Fashion History

Fashion designs come in and out of ‘style’, which is known as the cycle of fashion. Trends always come in and out of style, but the consumers keep up with trends due to the feeling of needing the newest trend. Fashion is fuelled by conversion. Designers continually persuade the public that their new ideas are everything that a stylish wardrobe requires. In upcoming seasons, the same designers convince everyone to give up their now outdated designs and embrace the trends of the latest collections. What makes this possible is fashion forecasting. Fashion forecasting, which is a global career that focuses on upcoming trends. A fashion forecaster predicts the colors, fabrics and styles that will be presented on the runway and in the stores for upcoming seasons. The concept applies to not one, but all levels of the fashion industry including haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass market and street wear. This is how fashion has a never-ending series of evolution. Fashion has been and continues to be a reflection of society and current events. Current fashion trends are often cyclical, taking notes from past decades and reworking them to fit within modern tastes. Clothing styles that were popular a decade ago are now being brought back with high popularity.
In the 1830s and 1840’s fashion was nothing it is today, if you were a fashionable woman, your clothing had large “leg of mutton” or “gigot” sleeves. The old big shoulders look gravitated down to the sleeves. Waistlines resumed its natural position while necklines became more of a V-shape. The 1850s, the domed skirts of the 1840s continued to expand, skirts were made bigger by using deep ruffles in tier like forms. “Female’s fashion became inappropriate to wear dresses above the knee, high-waisted empire dresses- closely fitted to the torso were what most wore” (Silva, 2010).
“1920s fashion trends were all about rebellion. The 1920s were a time of backlash. People were lashing out at the rigid formalities of the