At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a new class ascended to the top of the social hierarchy.
It was the "aristocracy" of factories and shops, a class formed by entrepreneurs who had amassed a fortune in manufacturing and commercial activities. Historians call this period the first industrial revolution. It was characterized by a complex and lengthy process, the result of a combination of technological and organizational innovations that spread from England to continental Europe.
The nouveau riche, who belonged to this social class, adopted a style of dress that distinguished them from the noble aristocracy, the most important laboratory for new fashions and new models of the pre-industrial period. While a riot of colors reigned in the clothes of aristocrats, the clothes of the entrepreneur of the first industrial revolution had a limited range of colors, in which only dark shades were allowed.
The jacket replaced the tailcoat. Elegant details and accessories became the hallmarks of the new aristocracy: a perfect cut, a starched shirt collar, perfectly polished shoes, hats and canes. Their clothing refused to flaunt wealth through the usual symbols of luxury, but needed new systems to be developed to display their wealth.
The classic costume retained its role, denoting identification with the new social class, but the women's clothing of the girlfriends and wives of the newly-minted masters of life took on the function of manifesting wealth. A complete wardrobe for every occasion of everyday life, along with the corset and crinoline, became the means by which the women of the new industrial bourgeoisie expressed their social status.
The larger the crinoline, the more difficult it was to wear, but the woman, putting it on, showed by this the denial of any activity on her part.
In the last decades of the century, the advent of department stores, the proliferation of fashion magazines, along with the spread of the sewing machine created a simpler imitation of the crinoline. At the same time, rising incomes in countries experiencing strong economic growth have made fashion accessible to a wider audience. The process of democratization of fashion has begun. The symbols that women's clothing used to flaunt wealth are now available to a large number of people.
In the seventies of the nineteenth century, Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895) interpreted the need to differentiate the wealthy social classes. He introduced innovations - the use of models, the concept of collections, labels with instructions, the standardization of certain parts of clothing - that allowed him to establish himself as a trendsetter in Europe and the United States.
Unlike tailors, he did not indulge the tastes of customers, on the contrary, he himself was the arbiter of taste. For clients, he left the freedom of choice, within a limited range of offers. His creations dictated a style in which the taste of high society women had to match the fashion imposed on them.
