Artistic or aesthetic clothing (one term evolved from the other over the course of several decades) had an apparently simple purpose – the sartorial re-enactment of the glorious days of old. The paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood aimed to recapture the sincerity of art in the days before Raphael’s grand and mannered paintings. The sumptuous silk gowns worn by models Lizzie Siddal and Jane Morris were heavy with artistic symbolism but the Pre-Raphaelite approach was more than a mere painterly style and the clothes moved beyond the canvas sparking a fashion among a small group of aesthetes and intellectuals for loose, flowing fashions.
Want to read more of this article?
We are proud to be a subscriber-funded publication with members in 185 countries. We know our readership is passionate about textiles, so we invite you to help us preserve and promote the stories, memories, and histories that fabric holds. Your support allows us to publish our magazine, and also ‘what's on’ information, and subscription interviews, reviews, and long-read articles in our online blog.
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS CONTENT
