Artistic Dress was a fashion movement in the second half of the nineteenth century that rejected highly structured and heavily trimmed Victorian trends in favour of beautiful materials and simplicity of design. It arguably developed in Britain in the early 1850s, influenced by artistic circles such as the

Pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti ...

, and

Dress Reform Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement (also known as the rational dress movement) of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more ...

movements. It subsequently developed into more specific categories such as Aesthetic Dress and Künstlerkleid on the continent.

Artistic dress

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

and other members of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossett ...

were conscious archaizers, emulating the work of the "old masters" and choosing 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, often with long puffed sleeves; they were made from fabric in muted colors derived from

natural dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berry, berries, Bark (botany), bark, leaf, leaves, and wood—and other biological sourc ...

s, and could be ornamented with embroidery in the art needlework style. Artistic dress was an extreme contrast to the tight

corset A corset /ˈkɔːrsɪt/ is a support garment worn to constrict the torso into the desired shape and Posture correction, posture. They are traditionally constructed out of fabric with boning made of Baleen, whalebone or steel, a stiff panel in th ...

hoop skirt A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape. It originated as a modest-sized mechanism for holding long skirts away from one's legs, to stay cooler in hot clim ...

s and

bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

s, bright synthetic

aniline Aniline (From , meaning ' indigo shrub', and ''-ine'' indicating a derived substance) is an organic compound with the formula . Consisting of a phenyl group () attached to an amino group (), aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an in ...

dyes, and lavish ornamentation seen in the mainstream fashion of the period. In the 1860s, 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.

Aesthetic dress

Aesthetic dress of the 1880s and 1890s carries on many of the external characteristics of Artistic dress (rejection of

tightlacing Tightlacing (also called corset training) is the practice of wearing an increasingly tightly laced corset to achieve cosmetic modifications to the figure and posture or to experience the sensation of bodily restriction. The process originates in ...

in favour of simplicity of line and emphasis on beautiful fabrics), even though, at its core,

Aestheticism Aestheticism (also known as the aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century that valued the appearance of literature, music, fonts and the arts over their functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to b ...

rejected the moral and social goals of the

Victorian dress reform Victorian dress reform was an objective of the Victorian dress reform movement (also known as the rational dress movement) of the middle and late Victorian era, led by various reformers who proposed, designed, and wore clothing considered more ...

that was its precursor. 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 William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

. Aesthetic dress encompasses a range of modes, from the ''Japonaise'' gowns and

Kate Greenaway Catherine Greenaway (17 March 18466 November 1901) was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from the Finsbury School of ...

-inspired children's smocks of Liberty & Co. to the velvet jackets and knee breeches of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's "aesthetic lecturing costume" for his speaking tour of America in 1882. Prominent designers and dressmakers associated with the movement include Ada Nettleship, who designed costumes for Oscar Wilde's wife

Constance Lloyd Constance Mary Wilde (; 2 January 18587 April 1898) was an Irish writer. She was the wife of Irish playwright Oscar Wilde and the mother of their two sons, Cyril Holland, Cyril and Vyvyan Holland, Vyvyan. Early life and marriage The daughter ...

, and Alice Comyns Carr, who was head costume designer for the actress

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry (27 February 184721 July 1928) was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and toured ...

. Anna Muthesius was a German designer living in London who was annoyed that women were being exploited by clothing industrialists and that to avoid their pronouncements they should decide on their own fabrics and designs. Her 1903 book, ''Das Eigenkleid der Frau'', which incorporated an

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

binding by Frances MacDonald, is considered an important contribution to the Artistic Dress movement.

Influence on mainstream fashion

From artistic circles, artistic and aesthetic dress spread to fashionable ones. The delicate, lightly corseted

tea gown A tea gown or tea-gown is a woman's dress for informal entertaining at home. These dresses, which became popular around the mid-19th century, are characterized by unstructured lines and light fabrics. Early tea gowns were a European development i ...

s of the turn of the 20th century echo the lines of late aesthetic dress, and in their turn paved the way for the early

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

creations of Paul Poiret.

Gallery

Image:Whistler James Symphony in White no 1 (The White Girl) 1862.jpg, Early artistic dress: ''Symphony in White No. 1'' by Whistler, 1862 Image:Rossetti may morris.jpg, The young May Morris by

, 1872 Image:Frederick Hollyer Morris and Burne-Jones Families 1874.jpg, The wives and daughters of Frederick Morris and

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

in artistic dress, 1874 Image:Leighton Brownlow.jpg, Leighton Brownlow in artistic dress, 1879.For commentary on the clothes in this portrait, see Jane Ashelford, ''The Art of Dress'' File:Liberty and Company tea gown c. 1887.jpg, Liberty & Co tea gown of figured silk twill, c. 1887.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

, M.2007.211.901 Image:Liberty art fabrics advertisement May 1888.jpg, Liberty art fabrics advertisement showing a young girl's dress with smocking, May 1888

Notes

References

* Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500-1914'', Abrams, 1996. * Aslin, Elizabeth: ''The Aesthetic Movement: Prelude to Art Nouveau'', 1969,

External links

*(http://artisticdress.wordpress.com/about/)
Aesthetic Dress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artistic Dress Movement 19th-century fashion Victorian fashion Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood