Velocity of the Fashion Process in Women's Formal Evening Dress, 1789-1980

Abstract

This study tests the proposition that the fashion process is accelerating by utilizing quantitative data and time series analysis. Metrical measurements of persistent features of women's formal evening dress (skirt length, skirt width, waist length, waist width, decolletage length, decolletage width) are taken from high fashion magazines and averaged to create yearly means, thereby creating a time series of 192 years. A methodology is described which deals with the magnitude of change from one year to the next in the means of each of the dress features. The velocity of the fashion process is found to be not accelerating in women's formal evening dress but rather is highly variable and episodic. What does exhibit a significant increase through time is the within-year variance of the variables.

A Multidimensional Conceptualization of Environmental Velocity.

“…We argue that the direction of product change is moderately discontinuous because although these firms launch many new products, they represent a mix of new items and extensions of existing products. This view is consistent with studies of the rate and direction of change in women's formal wear (Lowe & Lowe, 1990).…”

An Analysis of Cycles in Skirt Lengths and Widths in the UK and Germany, 1954-1990

“…This trend towards greater variety was also noted in U.S. studies (Lowe & Lowe, 1990). This trend towards greater variety was also noted in U.S. studies (Lowe & Lowe, 1990).…”

“…For Blumer, this spirit was reflected not just in clothing, but in other areas of society such as the media, politics and architecture. Lowe and Lowe (1990) analyzed dress styles over two centuries and found an increase in the variety of styles. If this theory is accurate, it would be reasonable to assume that the fashions in various societies of different &dquo;spirits&dquo; would also be different.…”

“…He believed that clothing fashions are related to wider movements in society and are not randomly chosen (Blumer, 1969). This trend was reflected in a higher level of within-year variance in the clothing dimensions studied (Lowe & Lowe, 1990). This assumption is certainly shared by most writers on the European clothing market, who assert that large variations still exist between markets, although these authors generally have little or no empirical evidence to support this assertion (Jim Fitzpatrick & Associates, 1991;Szarda, 1992;Scheffer, 1992).…”

Adaptive dynamics and technological change

“…This is the typical situation where a set of products or services have reached a so high standard to become practically unbeatable, like the Chinese, French, and Italian cuisine. A wilder scenario is that of never ending ups and downs of the traits, like those repeatedly recorded in the fashion market (see, e.g., the skirt length of women's formal evening dresses reconstructed by Lowe and Lowe, 1990, from the analysis of fashion magazines over two centuries). In these cases the traits evolve either toward a limit cycle (Fig.…”