Indeed, 1820s fashion borrowed elements from several hundred years of past dress, ranging from the Medieval period through the eighteenth century, but the Renaissance era was particularly favored (Fukai 125). Edges finished with deep points were called “vandyck points,” a reference to seventeenth-century artist Anthony van Dyck whose portraits served as inspiration (Fig. These design elements reflected a Romantic historicism that pervaded the decade as they were directly inspired by the dress of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Johnston 46).
Sleeves became elaborately decorated as well, and could feature imitations of slashing, puffs, and sleeve caps, or mancherons. Trim on the bodice tended to point downwards to converge at the waist (Byrde 40-41). Bodices also featured decoration, especially as the waistline lowered. Instead, deep hems and simpler bands of embroidery or appliqué as high as knee-level were seen. In the last years of the decade, this type of decoration began to subside. This weighty decoration caused hemlines to shorten above the floor, and hemlines were padded with cotton or wool (Byrde 36 C.W. 6) a trend of frills and tucks began in the previous decade, but in the early 1820s this blossomed into elaborate trims of lace and flounces, puffs, and rouleaux which were tubes of bias-cut fabric filled with wadding to create a firm roll. Skirts in particular were festooned with layers of decoration on the hem (Fig. Three-dimensional trim and decoration lavished dresses in the 1820s (Ashelford 184). When the decade drew to a close, the waistline was tightly cinched, skirts had expanded into a wide bell, and the gigot sleeve had reached such epic proportions that “the upper arm appeared to be quite double the size of the waist” (C.W. The breadth of sleeves grew exponentially into true gigot or leg-o-mutton styles by 1827, and skirts became so wide that gores were no longer enough and the volume of material began to be pleated into the waistband in 1828. Through the second half of the 1820s, this silhouette only became more exaggerated. As the waistline dropped, the skirt and sleeves widened by 1825, the early Romantic silhouette was established with a natural waistline, large puffed sleeves, and a wide skirt with an increasing number of gores (Fig. Over the next few years, it dropped inch by inch until it was at nearly the natural level by 1825 (Byrde 35). However, the waistline was on the descent, as the Empire silhouette disappeared. In the first year of the decade, the style was similar to that of the previous few years: the waistline was still high at an inch or two below the bust, the skirt was slightly flared with gores at the sides and fullness gathered at the back, and the sleeves puffed at the shoulder (Fig. The silhouette underwent important changes during the 1820s. Instead, by the end of the 1820s, an exuberant fashion consisting of layers of colorful pattern and curvaceous shapes was established (Fig. The Romantic spirit also rejected the Neoclassical preference for clean geometric lines and a monochromatic palette, reflected in the white Empire-style gowns of the early nineteenth century. Similar to architects looking to a mysterious medieval past for inspiration, fashionable women wore styles directly borrowed from the supposed costumes of Romantic heroines it has been noted that “the popularity of Sir Walter Scott is not only to be measured by the number of translations of his works, but also by the amount of tartan worn” (Mackrell 71) (Fig. In particular, the historical novels of Sir Walter Scott were wildly popular, and helped to spur a historicism that permeated every aspect of dress (Fukai 163 Bassett 16-17). Romantic influence was seen in art, music, architecture, and design, but the average person discovered Romanticism chiefly through literature such as the poetry of Lord Byron and John Keats.
By the 1820s, it was in full swing, emphasizing imagination, emotion, individualism, and a fascination with the past (Tortora 328 Laver 163).
The Romantic Movement, which impacted all aspects of culture and society, was a rejection of eighteenth-century Enlightenment ideals of logic and reason. The 1820s were a period of transition in women’s fashion that swept away the last remnants of the Empire style and ushered in a Romantic one, as Gothic influences interrupted the Neoclassical line (C.W.