Are You a Slave to Fashion? -The Changing Face of Fashion

A Brief History

To create a style, designers use five basic elements: color, silhouette, drape, texture, and line balance (or patterns on the surface of the material).  The options available to designers and dressmakers in all five areas have multiplied over the years. In ancient Egypt, for example, locally produced see-through linen was the fabric of choice, and it was ideal for a warm climate.  But since linen could not be dyed easily, it was usually just one color-bleached white. Still, Egyptian fashion designers pleated the material so that their clothes had a pleasing drape and silhouette.  Thus one of the world's most enduring styles was born.  

By the first century C.E., new fabrics  and colors were available. Affluent Romans imported silk from China or India, although the expense of transport made woven silk as costly as gold. Another fashionable material was dyed wool from Tyre, a pound of which could cost 1,000 denarii-three years' wages for a typical worker.  The new dyes and materials enabled wealthy Roman women to  wear a stola-a long, ample outer garment-of blue cotton from India or perhaps yellow silk from China.  

Although new styles arose periodically, in past eras  a costly garment would likely  be in fashion for a lifetime. Changes came slowly and usually affected just the nobility.  With the coming of the industrial revolution, however, fashion became much  more relevant to the common people.  

Next time: Are You a Slave to Fashion? - The Changing Face of Fashion/Conclusion of A Brief History

From The Awake! magazine