9 Historical Moments That Drastically Influenced Fashion

Fashion is not only influenced by famous stylists and brands, but also by important events that occur in society. Around 70-100 years ago, for example, almost 100% of men wore different styles of hats. But with the spread of low-roof cars, the popularity of these parts has declined dramatically.

We, from awesome.club, we decided to share with you which historical events have somehow influenced the direction of fashion. Check out!

The corset was regarded as an indispensable garment in Europe for several centuries. Its popularity peaked in the Victorian era. But, already in the middle of the 19th century, corsets began to be heavily criticized by doctors who warned about the negative effects of this piece on the body. And at the end of the 19th century, women themselves began to advocate the use of more comfortable clothes, which did not hinder their movements.

The activists argued that the corset was not only physically harmful, but also “the result of a male conspiracy to make women dependent, keeping them in a slave psychology”. And they believed that not wearing the uncomfortable corsets​​ could change the position of women in society and provide them with greater social mobility, making them less dependent on men and marriage, in addition to allowing them to work fully and earn money.

After 1920, the popularity of corsets almost completely disappeared. Instead, women began to wear belts and bras with elastic bands.

For a long time, pants were an exclusively male garment. And in many parts of the world, this was even enshrined in law. But towards the end of the 19th century, women began to use bicycles more and more, so trousers began to be introduced into their everyday lives, as they were much more comfortable than puffy dresses and skirts. And, at the beginning of the 20th century, this trend became popular for good.

In the 1930s, trousers were already seen as a common item in women’s wardrobe. This happened after famous actresses like Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn and other stars started using the piece. In 1939, Vogue magazine first published pictures of women wearing pants.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the fedora hat (named after Princess Fedora Romanova, the heroine of the play Fédora) was one of the main elements of men’s fashion. Men wore it in almost all public places. But it became a particularly common accessory when Edward VIII, then Prince of Wales, started wearing a fedora as his main hat model.

Interestingly, already in the 1880s, decades before the felt hat conquered men, the French theater actress Sarah Bernhardt popularized it among women. Bernhardt performed the play Fédora at the theater, and the felt hat was part of her costume, and the accessory ended up conquering the taste of the female audience.

Furthermore, the fedora became especially popular with female activists advocating for gender equality.

Men, almost without exception, wore hats on the street or at events: caps, fedoras, caps, straw hats, top hats. Furthermore, wearing a hat was independent of social class. And this is perfectly noticeable in old photographs: it is difficult to find a person without a hat. However, after some time, the popularity of these accessories began to decline, and men completely abandoned them.

One theory is that this is due to the popularization of low-roof cars in the 1920s. First, when a person is in a car, there is no need for a hat to protect them from the weather. Second, getting in and out of the car with a hat on your head can be inconvenient, as it can fall off. Therefore, men began to use it less and less.

And when, after the 1950s, hats and their models ceased to indicate a social status, their popularity completely declined.

Between 1912-1913, actress Suzanne Orlandi was one of the first women to wear a Coco Chanel black velvet dress with a white collar. But the model only became popular in 1926, after it was on the cover of Vogue as “the dress that everyone will wear”.

Chanel herself boasted that she allowed the less fortunate to “walk like millionaires”, although until a certain time wearing black clothes was not popular. But thanks to the French stylist, this piece remained in fashion for many years. And all because of its low cost and elegance.

The most famous model of the 1960s, Twiggy, revolutionized the fashion world. With her appearance, she turned the entire industry upside down, as at that time most models had more bulky silhouettes. And while the industry produced clothes for wealthy consumers, Twiggy, who came from a working-class family, promoted affordable casual clothing for thinner people. Thus, she influenced women all over the world to start losing weight, and also to cut their hair short and wear short dresses in bright colors.

In the early 1920s, movie stars started wearing sunglasses. And not only to hide from their fans, but also to hide red eyes. At that time, lights used on film sets emitted bright light containing ultraviolet rays. This caused the actors’ eyes to turn red.

This accessory became accessible to the common population in 1929, when Sam Foster mastered the production of cheap sunglasses and started selling them on the beaches.

At the beginning of the 20th century, water sports began to gain popularity. And, in the middle of the last century, men developed a special love for surfing. In Hawaii, avid surfers were looking for boardshorts that wouldn’t fall off under the blows of big waves. Local seamstresses then made shorts made of thick canvas with a tie at the waist so they wouldn’t fall off the body. And these shorts fell in love not only with surfers, but also with ordinary bathers.

In 1982, then-famous actress Jane Fonda produced several fitness videos that quickly became bestsellers. She taught housewives how to exercise while wearing brightly colored leggings. Thanks to Jane Fonda, gymnastics became popular worldwide, and with her leggings became an integral part of women’s wardrobe.

Do you know of any other examples of a historical event that influenced fashion? Tell us in the comments section.