Party Dresses 2

Transition from Victorian to Flapper

Origin: This style of dress was the transition phase from the Victorian style to the Flapper. The style of dress had similar characteristics to the Victorian but yet didn't have the same amount of modesty to it. This was beginning of the phase of the sense of liberation of women. Though during the majority of the 1910-1920 decade was WW1. 

Purpose: In this dress design the dress has changed so that more skin was showing and it didn't have the classy look to it. You can see that the dress is shorter than it typically was before 1910. Before hand it would either just be enough to cover the feet or cover the feet and leave a train. In the design above the feet are completely visible, in other variations a little bit more ankle would show. This dress style also incorporated some of the new ideas that were brought up like dress sizes.  During this time World War One made many men get sent off to fight. Due to that women got to take over. Women began to gain power in society and they started having a sense of relief and reluctance to the superficial standards. 

Value: This was an expression of this decade because it was mixed style. This mixed style was a sign of transition. Since this style was present mostly during and a little after the war there were many changes going on. Many women saw this dress as a slow way to show their liberation.  

Limitations: This item cannot tell us what age group of women would wear the dress shown above. It would be most likely that the older women stuck with the Victorian style since it was what they were probably raised with. During this time it was near the peak of Women's Rights and the first world war. This item would be counted as unusual and counter to the previous time period for the dress design has changed a lot. It doesn't necessarily show whether the elder women, and men had an influence on this change.