ABSTRACT
As the previous chapter established, by the end of the nineteenth century access to fashionable garments and clothing per se had multiplied for a wider proportion of the population. This was the result of changes in both the production and consumption of clothing, which radically altered the way in which ‘fashion’ was understood in contemporary society. As Gilles Lipovetsky suggests, the fashion industry as we know it today emerged during the second half of the nineteenth century. Whilst parts of this industry were developing before this time, it required the specific social and economic conditions of this period to flourish.2 This chapter explores the significance and implications of these developments, offering a variety of interpretations as to what the term ‘fashion’ referred to in late nineteenthcentury culture.
