…In 1882, Maison Hirsch & Cie opened its doors at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam – a fashion house, focusing on haute couture, that drew a client base ranging from Queen Emma, Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Juliana, to the famous dancer Mata Hari. (Photo: Queen Emma of the Netherlands in Hirsch …
.. as an elite group. There were MANY of them which opened their “fashion houses” or “salons” in large cities, but they also traveled to special clients, especially if such clients would influence others and promote the new innovations. We have in the fashion eras pages on this website in …
.. era.. emphasized the class structure and disparity (as discussed last month) as the rising merchant classes in Europe and America used fashion to define status. In fashion, royalty, class, status, and financial status was getting mixed up. (1860 fashion plate showing the industrial merchant class mingling with nobility)
… as fashion concepts were initiated by designers, promoted by queens and empresses, distributed through periodicals, and reinforced by photography. (Photo: Early 1860’s dog-on-skirt)
.. Franz Winterhalter showed what the elites and royals were wearing. (1840 Portrait by Winterhalter)
.. like Harper’s New Monthly Magazine told them what was being worn in Europe and around the world. Since this was the Mid-Victorian era, it was still Queen Victoria leading the way, but she was getting her ideas from her friends like Eugenie of France, who was getting HER ideas …
… Number 2: fashion would be led by fashion designers. Previous to the 1860’s, clothing was designed and built by tailors and seamstresses. Information was shared by the 1860’s through printed material and word of mouth; advertising. Hand colored beautiful illustrations were available in high end Parisian generated magazines like …
… went electric. By the 1960’s, the world of home sewing had exploded like this Singer Model 500m plastic and electric “The Rocket”. Plastics and digital technology would continue to develop and change the industry.
.. ended the Victorian era too, as home sewing and easy mass production with mass marketing and catalog sales worked alongside fashion designers to redefine Victorian fashion into Edwardian at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. (Photo: Singer ad looks more like High Fashion design marketing at …
.. in the home. The hand wheel had been replaced by the foot treadle by the 1860’s, and competition was hot between the many manufacturers, although Singer held the market share. (Photo: Singer advertisement and sale of toy sewing machines boosted home sales in 1900)
