Gown

The straight and flat silhouette of this dress beautifully illustrates how the changing couture silhouette at the beginning of the twentieth century went from a curved S-shape into a tubular, straight silhouette. The fashionable, sinuous silhouette of the late 19th and early 20th century, at its height in the Art Nouveau and characterized by an extremely small waist and ample bosom, gradually gave way to the straighter lines of the reform dresses at the start of the 20th century and finds a culmination in the chemise dresses after WWI.The garçonne wore short hair, straight chemise dresses and had a boyish figure. Chanel not only ‘liberated’ the New Woman, she also imposed a new slim beauty ideal, of which the echoes can still be felt today. Sportswear influenced haute couture, and designers like Jean Patou, catered to the liberated New Woman who was at once sporty and chique.