English Fads and Fashions

In spite of the English peoples’ reputation for being rather staid and conventional in their everyday demeanour, nothing could be further from the truth as far as their clothes and footwear are concerned. England has long been at the forefront of the fashion industry and is right up there with the Paris and New York in the ‘with it’ stakes. With this in mind, I thought it may be fun to take a lighthearted look at a few of the fads and fancies of the fashion-conscious of England through the ages.

Do you know where the Bowler Hat originated?

Royalty have never been afraid of making a fashion statement, especially Queen Elizabeth I, who dyed her hair red, plucked out her eyebrows and whitened her face. She was the first English queen to view herself in a clear looking glass, but she banned all mirrors from her court as soon as she started to grow old.

In 1660 Restoration England, women painted their faces and decorated them with black patches shaped like stars, half moons and suns – a trend started by the Duchess of Newcastle who used them to cover unsightly blotches. Then in 1700, Powder Rooms became the in-thing for English men and women, who applied powder to their wigs, faces and hair. At this time, smooth skin was all the rage and women would place oiled cloths over their foreheads and slip a pair of gloves on their delicate hands before retiring to bed.

In 1797 Londoners mobbed James Heatherington when he first walked through the streets wearing a shiny ‘topper’ hat! Ladies fainted in the crush of people and a young boy broke his arm as Mr Heatherington was arrested for causing a breach of the peace. He was fined £50 (a substantial sum in those days) and was sent off with a flea in his ear. However, his top hat soon became obligatory headgear for those attending Royal Ascot, society weddings and for ambassadors presenting their credentials to the British monarch at the Court of St James.

Make-up largely went out of fashion during the Victorian era when ladies were expected to have pale, china-like skin and small pink mouths. The merest glimpse of a female leg was viewed with horror, and no fashion conscious women would ever dream of leaving her home without covering her ankles. For over a century women squeezed themselves into ever tighter corsets in persuit of an ideal hour-glass figure, with wasp waists as tiny as 400mm (16 inches) or 325mm (13 inches) being claimed. However, English museum curator, Doris Langley Moore, measured the waists of 200 Victorian and Edwardiam dresses in Bath’s Museum of Costume and the results showed that these extravagant claims were somewhat exaggerated.

The first bowler hat was created for English landowner, William Coke, in order to protect his head from low branches while out shooting on his Norfolk estate. In 1849, in the St James shop of London hatters, he tested its durability by stamping his foot on it twice – when the hat remained undamaged he happily bought it for 12 shillings.

During the Second World War, material was in short supply and the British government virtually banned stockings for a period. In 1942 the Board of Trade warned that if women continued to wear them that summer, there would be none left by winter. Not to be put off, when supplies of wartime cotton and rayon ran out, women resorted to wearing specially prepared leg make-up.

Times changed rapidly after the War ended. Young people began to dress differently from their parents, as they strove to attain a separate identity. England came into its own in the early 1960s, when swinging London became the world’s fashion capital and British rock and pop dominated the international music scene. The 1970s saw the rise and fall of the Glammer, Punk Rock and New Romantic eras, followed by power-dressing and square shoulders during the 80s; whereas the 1990s were largely dominated by designer labels and cult fashion shops like Red or Dead.

We can only wait to see what happens to fashion in 21st century England, but if the past is anything to go by, it will probably take all of us by surprise.

Samet Bilir writes about technology trends, book reviews, holiday shopping and a lot of other things, such as large digital frames. To read more articles from him click here.