Jane Morris (The Blue Silk Dress) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1868.

The Artistic Dress movement and its successor, Aesthetic Dress, were fashion trends in nineteenth century women's clothing. Jane Burden was the embodiment of the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. ... The term fashion applies to a characteristic means of expression or presentation; fashions may follow trends, in which they gain or lose popularity. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (See also List of types of clothing and Clothing terminology) Humans often wear articles of clothing (also known as dress, garments or attire) on the body (for the alternative, see nudity). ...

Artistic dress

Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were conscious archaizers, emulating the work of the "old masters" and chosing romantic, medieval subjects. They dressed their models in long flowing gowns loosely inspired by styles of the Middle Ages. These styles were then adopted by the painters' wives and models for everyday dress. Dresses were loosely fitted and comparatively plain; they were made from fabric in muted colors derived from natural dyes. Artistic dress was an extreme contrast to the tight corsets, hoop skirts and bustles, bright synthetic aniline dyes, and lavish ornamentation seen in the mainstream fashion of the period. Dante Gabriel Rossetti (May 12, 1828 - April 10, 1882) was an English poet, painter and translator. ... The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848 by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. ... A dye can generally be described as a coloured substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. ... Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Corset Hourglass corset from around 1880. ... A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a womens undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. ... The ladys dress in this 1880s fashion plate is supported by a bustle. ...

Artistic dress became popular in intellectual circles and among artists for its natural beauty; it also reinforced their social ideals of quality materials, respect for the work of the hands, and the purity of medieval design.

More images: Early artisic dress: Symphony in White No. 1 by Whistler, 1862; contrast with Mainstream fashion of the era: fashion plate from Godey's Ladies' Book 1861

Oscar Wilde in his aesthetic lecturing costume, 1882. Photo by Napolean Sarony.

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer. ...

Aesthetic dress

Aesthetic dress carries on many of the external characteristics of Artistic dress (rejection of tightlacing, simplicity of line, and emphasis on beautiful fabrics), even though, at its core, Aestheticism rejected the moral and social goals of Pre-Raphaelitism. The Aesthetes' belief that the Arts should provide refined sensuous pleasure was a direct rejection of the reverence for simplicity and handwork propounded by William Morris. Cathie Jung (born 1937), wearing a sterling silver corset, holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest waist on a living person, at 38. ... The Aesthetic movement is a loosely defined movement in art and literature in later nineteenth century Britain. ... William Morris, socialist and innovator in the arts & crafts movement William Morris (March 24, 1834 – October 3, 1896) was one of the principal founders of the British Arts and Crafts Movement and is best known as a designer of wallpaper and patterned fabrics, a writer of poetry and fiction, and...

Aesthetic dress encompasses a range of modes, from the Japonnaise gowns of Liberty & Co. to the velvet jackets and knee breeches of Oscar Wilde's "aesthetic lecturing costume" for his speaking tour of Anerica in 1882. Arthur Lasenby Liberty (August 13, 1843 _ May 11, 1917) was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. ... Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and short story writer. ... 1882 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Influence on mainstream fashion

From artistic circles, artistic and aesthetic dress spread to fashionable ones. The delicate, lightly-corsetted tea gowns of the turn of the century echo the lines of late aesthetic dress, and in their turn pave the way for the early Art Deco creations of Paul Poiret. Asheville City Hall. ... Fashon Designs by Paul Poiret, 1908 Paul Poiret (20 April 1879, Paris, France - 30 April 1944, Paris) was a couturier based in Paris before the First World War, during the Belle Epoque. ...

References

Elizabeth Aslin, The Aesthetic Movement: Prelude to Art Nouveau, 1969, ISBN 0236176013.

External links

Aesthetic Dress

The Aesthetic Dress Movement at Fashion-Era

Pre-Raphaelite Ideals and Artistic Dress