in

This Illustrated Timeline Shows Evolution of Women’s Fashion

As a versatile art form, style illustration is meant to exhibit the fabric, colors, and style of clothes. Along with acting as a study of fashion, these drawings also unintentionally offer you a glimpse into the history of fashion style and societal pop culture of this moment, as evident from this selection of excellent and detailed examples.

Meticulously compiled with lots of historical fashion plates, this timeline stipulates the numerous changes in styles which happened in women’s style over the span of almost 200 years. It then meanders throughout the upcoming few decades, depicting a slow trend toward thinner silhouettes at the early 1800s, a taste for over-the-top headdresses from the 1830s, and the re-emergence of their more delicate ballgown from the 1860s.

From the 20th century, however, A-lines have been in again, until loose-fitting, knee-length frocks stole the show from the 1920s. For another 50 decades, fashions remained comparatively brief and slender–till 1970, when pants eventually create their much-anticipated, grand introduction.

The deadline ends here, possibly because high-fashion photography demonstrated such sketches to be obsolete. While fashion illustrations might not be as broadly created or employed today, some modern artists continue to keep the craft alive with their dazzling layouts and dedication to documenting the contemporary styles.

h/t Neatorama / Imgur