Dressing the Body: Silhouettes and Fashion

In every age, the different ways of dressing are intimately connected with moral, social and aesthetic codes. Fashion imposes standards of beauty; silhouettes and volumes are modified and nature gives way to artifice. Clothes change the body's proportions and alter the wearer's relationship with physical space and other people.  The exhibition showcases how dress can increase, reduce, profile, reveal and elongate the body.

The Renaissance saw the perfecting of tailoring techniques and clothes were cut to fit the body closely. Women wore long skirts, while men showed their legs. The body was a clothes-horse for the display of fabrics, dresses, lace, embroidery and accessories. Interior structures were used to enlarge or reduce the figure. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Spanish fashion of wearing black and adopting a soberly hieratic pose was followed by the courts of Europe, while the eighteenth century saw a shift to the French style, which sought a theatrical effect.

The social transformation set in motion by the French Revolution is reflected in dress. Napoleon suppressed by decree the symbols of the aristocracy: corsets, paniers, breeches and heeled shoes. Clothes were simplified. For both men and women the silhouette becomes rectilinear, following the model of Greek statues. Women wear chemises dresses. The waistline is raised to just below the chest.

 The Industrial Revolution transforms the manufacture of fabrics and, in so doing, the way of life of Europe's citizens. The bourgeoisie dictates the forms and fashions, which succeed one another ever more swiftly. Burghers strive to look like aristocrats with a return to the shapes of the eighteenth century. Women's dresses are lavishly ornamented, making visible the economic power of the family. With a severely compressed torso and narrow waist, skirts become fuller, to the extent that the wearers of these dresses find it difficult to sit down or walk through a doorway. The man is almost invisible in his three-piece suit of trousers, waistcoat and frock coat or jacket. 

Industrialization leads to mass production, first in underwear and accessories and then in dresses, which begin to be sold in department stores. Seen in profile, the female body is angled, flat in front and wide behind.  The heavy fabric of the so-called tapisserie or drapery dress imitates the curtains and hangings of the bourgeois interior. The long heavy trains of evening gowns extend the silhouette. Little changes in men's fashion: three-piece suit and overcoat. Tails or a morning coat are worn on formal occasions. 

 Art Nouveau brought sinuous decorative elements that imitate natural forms to architecture and the visual arts, and costumes and fabrics were no exception. The chest is inflated and thrust forward, the waist very narrow, the stomach flat and the pelvis pushed backwards: in this serpentine form (the famous coup de fouet) the female body is severely deformed by the action of the corset and the S-shaped posture. After 1900 the figure becomes slimmer and the skirt flares at the hem like the corolla of a flower. During the day men wear a three-piece suit of jacket, trousers and waistcoat with a bowler hat, and for evening engagements and formal occasions a frock coat, morning coat or tuxedo with top hat. 

The First World War marks a break between the nineteenth century and modernity. A process of liberation becomes apparent, as huge numbers of women enter the labour market for the first time. The slim, elongated silhouette, with flat chest and hips concealed, gives women an androgynous image. The waistline moves down from just under the breasts to the hips. Modern dresses are suited to outdoor activities and dancing. Men's styles also adopt a slim, linear silhouette. 

In the years of the Spanish Civil War and World War II, clothes reflected the grim times, economic uncertainty and conservatism in Europe. Dresses evolve from the fluid forms of the 1930s to the austere 1940s, influenced by military uniforms, and then to the hourglass silhouette highlighting the symbols of femininity. Day dresses remain short, while gowns for evening wear and parties are long. In the 1950s, lingerie accentuates pointed breasts and curving hips. Men wear three piece suits with a hat. 

During the 1960s there was a radical sociocultural break, as the young rebelled and challenged the established canons of beauty, and daring new styles made audacity the norm. There is no longer a unique silhouette. Unisex fashion prevails, with tunics, dresses and trousers, short and long, in bright colours. The 1980s are characterized by exaggerated forms and brilliant textures. Prêt-à-porter Series signed by prestigious designers reflecting the new changes in society, aimed at a wider market. 

Men and women modify their bodies with piercings, tattoos and other actions on the skin, which come to be accepted and adopted. Streetwear: young people define different standards of beauty. The social networks disseminate images of street styles that set trends. The minimalist currents of the 1990s opt for black and pursue the purest and simplest lines and forms. Designers create small collections which are sold in their own boutiques or in multi-brand stores. For the first time, ordinary people buy and wear the same mass-produced outfits all over the world. Research into innovative fabrics and high-tech applications changes the body's relationship with clothes and fashion.