Historia

Blouse and Skirt

c. 1893-America

Material:
Blouse of gray plain-weave cotton; pleated skirt of white linen; green cummerbund.

As sports gained popularity amongst women, the blouse and skirt were established as essential items of a woman's wardrobe. This style was favored and drawn by the American illustrator Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944), and, by association, was coined as the "Gibson girl style." Outfits for the modern lady, consisting of a plain skirt and starched blouse, were fresh in a time when over decorative dresses were the mainstream. Though the fashionable silhouette with an extremely thin waist of the time is emphasized by a corset still persisted, the ensemble shown here is a premonition of liberating female images of the 20th century.