The Age of Liberty

‘The Age of Liberty’ began around 1900, as the campaign for votes for women was challenging their traditional roles in society. This brought about a dramatic transformation in fashionable dress. For the Edwardian lady, getting dressed had been a complicated business. She was expected to change her dress up to six or seven times a day and relied on a maid to assist with the uncomfortable, restricting corsetry that was developed to produce the ideal outline. In 1906, the renowned fashion designer Paul Poiret declared ‘a war on corsets’, and produced beautiful dresses made of lightweight fabrics in soft colours. These were influenced by the Art Nouveau movement and the costumes of the Ballets Russe. By 1910 this modern silhouette had overtaken corseted styles, and the 1912 publication of the ‘Journal de Dames’ presented beautiful illustrations of these styles as inspiration for a new generation of liberated women.

Website
www.nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Current-Exhibitions/The-Age-of-Liberty

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk//ni000017?id=EVENT507101