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The 1800's saw a few different styles of dresses starting with the empire style, the crinolines/looped skirts, and the bustle.

The empire style was modeled after the greeks and was far simpler than the styles surrounding it. The major difference being the waist of the dress was moved just below the breasts and flowed out from there (like a modern maternity dress).

At the beginning of the century, dresses tended to have deep, wide necklines and as time went on, the sleeves and skirt became poofier (to the point of ridiculous-ness). For the majority of the 1800's, skirts were filled out with artificial petticoats like the crinolines, metal hoops, and bustles. And since that wasn't enough, most dresses were coated in frills, layers of fabric, and lace.

Near the end of the century however, things like the feminists' movement and the popularity of the bicycle prompted more "active" wear to be experimented with.

http://www.jadedcompass.com/ocular_helmsman/attire/evolofviccloths.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_silhouette

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoline

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bustle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890s_in_fashion#Women.27s_fashions

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13y ago

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