Showcase 2 front

Description

In the first half of the nineteenth century, mechanical looms began to spread in Europe. Textiles for clothing, are characterized by minute designs, on striped or plain backgrounds, as is clearly visible in the fragments of textiles displayed at right. At the same time fabric printing became increasingly popular, especially in England. Here new techniques were developed using rollers. An example of this is the yellow dress, with small floral patterns in gradually fading red. The dress features a sartorial construction that shows the transition from "empire style" fashions, characterized by a raised waistline below the bust, to "romantic style" fashions in which the waistline is lowered to its natural height and the skirt acquires greater width. Shoulders are also emphasized, while the neckline is reduced and often embellished with wide collars.