversized shoulders and padded hips were interesting. I liked the lines that they formed with a garment and how the moulded against the body. Common dress during this period seemed to use a lot of ruching to add volume and also a lot of lace/ribbon for décor. I will consider these aspects when I create me designs.

  The designs I created formed contemporary accessories inspired by aspects of fashion history.  Four main aspects of inspiration were pearls, feathers, lace and ruching. When drawing my ideas, I found myself using these four aspects a lot as they were the most memorable things I discovered about fashion during the 17^th-19^th centuries.  My ideas were drawn to the idea of constriction. I found myself drawing a bracelet, and then attaching this to the waist in order to restrict movement to that arm. Choker necklaces formed capes around the face and earrings somehow restricted speech. I was inspired more by the construction of garments rather than the inspirations for these garments and actual accessories. I found the way garments and accessories were attached to the body, enhanced the female figure and molded against it, particularly interesting. Traditional dress between the 17^th and 19^th centuries were restrictive for women as they were forced to cover up a lot and enhance their shape using underwear and shaping accessories worn under garments. I was happy with my progress in knowledge and design from this research and was intrigued to find out more about the history of accessories.