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First Brassiere Sold The American Charles R. De Bevoise Company selects "brassiere," a Norman French term, for its new product. Brassiere translates as a woman's bodice or a child's undervest. The product looks like a camisole with a few bones to maintain its shape.
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Paul Poiret establishes fashion house; creates harem pants; first couturier to launch perfume, "Rosina"
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Paul Poiret furthers a growing public disenchantment with the corset by designing "corsetless" dresses. Feminists and proponents of health and hygiene have already been criticizing the corset for a number of years. Once the dresses were in production, their style was criticized because their models weren’t attractive and they lacked the ability to sell. It took fashion designers like Poiret who helped the corsetless dress become popular.
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Viscose Rayon is invented and is the first manufactured fiber ever to be developed.
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Chanel opens first shop revolutionizes and democratizes women's fashion with tailored suits, chain-belted jerseys, quilted handbags; the most copied fashion designer in history.
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World War 1 begins and prompts women to work in factories. With this comes women wearing pants and military style clothing.
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The U.S. Navy introduces the T-Shirt. They describe it as a "light undershirt" that includes an "elastic collerette on the neck opening"
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Madeleine Vionnet creates flowing, feminine clothes, including the chiffon handkerchief dress; creates cowl neck, halter top.
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Higher hemlines on skirts, zippers, shoulder pads, unusual buttons, and bright colors, such as shocking pink introduced.
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Tennis star Rene Lacoste, known as "le Crocodile," manufactures a versatile new tennis shirt. It features an embroidered crocodile, believed to be the first instance of a designer logo to appear on a garment.
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Glamour magazine prints its first issue, and coins the phrase "a quality each of us sees in some other human—and wishes she possessed." The editors assure their readers that all women possess "potential glamour," which can be achieved with the help of the right accessories, hairstyle, cosmetics, deportment, and of course clothing.
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Board shorts, a new style that resulted from the skimpy cuts of men's bathing suits. The style arose from Southern California and were popular among surfers.
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Christian Dior reestablishes Paris as fashion center; revives haute couture; replaces wartime austerity with the glamour of the "New Look" with tight waist, stiff petticoats, billowing skirts.
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"Shorter than a Capri and with a slightly wider leg," the "pedal pusher" is created by L.A. designer DeDe Johnson. She wants to create a garment that—unlike a lady's skirt—won't get caught in a bicycle chain. Teen idols Sandra Dee and Annette Funicello, as well as by Hollywood stars like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, soon adopt the look and make it into a 1950s fashion craze.
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One year after establishing his couturier headquarters in Paris, French fashion designer Christian Dior debuts the "the New Look," which showcases a cinched waist, rounded hips, and a long skirt.
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Shoes begin to have a pointed toe and the stiletto heel is introduced.
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Warner's introduces the Merry Widow corset. Its debut coincides with a movie of the same name, starring Lana Turner, in which she is filmed in a white long-line corset and high heels.
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Cristóbal Balenciaga introduces "semi-fit" dresses with soft, round shoulders; is the classic designer of the 1950s.
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Influenced by rock music, "Mod" scene makes London major fashion center with fun, revolutionary clothes: bell bottoms, psychedelic prints, wild colors, dresses made of vinyl, paper, cellophane, metal, covered in mirrors; go-go boots; ruffled shirts for men; Nehru jackets; fur vests. Twiggy is the face of this movement.
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Known as Halston, Roy Halston Frowick dominates 1970s with pantsuits, sweater sets, form-fitting dresses, knit wear.
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Donna Karan launches line of versatile, casual knits; favors black.
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"Anything goes" emerges as fashion credo.
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During the spring fashion shows, designer Marc Jacobs debuts the seemingly oxymoronic "couture grunge" that emulates the loose flannel shirts, shabby cardigans, wrinkled and torn pants, and the notoriously thin body frames of grunge rock and its largely Seattle-based musicians. This look involves an element that some call "heroin chic," characterized by extremely thin models like Kate Moss
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His designs features cozy, romantic designs, dresses looking like quilt blankets, rabbit-skin dresses; favors highly theatrical fashion shows, models parade in rings of fire, get doused with paint or water, skate on real ice.
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Sagging pants become an illegal offense in Delcambre, Louisiana, a town of 2,231 located 80 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. Violators are subject to a fine of as much as $500 or six months in jail.
