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Edwardian Fashion: The S-silhouette at its finest

The Fashion Folks

There’s no question about fashion’s influence from nature, in present time and throughout the course of history. This is often shown in patterns, for instance: leaves, flowers, landscapes and animals. Well, how about having an epoque of fashion centered around the silhouette of a bird? The silhouette of a pigeon?  Whether it sounds tempting or not, this was the case of the Edwardian fashion.

Edwardian Fashion: The S-silhouette at its finest | The Fashion Folks

Background of the Edwardian fashion

We’ve talked a bit about the makeup of the Victorian Era that ended in 1901. Regarding the fashion though, it was defined by a matriarchal style with dark clothes, a low neckline and decades of heavy and long skirts. The Edwardian fashion was sort of what the Empire fashion was to the 18th century fashion, a liberation from heavy dresses and demanding looks. Even though it was not as a big of a step, it was still a downsizing of the heavy fashion of previous years. With a slimmer silhouette, less embellishments and a more simple style, it was a look for the new century.

Style of the decade

As mentioned, the Victorian era brought a lot of dark colors. So it was about time that women got to wear bright colors, pastels and feminine details. The Edwardian era was a decade of ruffles, lace and all things pretty and cute. edwardian-fashion1The fashion was covering kept modest. From a contemporary view, it kind of looks like the ladies always were on their way to a fancy tea party (if you ask me).

Above all though, this decade was about the s-silhouette. With a puffy bust,  a thin waist and heavy hips, the emphasis on the s-silhouette demonstrated an imaginary image of how women were suppose to look. This was made possible with corsets, as well as defined bands/belts by the waist. The inspiration from the pigeon was highly present in the puffy tops, as women were to look like they had large breasts.

The s-silhouette, was actually one of the inspirations for Dior’s famous collection The New Look (1947). 

Clothes of the decade

With dresses and skirts hitting floor-length with a slight trail, the women kept the elegance of the past. The go-to look was a skirt and an Edwardian blouse. The Edwardian blouse is characterized by its high collar, puffy chest , and oversized statement sleeves going narrow  by the  forearms. For fine events, women kept the s-silhouette and wore short-sleeved gowns with all things lace and a lot of details (like A LOT). Layers of lace or sheer fabric was a common detail, with ruffles being placed by the neckline or the hemline. Flowers and bows were also popular to use, not to mention the use of them in combo with lace. As one can tell, this was a time epoque of feminine details and a touch of refinement.

Folks, that’s a wrap on the Edwardian fashion! Perhaps not a fashion for us, even though the Edwardian blouse is not far from the statement sleeves of today!

42 thoughts on “Edwardian Fashion: The S-silhouette at its finest”

  11. I sort of wish I lived back in those times, I just adore those beautiful dresses! 🙂 At the same time, I like that these days we are completely free to wear whatever we want, there’s such freedom of style and we can get creative. 🙂 <3 This is a really interesting post hun, thank you for sharing! <3 Hope you're having a lovely week so far. x x

    Kay
    http://shoesandglitter.com

    1. I would love to go back and just walk around looking pretty hahah, terrible of me to say so, but the clothes they wore were just marvellous. And this is not even one of “the best” fashion decades. So happy though for the liberation of fashion norms and that women can more or less define themselves in their fashion lives today! Thank you love, same to you! Xx

      https://www.thefashionfolks.com

  12. This post is so fitting for current style as silhouettes play a huge role in fashion right now. Even the ruffled details are huge right now! It’s always so neat to see what the original inspiration for what’s currently in style.
    Another great post babe, thanks for the insight!

    xoxo Rina
    http://www.andshedressed.com

    1. It is indeed, it’s so much fun to see how fashion lives in cycles. And even though we feel like we’re moving forward with what we’re creating, we have a huge source of inspiration from the past! Thank you love! Xx

      https://www.thefashionfolks.com

  13. Thanks for the fashion history lesson. It was very interesting and I love lace and ruffles, so a modern version of the Edwardian era is something up my alley.

  20. This was such an interesting read! I had no idea what the inspiration was that defined Edwardian fashion, as well as how it reflected the shape of what was expected to be of all women at the time! Whenever I see images from this time period, I can’t help but think of Cinderella and her two ugly step-sisters, haha! Thanks so much for sharing, gorgeous, and I hope you’re having the most amazing week so far!

    XO,

    Jalisa
    http://www.thestylecontour.com

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