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Why choose this course?
If you love fashion, you’ll love this! If you love social and cultural history, you’ll also love this! We study how social history has inspired fashion, just as clothes have influenced social and cultural history. We unravel historic inspiration that has formed and forms innovative, trendsetting or wacky fashion, designers and style.
We view how the social and cultural background of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries influenced British fashion then and now. We focus on aspects of trendsetting style 1700s-2000s, such as the voluminous and extravagant court dresses and exuberant hairstyles of the Georgian period and the dapper Regency dandy; Victorian crinoline, bustle and aestheticism; Edwardian Art Nouveau, elegant Art Deco, innovative wartime recycling, swinging sixties, and subculture of mods, rockers, goths, skinheads and punks. We see how the wheel of fashion and style turns again and again.
We will analyse key style developments and designers such as Mary Quant and the “Swinging Sixties”. A really exciting and fascinating course that will make you think differently about style, clothing, its influences and origins, and what you and others wear. You will discover how fashion informs, and what our clothes say about us.
Illustrated with masses of colourful slides and fashion illustrations.
What will you be able to do by the end of the course:
- Gain an all round, basic knowledge of the subject and be able to discuss topics.
- Gain further insight by viewing fashion exhibitions, galleries and museums and observing current fashion trends.
Class times: 15:00-17:00
Further information
Suitable for adults aged 19+ of all abilities.
- Understand how fashion and social history influence one another.
- Explore key fashion trends from the 1700s to the 2000s.
- Identify the distinctive styles of the Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian periods.
- Recognise the impact of major movements such as Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the Swinging Sixties.
- Learn about influential designers, including Mary Quant.
- Understand how wartime events and social change shaped fashion.
- Examine the origins and influence of youth subcultures such as mods, rockers, goths and punks.
- Recognise how historical fashions continue to inspire modern trends.
- Discuss fashion as a reflection of identity, culture and society.
- Develop skills in observing and analysing current fashion trends and their historical roots.
You may wish to sign up for another one of our history / social history courses.
There is no formal assessment for our adult leisure courses, your work will be reviewed during each class by the tutor.
Bring a pen and paper if you wish to take notes. Spectacles, or magnifier, if you need when viewing slide shows, images or text.