
1900’s lady in dark clothing
At the turn of the century, life was tough for almost everyone except the rich. Clothing was mostly home made. Then later on tailors were used by most. By 1910 people were buying ready made clothing. Skirts went all the way to the ground, waists were above the hips and necklines were high. High buttoned shoes were worn. Whale bone corsets were common and hats with plumage were worn. Mens suits were mostly dark colored and made of heavy fabrics. Mens shirts had high collars with detachable cuffs. Straw hats for the farmers, derbies for the middle-class and silk for the rich. In the very early 1900’s, Edwardian Period style clothing was the main influence. The rich or nobility often wore satins, silks, velvets brocade or otherwise fancy or ornate clothing, hats and accessories and imported high fashions. It was only on very special occasions that the average person wore such fine clothing.
But change was on the way. Late in the 1800’s with such inventions as the Edison light bulb and in the first decade of the 1900’s with such developments as the Ford Motor Company, the Election of Teddy Roosevelt, Orville and Wilbur Wrights flight at Kitty Hawk, the proliferation of the telephone, the first yellow pages and fun things like the first world series and the first comic book was evidence that rapid change was on the way. Prosperity for many was accelerating. High fashion and manufactured clothing were becoming more available to all classes of people. Thus, the cycles of fashion and clothing styles began to change more frequently. Fashion in the entire twentieth century has continued to cycle in more rapid successions.