The romantic period 1820-1835: diversity factors affecting clothing

Fashion

Romantic Era Fashion

In Europe, the Romantic Period lasted from approximately 1820-1835 and had very distinctive flavor. People were disenchanted with writing and paintings that followed dour religious subject matter for the main part and took away humanity. The Romantic Era can be seen as the birth of the humanist period that continues to this day. People wanted to express themselves as individuals with passion and emotion. This was reflected in the art of the day, in the literature from such great poets and novelists as Edgar Allen Poe and Jane Austen, and in the fashion that became popular for a brief time and then faded away. This was a fashion that was tempered with diversity due to the class of the people wearing it and the utility of the garments. This research paper discusses the fashions of the day and how they were influenced, especially in England by a newfound diversity of experience among the gentry.

The history of the era is interesting because the people involved were, like those of many eras before and since, attempting to break away from a system that seemed staid and tired. The new breed of writer and painter was trying to capture the emotion in every piece that they did. The real faces of their subjects instead of the beatific images that had choked the previous eras. Fashion among the gentry took this same flight due to the need women and men had for expression in this new age. Being an individual was thought to be the height of personal fashion, but, unfortunately, the people of the romantic period may be among the most recognizable because of the static nature of the clothes.

It remained fashionable for many more years for women to wear long skirts and bodices that covered from the neck to the hands (Thomas). This fashion actually back into style because the romantic period woman was supposed to be vulnerable and sensitive to be fashionable. Women also began wearing corsets and other types of binders to accentuate their figures in a modest way. The shoulders of dresses were wide, waists small and skirt hems broad. This gave the hour glass shape which was popular. Men wore the same short coats and breeches that the prince regent wore and Beau Brummel dressed him in (Thomas). Children worse short dresses or smocks that were generally belted at the waist. Hats and hair were elaborate to show off the individuality of the wearer also.

The subject of diversity is rarely attached to the people of the romantic period because they were in the midst of the slave trade and imperialism, and they did not regard people of different ethnic or racial background than theirs as worthy of the company. However, the romantics would have refuted this (Bell). These people believed that they celebrated diversity because of what the era symbolized. People were more free to express themselves, thus they were celebrating individual diversity.

This type of diversity was best demonstrated by the women of the time by the ornamentation that they wore. This was carefully selected depending on the clothing to be worn, but it was also selected based on what impression the individual wanted to convey. Hats could be elaborate affairs with fruit, other plant life, and stuffed birds sitting in them. Women also wore scarves as turbans as a sign of the times also. However, the idea of the turban came from the East. Many of the styles of the East were becoming popular also as Britain and other European nations expanded their empires. The dresses that women wore were highly embroidered and decorated (Jarrett). No longer were the single color pattern; they showed off the status of the woman because of the delicacy and amount of decoration. This resembled some of the tapestries of from the East and it became a popular method of showing people how different one person was from another.