Fashion In The 1500's

FWhat is fashion? Fashion is a popular trend, especially in styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior. As the years have gone by, we have seen many different changes in fashion and many different reasons for why we wear the things we do. Some specific fashion items have been around for an astonishing amount of time, either have been improved or worn for different reasons. Some of those fashion items, dating all the way back to the 1500s are platform heels, culottes, chatelaines, corsets and crinolines. Before the 1500’s, two separate pieces were used in order to make a shoe. These two pieces included the moveable upper piece and a fixed, stable sole. Thanks to Catherine de Medici, a shoe that combined the heel to the sole, rather than an attachable sole, was invented. At the age of 14, Catherine was engaged to the Duke of Orleans, who was much taller in comparison to her. Her fiancés mistress on the other hand was relatively tall. Medici felt insecure and ended her insecurity by “donning two inches heels that gave her a higher physique and a captivating sway when she moved” ( ). These platform heels that Catherine invented became a huge success. They were soon used to be associated with wealth and privilege.

First worn by French, aristocratic males, this garment grew into a popularity for women in the Victorian times. For those who wanted to ride bikes and for those who wanted to ride horses and for those who wanted to play tennis, culottes became a necessity. They were designed to look like skirts, to look socially acceptable for women to wear, but there was a slit in between the legs that was thoroughly covered, making it almost impossible to tell the difference. Ruffles or panels disguised the split in the garment. “It is precisely the culottes rich, and surprisingly sociopolitical history that made them one of the most interesting garments in fashion” (