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From the sweeping ball gowns of the Civil War era to the streamlined and fringed dress of the 1920s flapper, costumes are an integral part of what makes a film or theater production. Without the appropriate costumes for the region, style and era, no movie or play would be able to accurately convey the true stories as they were written. For this reason, accurate period costuming is a necessity in the entertainment industry.
During the time of the Roman Empire, most women and men wore similar clothing in the form of tunics and draped fabric stoles or togas. By medieval times, costumes, especially for women, had evolved into much more complicated arrangements including yards of fabric in gored sections. This created that wide, flared skirt that ensured a woman’s modesty by hiding the shape of her lower body. During this same period men began wearing the codpiece as a statement of their strength and prowess. By the Victorian era, women’s garb had become even more complicated and restrictive with elaborately boned corsets, yards of fabric devoted to undergarments, and the covering of all skin other than the face and hands. At the same time, clothing for men was becoming much simpler.
The clothing for women in the twentieth century changed drastically in nearly every decade. In the 1920s, women’s dress was much more androgynous than previous generations. Dropped waists and shorter skirts, along with simple, bucket-shaped hats, combined to make even the most curvaceous women appear boyish. By the 1930s and 40s, femininity had once again declared itself in the shapes of women’s clothing with rigid bras, girdles and the re-emergence of the defined waistline. However, the carefree 60s brought back the idea of non-gender specific clothing with both boys and girls sporting tie-dyed t-shirts, low slung bell-bottomed jeans and sneakers. Even hair styles converged with both genders choosing to wear their hair long, straight and parted down the middle.
