Working Definition
I’ve based my definition of Artistic Dress on the writings of the period. These writings reveal a common understanding. The three characteristics that designers and advocates agreed on were that Artistic Dress opposed fashion, was linked to contemporary art trends, and that the dresses themselves were considered both daily dress and artwork worthy of gallery exhibition. Note I distinguish Artistic Dress from arts and crafts and aesthetic dress. Although the dress associated with these two art movements inspired many Artistic Dress designers (especially in its rejection of contemporary fashion and its link to contemporary art movements), the dresses were not considered art objects and their design was seldom discussed.
Artistic Dress as Anti-Fashion
Artistic Dress can be seen as a response to the coming of age of the fashion industry. It was in the 19th century that the fashion press reached its maturity. Women’s magazines became widespread as did the fashion pages featured in them and other popular periodicals. These fostered a common knowledge of what was fashionable (or more importantly, what was not) in women’s clothing. One result of this common knowledge was that middle- and upper-class women were expected to conform to the latest styles. Another result was that alternatives to fashionable styles, and in some cases the fashion industry, were not only developed, but presented in printed format. The same illustrations and descriptions used to present the latest fashions were used for what many dress historians call anti-fashions. More useful for the historian, anti-fashions are explained, the reason for their being and the logic used in their development is often caught in word. This is accompanying elucidation is fairly typical of the rejection of a social expectation, unlike the social norm, which is seldom explained outside academia.
Designers, adopters, and supporters of Artistic Dress have left a wealth of written material describing what Artistic Dress was and why they felt it was necessary. While we can carve out three camps of thought and trace some tension among the writers, it is clear that the main purpose of Artistic Dress was to contest the fashion industry and its role in contemporary society. One designer called fashion “a ghastly tyrant.” Another referred to "the spiritually dead tyranny of fashion.” And a third described his opposition to fashion as the "fight of truth against lies." There were many complaints lodged against the fashion industry. Among the most common were that fashionable clothing was not beautiful, that the dresses and their decoration were illogical, that seasonal and annual change of styles (indeed the entire industry) was motivated solely by greed, the diversity of female bodies was not served, and foundation garments that altered the body were made necessary. The discrediting of fashion was detailed and thorough and was a common thread among the designers, who differed when it came to what they felt it was most important for specific examples of Artistic Dress to achieve. Some felt that Artistic Dress must consider the design of women’s clothing an art form, others that considerations of health and hygiene should be stressed, and yet others that Artistic Dress could liberate women from the oppression of fashion and provide them a creative outlet.