By Aloye Adede
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7240541
August 26, 1920, the day the Suffrage battle was won, is designated as Women's Equality Day each year. Coinciding with the 92nd anniversary of Women's rights, it is only right to honor ' The New Woman' - an influential icon of the fin de siècle who departed from the repressed Victorian woman. The New Woman, a phrase coined by Victorian writer and public speaker Sarah Grand, departed from the stereotypical Victorian woman and gave birth to a woman who was intelligent, educated, emancipated, independent and self-supporting and "was by turns a mannish amazon and a Womanly woman; she was oversexed, undersexed, or same sex identified" according to Professor Lyn Pykett of Aberystwyth University. Women of today are walking realities of The New Woman and in celebration of the emancipation of women let's take a trip down memory lane to discover how fashion has played a significant role and attributed to the Suffrage's fight for women's equality.
Two fashion icons paved the way for female liberation by abandoning restrictive clothing and making it their creative mission to see to it that women had the necessary attire whilst marching to freedom's land. Paul Poiret and Gabrielle "Coco" C. played a fundamental role in women's changing roles in society making sure women welcomed victory, fashionably.
Poiret is a fashion hero crowned for being the pioneer of women's fashion emancipation, freeing women from restrictive caged crinolines and corsets. Between the hourglass figure created by Victorian fashion and Coco's "Little Black Dress" (LBD) that has become the epitome of chic, Poiret's innovative dresses and pantaloons were the most sought after of the 20th century. Poiret is responsible for the first major fashion revolution a decade before Coco's invention of the LBD in 1926. He gave women freedom to move and express themselves. "I declared war on the corset," Poiret once said, "Like all great revolutions, mine was carried out in the name of Liberty, to give free play to the stomach, which could dilate without restriction."
Born in Paris in 1879, the son of a cloth merchant, Poiret's interest was in volume, fluidity and innovations in the cut and construction of clothing, which became his legacy and the pathway to the modernization of fashion as we know it today. Renowned for inventing the harem pants, shifts and dresses that draped on the body creating relaxed and unconstructed clothing that revealed the figure instead of caging it; Parisian couturier Poiret gave impetus to the revolution of designing dresses to be worn without a corset. To replace the corset Poiret devised the first bra - an item that would become a wardrobe essential for every woman. Everything he touched was revolutionary. He restructured the way fashion businesses were run, with his marketing savvy, creating the business model of the lifestyle brand - a product diversification strategy that is today the financial pillar so many fashion houses try to emulate. Poiret's diverse product line included: interior decoration (being referred to as the first 'interior designer'), art (he harnessed and promoted the talents of artists and illustrators), accessories, perfumery, the first fashion school and what he called his genuine reproductions, what is known today as a diffusion line. His talent knew no limits and has paved the way for the fashion industry right till this very day.
Poiret's lavish lifestyle came to a grinding halt at the beginning of the First World War when he was forced to close his fashion house and go into the production of army uniforms. This forgotten genius, who would die in poverty, almost single-handedly liberated women from the corset as well as being one the first designers to utilize trademark protection and capitalize on marketing and branding. Women of our time have all been wearing Poiret's designs unconscious of fashion's enormous debt to a forgotten genius.
A decade later, probably the most influential woman in fashion of the 20th century, Gabrielle "Coco" followed in Poiret's footsteps and further liberated women. Not only with her designs but also her personal contribution to the emancipation of women is indisputable. She was at the forefront of liberating women and led by example. The women's rights movement had a strong effect on women's fashion and Coco saw to it that she gave women a look to go with their newfound freedom status. After the first World War she was at the forefront of transforming women's shape to conform to the ideals of a flatter chest and more boyish figure. For the first time in centuries women's legs were seen with hemlines rising to the knee and dresses becoming more fitted. A more masculine look became popular, including flattened hips and breasts, short hairstyles such as the bob cut and Eton crop. The fashion was bohemian and forthcoming for its age and Coco certainly led by example. One of the first women to wear trousers, cut her hair and reject the corset was Coco. Probably the most influential woman in fashion of the 20th century she did much to further the emancipation and freedom of women's fashion. She had defined The New Woman, one of the most powerful figure in the women's liberation movement. Dressing in mannish clothes and adopting more clean-cut and comfortable fashions women found her liberating and inspirational.
Paul Poiret and Gabrielle "Coco" C. merit a niche in the women's liberation hall of fame playing a significant role in dress reform and in promoting the emancipation of women. "Yes," wrote Poiret, "I advocated the fall of the corset. I liberated the bust. When I declared war on the corset, women's bodies were divided into two distinct masses and the upper lobe appeared to be pulling the whole derriere section behind it, like a trailer."
Aloye is an expert Fashion Stylist and Designer acquiring her styling skill during her MA in Italy where she was trained by Sara Maino, Vogue Italia's Senior Fashion Editor.
Aloye is the brainchild behind Femme De Rose, an online retailer that sells custom-made blazer jackets for women. Each blazer is individually measured, fitted, tailored and finished to enhance each woman's individual figure. The end result of a tailored Femme De Rose jacket is a blazer crafted to each woman's exact size and taste, celebrating and idealising each individual body shape with a focus on accentuating the outstanding features of the body.
Visit http://www.femmederose.com.
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