History of fashion design

The History of fashion design refers specifically to the development of the purpose and intention behind garments, shoes, accessories, and their design and construction. The modern industry, based around firms or fashion houses run by individual designers, started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth.

Before the mid-19th century, there was no overt division between haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, but the most basic pieces of female clothing were made-to-measure by dressmakers and seamstresses dealing directly with the client. Tailors made some female clothing from woollen cloth.

More is known about elite women's fashion than that of any other social group. Early studies of children's fashion typically pulled from sources of folklore, cultural studies, and anthropological field-based works. One trend across centuries was that Christian people typically dressed in their finest clothes, referred to as 'Sunday best', while attending church. Another is the importance of 'hand-me-downs,' receiving used clothing. In addition to hand-me-downs, sharing clothing among siblings has also been a trend throughout history. Prior to the nineteenth century, European and North American children's clothing patterns were often similar to adult's clothing, with children dressed as miniature adults. Textiles have also always been a major part of any fashion as textiles could express the wearer's wealth.

The development of lithography allowed for the cheap production and dissemination of fashion plates, which in turn enabled fashion to spread throughout Europe and the wider world. Fashion plates were typically produced in Paris; regional dressmakers would then interpret and reproduce the clothing depicted. The origin of these designs lay in the clothing created by the most fashionable figures, typically those at court, along with their Dressmakers and tailors. Though there had been distribution of dressed dolls from France since the 16th century and Abraham Bosse had produced engravings of fashion in the 1620s, the pace of change picked up in the 1780s with increased publication of French engravings illustrating the latest Paris styles, followed by fashion magazines such as Cabinet des Modes. In Britain, The Lady's Magazine fulfilled a similar function.

In the 20th century, fashion magazines and, with rotogravure, newspapers, began to include photographs and became even more influential. Throughout the world these magazines were greatly sought-after and had a profound effect on public taste. Talented illustrators – among them Paul Iribe, Georges Lepape, Erté, and George Barbier – drew attractive fashion plates for these publications, which covered the most recent developments in fashion and beauty. Perhaps the most famous of these magazines was La Gazette du Bon Ton which was founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and regularly published until 1925.