Friday, April 8, 2011

The Existance of Fashion



The first fashion designer who was not merely a dressmaker was Charles Frederick Worth (1826-1895). Before the former draper set up his nayshon couture(fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from styles worn at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done.



It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments. The images alone could be presented to clients much more cheaply than by producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked the design, they ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.
Fashion is a discipline that has existed since time immemorial as an ever-present element in civilized society. How else would it have been possible to live together in society without clothing ourselves? The truth is that fashion can be traced back to the days of Egyptian civilization, when fabrics and jewelry were used to adorn the bodies of the pharaohs, and useful garments were created to protect the skin of peasants who worked from dawn until dusk.



An explanation of the entire history of fashion would take up many pages, so in order for you to gain a basic understanding, the best way is to give a brief overview of the important figures and styles that have defined each era. In short, a bit of history with a few proper names thrown in for good measure.