ABSTRACT
The woman’s silhouette continued to develop rapidly throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. While the bodices demonstrated their own changes— primarily in the shape of sleeves and the location of the waistline—it was the size and shape of the skirts which truly expressed the rapid changes in fashion. Most of the developments in garments of draped construction (bodices, jackets, etc.) were in response to the changing shape of the skirts. During this period, the silhouette and detail of the woman’s costume were beautifully represented in the paintings of James Jacques Joseph Tissot. Claude Monet and August Renoir also produced some very clear examples of women’s costume.
